Even upon further coaching review of the game film, the Dolphins rookie cornerbacks didn't play the victim role often Sunday in their first start as a duo.

Vontae Davis, in his first start replacing injured Will Allen, made some hits as thick as his thigh-sized arms and tackled furiously. On the other hand, he didn't settle for just a tackle on a pass to Jerricho Cotchery, and saw Cotchery turn up the sidelines for 53 yards after Davis' pass deflection attempt left him on the ground.

Sean Smith, who has been starting all season, nearly had a goal-line-to-goal-line interception. He also got dragged over the goal line by Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards after the Jets caught Smith unprepared for the snap.

``I liked their aggressiveness. They contested a lot of balls out there [Sunday], a lot,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. ``That play that Sean has down there could have ended up in a really big play for us, take a score away. That guy is going to make some of those plays, I know he is.

``[There are a] couple of things in man-to-man coverage we need to clean up,'' Sparano continued. ``If I said to you mental errors, I would say none. Technical errors, I would say there are a few there, and we need to clean those up. They both played 81 plays apiece, so when you look at the technique errors in those 81 plays, I am talking about single digits between the two of them, but enough that we need to clean them up. Vontae was very physical during the game.''

SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

Last week, Sparano opened his day-after media session by taking the blame for an ill-advised timeout. On Monday, he explained another instantly second-guessed move, the decision to go for a two-point conversion up 30-19 with 8:48 left in the game.

On the surface, it seems improperly applied math -- a 12-point lead and a 13-point lead require at least two scores to overcome. But Sparano wasn't just thinking addition, but probabilities.

Sparano didn't know how many more possessions the Jets, who had scored on their previous two possessions, would get in what had been a rather wacky second half. The upside of a successful two-point conversion was the Jets would need two touchdowns with kicked extra points to win or a touchdown, kicked extra point and two field goals to tie. The downside of the risk is being up by only 11, a touchdown with a two-point conversion and a field goal from being tied. But NFL teams went into Sunday 6 for 19 on two-point conversions this season.

``My feeling was, you're being aggressive. I felt like, at that point, 11 was a good spot to be for us,'' Sparano said. ``I was trying to take a scenario out of play, in that the only scenario that would have beaten us was two touchdowns.''

SHRUGGING OFF CRITICISM

Sparano refused to say the most replayed and written postgame comments from the Jets bothered him. Jets coach Rex Ryan declared they had outplayed the Dolphins widely. Defensive end Shaun Ellis said the Dolphins would look at the film and realize they should have lost. Linebacker Bart Scott sarcastically complimented the Dolphins as a Super Bowl team.

When asked directly if he felt a lack of respect, Sparano murmured, ``I don't know. I just know we're 3-0 in the division.''

Earlier, however, Sparano took a shot when he began talking about the offense's troubles Sunday with, ``One thing we didn't do very well -- you've got to give the Jets credit, I'm not afraid to do that -- the Jets did a good job up front. I don't think our offensive line played well. I'm not going to say it's because of us. Some of it is because of us, but a large part of it is because of them.''

FINS GET ANOTHER REPLAY

For the second consecutive week, the Dolphins will be on NFL Network's NFL Replay, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The 90-minute show will condense CBS's original game broadcast and add video from postgame interviews and NFL Films for the appropriate plays.

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