MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — This game may not have been purely about revenge for Tony Sparano, but the former Dolphins coach enjoyed a huge measure of it nonetheless.
Nick Folk’s second-chance, 33-yard field goal with 6:04 left in overtime was the difference as the Jets, with Sparano now coordinating their offense, escaped with a 23-20 win over their fierce AFC East rival.
Randy Starks broke through to block Folk’s first attempt at the game winner, but new Dolphins coach Joe Philbin had signaled for a timeout moments before the snap.
A 41-yard completion from rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill to Brian Hartline set up the potential winning field goal in overtime, but Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter missed from 48 yards. It was the second huge miss of the day for Carpenter, who hadn’t missed two field goal attempts in the same game since Week 2 of last season.
Earlier, Sparano saw Mark Sanchez hit Jeremy Kerley for the go-ahead touchdown from 8 yards out with 3:01 to play. That play came on third and 2 and capped an eight-play, 53-yard scoring march.
Tannehill led the Dolphins 48 yards to the tying field goal with 16 seconds left in regulation, that coming by Carpenter from 41 yards out.
Earlier, Carpenter missed a chance to pad the Dolphins’ lead with a miss from 47 yards with a little under 11 minutes to play.
The Dolphins went ahead 17-10 on Jorvorskie Lane’s 1-yard plunge late in the third quarter, then saw the Jets pull closer on a 20-yard field goal that left them 0 for 3 in the red zone.
The first pick-six of Tannehill’s young career couldn’t have come at a worse time for Miami. On the second play of the second half, the rookie was rolling right in his own end zone when he badly underthrew tight end Anthony Fasano along the sideline on what appeared to be an improvised route.
LaRon Landry returned it 18 yards to tie the game 10-10.
A Daniel Thomas fumble gave the Jets their second takeaway in eight seconds, but Chris Clemons picked off Mark Sanchez in the end zone on third-and-goal from the Miami 7 to thwart the Jets.
On an overcast, mistake-filled afternoon, both teams were forced to deal with a series of key injuries due to all the heavy hitting.
Dolphins running back Reggie Bush (knee) and wide receiver Davone Bess (head) were lost along the way, while the Jets lost cornerback Darrelle Revis to a knee injury in the third quarter. Bess later returned and made several key catches.
For the second straight week, the Dolphins scored on their opening possession. This time it was done with a short field of just 47 yards after a Richard Marshall interception of Sanchez.
Former Dolphins wide receiver Clyde Gates appeared to run a sloppy route, enabling Marshall to jump in front for his first interception with Miami.
Daniel Thomas, back from a Week 1 concussion, scored from a yard out. Bush carried four times for 31 yards on the short drive, running over Darrelle Revis inside the Jets’ 5 to set up the score.
The Dolphins made it 10-0 midway through the second quarter on Dan Carpenter’s 21-yard field goal. That came at the end of a 13-play, 75-yard drive that saw Ryan Tannehill make back-to-back completions for a combined 41 yards (to Davone Bess and Anthony Fasano).
A potential turning point came midway through the second quarter, when Tim Tebow took the snap as the up back and picked up 5 yards on a fake punt from the Jets’ 25.
That Jets’ possession ended up lasting 16 plays but it bogged down at the Miami 15, forcing them to settle for a 33-yard Folk field goal to narrow the difference to 10-3.
Notes: Tim Tebow opened the game split wide for the Jets and was out there for a handful of plays in that capacity. … Former Dolphins Yeremiah Bell, Dedrick Epps and Gates were among the pregame captains for the Jets. … The game marked the return of former Dolphins coach Sparano, now running the Jets’ offense. The Dolphins went 4-3 against the Jets under Sparano from 2008-11. … Bush, coming off a huge game against the Raiders, left with a sprained left knee on the second-to-last play of the first half. He did not return.