You would have had to attend a 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. church service or an earlier mass, or maybe move up your morning jog to catch the start of the 9:30 a.m. Jets-Dolphins game this past Sunday in London, England. Kickoff was 2:30 p.m. (London time; five-hour time difference), across the pond, on your tellie.
The New York Jets’ 27-14 rogering of the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium, the NFL’s annual international game, with some 83,986 in attendance, gave the Jets a 3-1 record, closing out the first quarter of this 2015 NFL football season.
Jets fans are more than grateful for their success. But the win did highlight, or bring to mind, last week’s loss to Philadelphia, a game they could have won, despite the team’s injuries. “Others have to step up,” said the Jets’ premiere cornerback, Darrelle Revis.
On the other hand, it brings attention to the stability that now exists behind center, at quarterback, with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, and the potential greatness of their 6-foot, 222-pound running back, Chris Ivory. Signed by the New Orleans Saints in 2010, Ivory went undrafted from Tiffin University in Ohio, a Division II school, after spending three years at Washington State.
In his third season with the Jets, Ivory, 27, who’s been plagued by injuries throughout his college and professional careers, could potentially rush for 1,000-plus yards this season and become “that guy” if he can stay healthy.
He is currently at 314 yards in three games, 166 of those on Sunday. His greatest number of yards rushed in a season was 833 in 2013-14, his first season as a Jet. Ivory’s play Sunday was, as the British say, “Capital, spot on, jolly good.” He dominated Dolphin defenders, breaking and evading tacklers, including their highly paid defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
“He attacks the line of scrimmage like no back I’ve seen,” said Revis. “I’d say he’s probably one of the best backs in the league.”
“He was breaking some tackles,” said Todd Bowles, the Jets’ head coach, about Ivory during his weekly radio interview. “He was punishing guys, and that’s good to see from our offense. It made us physical. It made us more demanding. It left [Eric] Decker and [Brandon] Marshall open a little more, and it got us some plays.”