EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ted Ginn Jr. was angry, his ego bruised by an embarrassing benching.
The Miami wide receiver took out his frustration on the New York Jets, returning two long kickoffs for touchdowns during the third quarter, and the Dolphins’ defense held on for a 30-25 victory Sunday.
“Not being in that starting lineup hurt me deep down inside,” Ginn said. “I just wanted to make plays. You don’t always have to be a starter to make plays.”
Benched in favor of rookie Brian Hartline, Ginn made all the difference on special teams by returning kickoffs of 100 and 101 yards for touchdowns. He became the first NFL player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same quarter since Green Bay’s Travis Williams in 1967, according to Stats LLC.
He also helped the Dolphins (3-4) sweep their two regular-season games against the Jets (4-4) in the teams’ second meeting in 20 days.
“We’re responsible for the loss,” said Jets special-teams ace Wallace Wright. “That killed us. If they didn’t run back those two kickoffs, it’s over.”
Maybe so, especially when the Jets’ defense shut down the Dolphins’ wildcat formation and held Miami to just 104 yards of total offense compared with New York’s 378.
“Sometimes things just don’t make sense,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “Statistically, this game isn’t going to look close.”
Miami’s second-ranked running attack rushed for just 52 yards, and Chad Henne was 12-of-21 passing for 112 yards and a late TD to Joey Haynos.
“They’re a great team,” Jets linebacker Bart Scott said sarcastically. “They’ll probably contend for the Super Bowl.”
It was one more shot in a tense rivalry reignited by a big heap of trash talk from both sides. The bad feelings were evident even before the game, when the Jets’ Kerry Rhodes and a few Miami players got into a shoving match during warm-ups.
But this time, the Dolphins had the final word on the field.
“When you have two teams that really hate each other, that’s going to be your best football,” Miami linebacker Joey Porter said. “I wish you could hate every team like you hate your rivals. They brought out our best football.”
