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The Dolphins made a hell of a coaching hire in Jeff Hafley, who grew up a stone’s throw from MetLife Stadium, where he led Miami to a win over the Jets on Sunday. Hafley grew up in Montvale, NJ in Bergen County.
This guy’s football IQ is through the roof, and he took advantage of a Dolphins bye-week to come up with new wrinkles that baffled the Jets in the first half.
“They did a good job of coming off a bye week and coming out in the first half and made some plays, and you don’t want to spot anyone 21 points,” said Jets linebacker Demario Davis.
The Jets were down 21-7 at the half, and lost 28-25.
Hafley is an excellent coach.
He did a good job as Ohio State’s DC, a good job as HC of Boston College, a good job as the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator, and now with the Dolphins, a team that is cap hell this year. The Dolphins, without the most talented roster due to Hafley taking over a team in cap hell, has had his team in almost every game, including taking two undefeated teams (KC and Minnesota) to the wire.
You could argue that while the Jets have the more talented roster, the Dolphins won the chess match today…
The Jets’ run defense continues be a big problem, and was the biggest reason they lost to Miami on Sunday.
The Dolphins ran for 156 yards today.
When you can’t stop the run in the NFL, it sets a really bad tone for your entire team. It’s flat-out demoralizing when teams consistently run the ball down your throat.
The NFL trade deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Jets GM Darren Mougey, who radio legend Mike Francesa reported in the spring is “now in charge” of the Jets football operation, clearly needs to make a trade for a run-stuffing nose tackle.
Not only have the Jets struggled vs. the run this year, but nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat suffered a knee injury today, so they are thin at the position.
You can’t win in the NFL the way the Jets are playing the run.
It’s a gut punch to your entire team…
Some had speculated that if the Jets lost to the winless Dolphins to drop to 2-5, perhaps owner Woody Johnson would fire Aaron Glenn.
Not sure where that came from.
It’s hard to see Jets owner Woody Johnson, and his two powerful advisors, Hymie Elhie and Ira Axselrad, deciding to eat the $40 million the team would owe the coach if they fired him now, less than a year and a half into a five-year deal.
Also, from what I hear, after firing HC Robert Saleh during the 2024 season, which got a lot of bad publicity and didn’t lead to a team improvement, Jets ownership might not want to make a move in-season.
Just to be clear, I’m not pushing for a firing. I don’t fire people in print or on the air. Don’t believe in it. I’m just analyzing the theory that Glenn could be in trouble if he lost to the Dolphins…
After the game, Demario Davis sat at his locker for a long time, in uniform, with a blank stare.
It’s got to be devastating for him to be part of a defense that is so inconsistent overall and is so bad against the run.
Davis has been one of the NFL’s best run-stuffing linebackers over the last decade. Just look at his tackle totals year-in, year-out, but there is not much he can do about what is going on in front of him right now . . .
After the game, Jets DC Brian Duker had a long talk with defensive tackle Harrison Phillips at the players’ locker.
Obviously, I have no idea what they were talking about, and it’s none of my business.
But you’d have to think some of the chat was about the run defense.
As for Phillips, he is a class act who gives you everything he’s got, but you could argue his snap count is too high for a player at this stage of his career.
He’s playing too many snaps.
Also, he might be miscast in a 3-4 defense. He does not have the length you usually see from a 3-4 defensive lineman.
He might be a guy you consider trading at the deadline to a 4-3 team in need of defensive tackle help.
Any team would want this guy in their locker room, and if you limit his snaps, which is not happening now, he can help a team in a rotation…
They were expecting about 60,000 fans at the Jets-Dolphins game today, but once the fans settled into their seats, it looked like it was less than that. The stadium holds 82,500.
The Jets may be starting to lose the interest of some of their fan base in regards to this particular season . . .
This just in – Omar Cooper looks like the real deal. It looks like Mougey hit on this player at the end of the first round.
October 25, 2026
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