Dolphins" Punt Block Against Jets Changes Game EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jets punter Robert Malone estimated that the ball was five feet off his right foot when he first saw the Dolphins" pressure collapse the gray sky around him. "I felt like I hit it clean," Malone said. Next thing I know, the ball's behind me. Miami's Jimmy Wilson surged through the Jets" line and slapped down Malone's punt with both hands in the first quarter of Sunday's 30-9 Dolphins victory. The ball bounded into the arms of defensive end Olivier Vernon, who took one step into the end zone for a 10-0 lead. It was still early in the game, but the Jets never rose to match Miami's opportunistic energy, and the punt block - the Dolphins" first since Nov. 24, 2011 - reverberated through the rest of a lackluster performance by perhaps the team's strongest unit: its special teams. The Jets" field-goal kicker, Nick Folk, had not missed a kick all season - until Sunday, when his attempt at the close of the first half was blocked. The Dolphins successfully pulled off an onside kick after scoring on their opening drive. And, for the first time since 1986, the Jets allowed a punt to be blocked and returned for a touchdown in one devastating sequence. "That's inexcusable," Coach Rex Ryan said. We have to do a much better job against that. The Jets were down, 3-0, facing fourth-and-15 and on their 20-yard line. Malone said that the snap was clean, that he took his normal steps and that he felt good about the ball off his foot. But Wilson and Vernon had burst through the line cleanly. "I honestly didn't see them until the very, very last second," Malone said. They didn't hit my foot like most blocks, they hit it straight out of the air. Tim Tebow is the team's punt protector, Malone's last line of defense, but he said he could not tell immediately what the issue had been. "We weren't confused," Tebow said. They just used some good speed and got around. The replays showed that Wilson was lined up to the left of the snapper, Tanner Purdum, but on the snap he crossed to Purdum's left and shot up the middle and past Tebow, who chose to block Jonathon Amaya to his left. With nobody in his way, Wilson leapt and slapped down Malone's punt easily. It helped that the ball took a bounce right into Vernon's hands, but the ease with which the Dolphins stormed through undoubtedly set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. "It was a big blow," Malone said. You go out looking hopefully to get a good punt off and pin them back deep. It's a seven-point swing right there, right away. The Jets also had a punt blocked by San Francisco on Sept. 30 - the first time that had happened since 2008 - but still pointed to their special teams" performance as a bright spot this season. Malone has allowed among the fewest punt return yards in the A.F.C. This was in part because the Jets had orchestrated three fake punts for first downs with Tebow at the helm, and the special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said last week that his presence added an element of unpredictability that forced teams to back off from attacking the punter so regularly. But with the Jets facing a fourth-and-15 and backed up deep in their own territory, Malone said, a fake was not a consideration. The Dolphins knew it, and they seized on it. Wilson explained that the Dolphins were aware of Tebow's potential for trickery but saw an opportunity to take advantage of the Jets" regular punt set. "I knew that if Tebow blocked Jonathon Amaya, I would be wide open for the block, and that's how it happened," Wilson said. The Jets regularly count on special teams as a strength, linebacker Aaron Maybin said. "When you have a play like that," he said, "it's deflating."