MIAMI — On a night when Mark Sanchez and Braylon Edwards made what should have ended with a triumphant flourish, the Jets instead wasted a perfectly good opportunity to take a massive step forward in the AFC East.

Sanchez and Edwards were breathtakingly effective in bringing the Jets back against the injury-riddled Dolphins. But their efforts went for naught because the Jets’ defense — which was supposed to be the unquestioned strength of this year’s team — wilted in a 31-27 loss to their longstanding AFC East rivals.
The Dolphins’ Wildcat offense, considered by some to be a gimmicky attack that wouldn’t stand the test of time, constantly solved Rex Ryan’s defense.
Suddenly, instead of the Jets taking a one-game lead over the Patriots and a three-game lead over the Dolphins, only one game separates first from third. The Jets (3-2) lost for the second straight week, and the Dolphins, who started off 0-3 and lost Chad Pennington to a season-ending shoulder injury, are 2-3.
What began as a night of questions surrounding Sanchez and Edwards turned into one giant question about a Jets defense that had been brilliant through the first month of the season. No one is saying the Jets could have gone through the season with an in-your-face defense at its best every week. But whenever they needed a stop Monday night, they simply didn’t deliver.
Sanchez, meanwhile, answered any questions about his ability to bounce back after last week’s three-interception meltdown in New Orleans. He led two go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter, finished 12-for-24 for 172 yards, and hooked up with Edwards five times for 64 yards and a touchdown.
It was another in a series of memorable Jets-Dolphins games, with the kind of tug-of-war drama that few rivalries can match.
Sanchez had so many fine moments, from his 53-yard bomb in the fourth quarter to David Clowney, to his 34-yard thread-the-needle pass to Edwards that set up Thomas Jones’ go-ahead score to make it 20-17, to another long pass to Edwards that fell incomplete but resulted in a pass interference, setting up a 3-yard Jones touchdown to make it 27-24 with 5:12 to play.
All the Jets needed was one more defensive stop and they couldn’t do it. The Dolphins went 70 yards in 13 plays, ending it with Ronnie Brown’s 2-yard TD run out of the Wildcat with six seconds to play.
But at least there was some solace; the Jets can thank their former coach for laying the foundation of what the Jets have now become. Had it not been for Eric Mangini, there might never have been a trade opportunity to get Sanchez. Same with Edwards, whose ill-fated run in Cleveland came to an end Wednesday when Mangini’s Browns dealt him to the Jets for Chansi Stuckey, Jason Trusnik, and a couple of draft picks. Maybe the Jets threw in a ham & cheese sandwich for good measure.
Mangini possibly delivered his old team a franchise quarterback and a franchise receiver.
But Monday night will take a while to get over. With a chance to go 4-1, the Jets let this one slip away. Ryan put it best immediately afterward.
“I’ve gotta do a helluva lot better job than that.”