EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Before the New York Jets ran out of chances Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium, the Dolphins' defense was living on the edge again.

A double-digit, fourth-quarter lead was on the verge of evaporating -- just like it did last week against the Saints. And defensive tackle Jason Ferguson said all everyone in the Dolphins' huddle was saying was, ``We can't let this happen again.''

``All we kept preaching was [that] it's time for us to step up to the challenge,'' Ferguson said. ``When we have a chance, we can't let our thumbs up off it. And that's what we've been doing the last couple weeks.

``We've let teams get back into the game. It almost happened this time. But we finally made the plays.''

UP TO THE TASK

Though the biggest plays for Miami belonged to Miami's Ted Ginn Jr., the Dolphins' defense made a few of its own Sunday when it mattered.

Jason Taylor returned a fumble 48 yards for a touchdown in a wild third quarter, and defensive end Randy Starks got a huge sack when Mark Sanchez and the Jets were threatening to take the lead late in the game.

``We've been reading the paper [about] how we can't finish, how [we] always used to finish last year,'' linebacker Joey Porter said. ``But to finish the way we did today and be 3-0 in the division, we'll take it.''

The Dolphins were treated to 11-point leads three times in the second half -- twice after long kickoff returns for scores by Ginn. And all three times, Sanchez and the Jets rumbled right down the field and answered with touchdown drives that took less than three minutes and a combined 14 plays.

After the Dolphins punted for the final time, the Jets took over at their 45 with 3:39 to play. Four plays later, New York had first-and-10 at Miami's 28. After two incompletions, Sanchez found tight end Dustin Keller on fourth-and-10 for a crushing 16-yard gain to Miami's 12.

``We were down ourselves a little bit after that one,'' Porter said.

Three plays later, on third-and-6 at Miami's 8, Starks made a move to beat left guard Alan Faneca and smacked Sanchez down back at the 15. On the next play, Sanchez scrambled and fired toward Keller in the back of the end zone. But his pass sailed high and wide and fell incomplete with 1:06 to play.

``We had to have that stop,'' Starks said. ``We get that stop, we win the game. If we don't make that stop, it's our season. They score a touchdown, game over. Somebody had to make the play. I was happy I was able to do it.''

TAYLOR-MADE PLAY

Taylor felt much the same way about his NFL-record ninth return for a touchdown.

``The ball came out and it took a good bounce and I was able to scoop it up,'' said Taylor, who shared the record for returns by a defensive lineman with George Martin until he brought back an interception for a score against the Patriots in 2007.

``I saw Sanchez there. I don't know what move I put on him, but somehow he missed the tackle.

``Bottom line, I couldn't have done it myself. Paul [Soliai] stripped the ball out and I had a convoy helping me down the field. It took my old butt a while to get down there. It looked pretty unathletic, but I made it.''

The fact the Dolphins finished this time wasn't lost by coach Tony Sparano.

``All week long we had a bad taste in our mouth from the New Orleans game,'' Sparano said. ``[The Jets are] a good football team, but I thought our defense really rose up and played well.''