Larry Hartstein

How the Jets could have handled the final 2 minutes of the 1st half differently: Malik Willis scrambles for a 1st down in bounds. Jets could have called timeout here at 1:53. It is also reasonable if they want to wait for the next in bounds play to start calling timeouts. 1st and 10 handoff to Gordon ends at 1:10 in bounds. Definitely would have called a timeout here. By not calling timeout, you are effectively guaranteeing the Dolphins get the final meaningful possession of the first half. From this point on, you would call timeout after each in bounds play to give yourself a plausible path to getting the ball back. There is still a chance the Dolphins run the whole half out, but you at least leave an opening to get it back. Say they had called timeout at 1:10. They would then call timeout at 1:03 after the Dulcich play down to the 5 yard line. Down to one timeout left. Miami throws incomplete on 1st and goal. DPI and new 1st down. Took 4 seconds off the clock so assume the clock now reads 59 seconds. Miami runs on 1st and goal from the 1. Stuffed. Jets would call their final timeout here. 55 seconds left. Miami scores on 2nd down. Would leave 49 seconds left for the Jets. Yes, Miami may have handled the sequence differently if the Jets had used their timeouts. The principle still stands that there was no chance of any real time left based on how the Jets handled it.