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Usually, when the Miami Dolphins play the New York Jets (Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), you can throw their current records out the window.

This matchup is a figurative blood feud between two teams who have never liked each other, filled with entertaining trash talk between the two squads prior to (and after) the game, with big stakes on the line for both teams.

This year, it's different.

This year, the two teams—teams that are usually similar recordwise—couldn't find themselves in different situations.

Miami is 6-5, three games out of the division lead, one game out of a wild-card spot and, in the process, has impressed around the NFL. In its victories this season, it has outscored its opponents by 19 points per game.

The Dolphins have also been privy to the maturation of Ryan Tannehill, who thus far has a passer rating of 93.4 and has thrown for 2,582 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 66.1 percent of his passes.

The Jets are a prime example of a team trending downward. They have already passed last year's loss total and are just one loss away from tying their worst season under Rex Ryan (2012, when they went 6-10). Their status at quarterback is shaky with Geno Smith set to take over for Michael Vick on Monday night.

So should we throw their current records out this time around? Lean toward yes, but you just never know when you see Miami's aqua and orange and the green and the white of the Jets on the same field—especially during a Monday night.

With that being said, here's a preview of this week's contest between the Dolphins and the Jets.