You know how to recognize when a game means more than just one of 16? Different color clothing.

The Dolphins reached back in the equipment closet to wear those blinding orange jerseys, not because the aqua ones were dirty, but because the filthy Jets were in town.

Know what else signals a huge game?

Left-handed running backs throwing 20-yard passes.

And multiple fake kicks.

And one team trying to copy the other team's signature play, just for giggles.

This Dolphins-Jets matchup had all the elements you were expecting after months of build-up, and then some. It was as fun as any Dolphins game in recent memory, not only because of the tight finish or the significance in terms of saving Miami's season, but because both teams -- and coaches -- made it that way.

The game had the intensity of a playoff game and the mischievousness of a college rivalry.

It wasn't just players nearly coming to blows on a few occasions. Both coaches were throwing strategic wallops from across the field.

Tony Sparano started it. After being reminded all week long how Rex Ryan's Baltimore Ravens defense stuffed the Wildcat in two games last season.

So on the third play of the game, the Dolphins effectively told Ryan and the Jets that the Wildcat can't be tamed (unless, of course, Ray Lewis is on the other side of the ball, in which case it's totally possible).

Ronnie Brown threw a 20-yard pass to Anthony Fasano to kick-start an opening touchdown drive.

RYAN GOES WILD, TOO

But you knew Ryan wasn't about to take that quietly. The mouthy coach from the north came prepared, as everyone expected. He tried to throw a Wildcat right back at the Dolphins, and it was sniffed out by none other than Channing Crowder, who ignited this whole mess in the offseason.

It felt great -- for about eight seconds.

A fake punt that went for 26 yards sucked the life out of Land Shark Stadium faster than Peyton Manning did a few weeks back.

Well played, Ryan. Well played.

The Jets went on to tie the score, and you figured the tomfoolery and one-upmanship was over. It normally ends after about a quarter, no matter how fierce the rivalry.

But it wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

The Jets threw another fake punt at the Dolphins in the second quarter. Another successful one, which when you think about it is the ultimate glove slap to the face.

You know to look for it, and yet you still don't stop it?

Must be what the rest of the league feels like every time the Dolphins run the Wildcat, actually. That fake led to more Jets points, and by halftime it was Ryan and his green team leading the game of gags by a field goal.

Sparano wasn't about to be outdone. He might not be as loud or as brash or as, well, obnoxious as Ryan (obnoxious in a good way, of course), but he recognizes a challenge when he sees one.

SPARANO FIRES BACK

It was Sparano's next two in-your-face moves that tipped the scales in his favor for good (no, that wasn't a fat coaches joke, unless you want it to be). On third-and-6 and the Dolphins 25 yards away from a much-needed touchdown, Miami went Wildcat. It worked, with Ricky Williams taking a handoff for 10 yards.

It was the ultimate statement that the Dolphins not only run the set better than anyone in the league, but they run it against anyone in the league, and run it in any situation.

Had the Dolphins run that same play on third-and-6 in the fourth quarter against the Colts, this game might not have had such a sense of desperation.

Then, after the Jets showed off their newest weapon, Braylon Edwards, on a bomb that led to another touchdown, Sparano let loose his big threat.

Ted Ginn Jr. (finally!) outran the Jets coverage, and Chad Henne dropped a perfect pass into his waiting arms in the end zone. It was tit for tat at its most entertaining.

It would have been the final statement necessary for Sparano and the Dolphins, but apparently the referees wanted to see a bit more, because a phantom pass-interference call against Will Allen helped put the Jets ahead by a field goal again.

Sparano then took the opportunity to unleash Pat White.

Wait.

What?

White?!?

NOW?!?!?

Yup. And for two plays -- two ridiculously crucial plays given the circumstances and potential for disaster -- it worked.

Out of respect for Hispanic Heritage Month, which the NFL was celebrating Monday night, that's called coaching with cojones.

``I don't think that was desperation or trying to trick them . . . that's what we do best,'' Sparano said.

And then there was that ending. The glorious, Wildcat-heavy ending that made this Dolphins-Jets classic one Miami fans actually want to remember.

Not just one of 16. One in a million.

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