On Sunday night the Baltimore Ravens rattled the New York Jets 34-17 in what has to be considered a disappointing performance by Gang Green. The defeat drops the Jets to 2-2, with both losses coming to conference opponents (for those of you who like to keep track of tiebreakers).
Offense
Offensive line struggles- The New York Jets offensive line, once considered a strength of the team, had a rough night against a physical, aggressive Ravens defense. Some of the problems can be attributed to playing without their All-Pro center Nick Mangold, but others like false starts, whiffed blocks, and getting blown off the line by the defender are inexcusable.
Sanchez dreadful- Mark Sanchez had a brutal game on Sunday night and left the field a bewildered quarterback searching for answers. Mark had 3 turnovers all of which resulted in touchdowns for the Baltimore Ravens. Sanchez appeared to be rattled by the Ravens pass rush and late in the fourth quarter was throwing balls all over the place without the least bit of confidence. This is a huge problem for the New York Jets as Rex Ryan has made Mark Sanchez his leader on offense and right now the young signal caller is struggling and pressing.
Schottenheimer lost- Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has absolutely no clue when it comes to taking advantage of an opponents weakness. The Jets game plan last night was horrific as it was predictable and ineffective. Facing an aggressive Ravens defense the Jets went away from the short passing game (quick slants, screens etc) and tried to run in situations where the ball carrier would obviously have no chance. In addition when it was more than apparent that the offensive line was struggling to hold their blocks, Schotty failed to make adjustments to improve protection. And where in the hell was the two minute offense? Why not try to catch the defense off balance and tire them out at the same time? Just a terrible performance by the Jets offensive coaching staff.
Defense
Defense did their job- It is hard to criticize a defense that held running back Ray Rice to 66 rushing yards and quarterback Joe Flacco to 10/31 with 163 passing yards. Add in a pick six by David Harris and the Jets defense clearly held their own on Sunday night.
Maybin explodes- Linebacker Aaron Maybin, who was re-signed earlier in the week, had a couple of huge plays (sack, forced fumble) for the Jets defense displaying great tenacity going after the quarterback. I would not be surprised to see Maybin get more reps, especially if Bryan Thomas is out any amount of time due to his injury.
Special teams
McKnight explodes- Joe McKnight filled in for Antonio Cromartie as the primary kickoff returner and had a 107-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter. Mcknight was also very active on the coverage units making plays and tackles.
Coaching
For the first time in his career as a Jets head coach Rex Ryan is going to face some serious heat for his game decisions and rightly so. Calling a timeout to argue a call? Changing the center during the game when the problem was clearly the quarterback? Watching your offense fall apart and your quarterback become completely rattled without making changes? It is one thing to be a defensive minded coach, it is another to be ignorant about your problems on offense.
Overall
The New York Jets are heading in the wrong direction especially on offense where they can’t run the ball, protect the quarterback, or put together any type of passing game. Mark Sanchez is struggling and Brian Schottenheimer is not doing anything to help the young quarterback out. I think it is time for the Jets to get their consultant Tom Moore into Florham Park in order to get the offense back on track.
It is going to be a tough week in Jets nation as the team is struggling, the Patriots are up next, and players like Derrick Mason are starting to speak out. Rex Ryan and company better start rallying the troops and addressing some of their issues or this season could quickly spiral out of control.