YOU blame Gang Groan for Dolphins 31, Jets 27 last night. You blame Rex Ryan.
This time, you do not blame The Kid.
He had not made a mistake, had not had the football stripped from him, had not thrown a pick six.
But Ryan’s defense was being bullied by the Wildcat. It was Dolphins 17, Jets 13, early in the fourth quarter.
Now it was time for Mark Sanchez to make a play. A big play. Go win the game if he could.
Once upon a time, there was Namath-to-Maynard.
Last night, the nation watched Sanchez-to-Edwards.
Sanchez, off play action, lofted a beauty of a bomb for burner David Clowney, for 54 yards, past Vontae Davis and Yeremiah Bell.
Then Sanchez, trying desperately to backpedal away from Randy Starks, clinging to his feet, was flagged for intentional grounding.
So now it was time for Sanchez to make another play. Another big play.
Sanchez looked right and pumped. Then he looked left. And saw Braylon Edwards, his new toy, who had caught a touchdown pass in the first half, ahead of Davis. And put it up for Edwards and let his playmaker try to make a play. And his playmaker made some play.
Edwards, who is 6-foot-3, used his impressive vertical leap to go up and get the ball, twisting in midair as he did, falling inside the pylon as Gibril Wilson hit him. It was ruled a touchdown. It was challenged and placed at the 1, a 34-yard gain. Thomas Jones took it in on the next play. Jets 20, Dolphins 17.
Only now Chad Henne, the quarterback who will be dueling Sanchez over the next decade if Bill Parcells is right about him and the Jets are right about Sanchez, struck back with a 53-yard touchdown bomb to speedster Ted Ginn Jr., past Darrelle Revis, of all people. Dolphins 24, Jets 20.
Out of nowhere, this had turned into the Young Guns version of Namath versus Unitas.
Sanchez threw behind Edwards on third-and-4. He got the ball back with 6:55 left. On third-and-2, he found Edwards over the middle two feet past the first-down marker.
Here, from his 48, Sanchez went for the dagger.
He lofted one high and far for — who else? — Edwards, jostling with Will Allen all the way. Edwards dove by the goal line and couldn’t bring the ball in. But they flagged Allen for pass interference.
Jones took it in from the 3. Jets 27, Dolphins 24.
Sanchez and Edwards sat helpless on the bench as Henne drove the Dolphins to the Jet 4 against wilting Gang Groan (no sacks) in the final minute.
“We made that quarterback look like Dan Marino,” Ryan said.
He never bothered to call timeout. He expected overtime. Oops.
“I just never thought they’d score a touchdown,” Ryan said.
Kerry Rhodes saved a touchdown with a low tackle on Ronnie Brown at the 2.
:17 left.
Henne rolled right and threw incomplete left.
:10 left.
Ronnie Brown, off tackle out of the Wildcat, touchdown.
:06 left.
Dolphins 31, Jets 27.
Don’t blame this one on Mark Sanchez.
Sanchez never let them see him sweat after his nightmare in the Superdome. He didn’t call Pete Carroll, his coach at USC, to cry on his shoulder. He did what true leaders do: he got off the deck, and showed up as the energetic, charismatic, swaggerlicious kid they call the Sanshise.
For much of the night, this had been two young, inexperienced caretakers trying not to wreck the game for their respective teams.
It was the Wildcat that gashed the Jets and threatened to sap the will of Gang Green for a significant part of the touchdown drive that consumed the final 7:58 of the third quarter. Finally, Henne, second-and-goal from the 1, rolled right off a fake to Brown and found Anthony Fasano behind Bart Scott to give the Dolphins a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Kid, from his 44 with 1:01 left in the first half, coolly directed a field goal drive that made it Jets 13, Dolphins 10.
:03 left in the game now, from his 43.
A Hail Mary from Sanchez failed.
Blame Ryan.
“I never had the defense prepared the way they should be. I’ll take full responsibility for that,” Ryan said.
Blame Gang Green.
“A complete embarrassment,” Ryan said.