Will Matt Moore win versus the New York Jets?

Matt Moore makes his first start since 2011 against the New York Jets tomorrow night. Will he keep Miami in the hunt for a 2016 playoff appearance? The PhinPhanatic.com staff weighs in.

James Anderson

The early weather report calls for 1-3 inches of snow and Jay Ajayi has stated he is used to the cold and he could already be a big part of the game plan with backup QB Matt Moore starting. Vance Joseph says Byron Maxwell will be shadowing Brandon Marshall all game Saturday and Marchall has already used up his bulletin board material.Hopefully the officiating will see Marshall is the one dealing it this time.Joseph also said Jason Jones’ return is huge because his inside rush ability frees up Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh. This could come in handy to pressure Bryce Petty in the 4 WR sets that the Jets run and help out the Dolphins in coverage from him being under duress more. The early injury report favors the Dolphins. Prediction: Dolphins 28 Jets 24

Sean Denison

All the ingredients are there for this to be an ugly Saturday night: Bryce Petty, Matt Moore, a short week and a weather forecast of 1-3 inches of snow. The deciding factor will be which team makes the fewest mistakes. On offense, the key for the Dolphins will be their offensive line. Expect the Dolphins to rely heavily on the legs of Jay Ajayi. Also, expect Matt Moore to take a few shots downfield against the Jets 22nd ranked pass defense. Defensively, the Dolphins primary focus will be to stop the Jets rushing attack. Last week, Jets running back Bilal Powell torched the San Francisco 49ers’ defense for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Luckily for the Dolphins’ defense, linebacker Kiko Alonso should be suited up and ready to join in on the challenge. Heading into only his third NFL start, look for the Dolphins to pin their years back and force Bryce Petty into mistakes. With more experience than Petty, I expect Moore and the Dolphins to make fewer mistakes and sneak out of New Jersey with a victory, keeping their playoff hopes alive for another week. Prediction: Dolphins 16 Jets 14

Eric Frosbutter

The Dolphins will be without Ryan Tannehill for the first since drafting him. In a cold weather game against a division rival without your star QB, normally odds would not be in Miami’s favor. However, Matt Moore has been with the organization as long as anyone and knows exactly what is expected of him. The Dolphins offense should be fine with Moore under the center, and as long as the defense does not have a collapse, Miami should take care of the Jets. They’ve done their fair share of keeping the Dolphins out of playoff contention in the past though no matter how bad they’ve been. That is why I fully expect Adam Gase to have his guys focused. It may not be the prettiest game, but Miami gets it done. Prediction: Dolphins 21 Jets 10

Brian Miller

A cold December game with the playoffs on the line and the New York Jets? Been here and seen this too many times. This is a different Dolphins team and Adam Gase has done a good job at getting the players to do their jobs. It won’t be easy this week with the 4-9 Jets having their pride as the only motivation so it will be much closer than it should be. Prediction: Dolphins 24 Jets 23

Tyler Olson

Matt Moore, along with Jay Ajayi, will need to control the offense. The defense will need to do two things: stop Bilal Powell and prevent the big play. Bryce Petty is, and always will be , primarily a big-play quarterback. He might win some close games with fourth-quarter comebacks but this weekend he won’t.

Miami’s largest margin of victory thus far this season is 15 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’ll be boom or bust but I’ll go out on a limb and say Matt Moore leads the Dolphins offense to 34 points in rainy/snowy weather Saturday night. Prediction: Dolphins 34 Jets 17

Carlton Ray

Yesterday I was at the barber near my home in NYC, enjoying a sunny, if brisk, day when the skies opened up and snow starting pouring down. It wasn’t predicted by the weatherman, but I was stuck at the barber, wondering if I’d get snowed in. One of the guys in the barbershop went outside to put the chains on his jeep. Then a sports car slid down the hill and slowly bumped into the dumpster. Twenty minutes later, the snow stopped and the sun came back out. I have no idea what the weather will be on Saturday night, but I know we will find out if the Dolphins are more sports car or more jeep. We do know that the Jets are a dumpster. Prediction w/snow: Jets 10 Dolphins 3; W/O snow: Dolphins 21 Jets 10

Matthew Stevens

Last week the Dolphins squeaked by the Arizona Cardinals in unexpected monsoon-like conditions. By kickoff this week, the snow/rain is forecast to be gone but ‘foggy’ conditions are expected for the majority of the game. Considering most people expect a low-scoring game, I am counting on a ‘shoot-out’. Prediction: Dolphins 27 Jets 20