EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- When the Jets and Dolphins played three weeks ago, the Jets suffered a blow not only to their record but also to their ego. The Dolphins had been the more physical team, pushing around Rex Ryan's defense.

Sunday's rematch brought the same result -- a Jets loss -- but the sentiment in the Jets locker room was different from that of the first meeting. They were incredulous about losing a game they statistically dominated.

Ryan opened his postgame news conference saying: ``Sometimes things just don't make sense,'' and numerous Jets players echoed that feeling as they tried to explain how they fell 30-25 to the Dolphins despite outgaining Miami 378-104 in total yards.

`WE SHOULD HAVE WON'

Of course, there really wasn't much mystery. The real sentiment the Jets were trying to convey was that they allowed the individual brilliance of the much-maligned Ted Ginn Jr. and his two kickoff returns for touchdowns to steal a game they knew otherwise should have been won relatively easily.

``When [Miami] looks at that tape, they know we should have won,'' defensive end Shaun Ellis said. ``Ted Ginn made two unbelievable plays.

``He single-handedly won the game.''

Said Ryan: ``Statistically, this game is not going to look close. We totally outplayed them, but got beat. You have to give their kickoff guy credit. It's almost 4-to-1 in yardage.''

That 378-104 statistic? It doesn't take into account special teams, where the Dolphins had 299 kickoff return yards, including two touchdowns.

The Jets had a legitimate right to feel frustrated. They did do many things well Sunday. Mark Sanchez threw for 265 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Thomas Jones rushed for 102 yards and the Jets had three receivers with 70 or more yards.

For most of the game, the Jets' defense shut down the Dolphins. Chad Henne passed for only 112 yards, and Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown ran for only 27 yards each.

WILDCAT TAMED

The Wildcat was ineffective, gaining 18 yards on five rushing plays and also taking a 9-yard sack.

It all added to bewilderment and anger.

``The defense played well enough to win. Offensively we played well enough to win. This game is on us,'' linebacker Larry Izzo said, referring to the special teams. ``It's really unfortunate that we weren't able to do our job.''

Jets linebacker Bart Scott was so frustrated afterward that he couldn't help but give a sarcastic account of what happened.

``[The Dolphins] have a great team,'' he said. ``They have a tremendous offense and they showed it today. They are Super Bowl contenders and they will probably take it all the way.''

In reality, what they actually did is give the Jets their fourth loss in their past five games and sweep the season series. The Jets began the season with three straight wins and were openly boasting about their prowess.

They left as a .500 team Sunday, shaking their collective heads at a lost opportunity.

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