My apologies to whomever has posted something similar elsewhere here. After watching the game yesterday, I could not help but reflect on what, in 20/20 hindsight, appeared to be poor decision making on behalf of Shotty who I think was asking too much of Sanchez at this stage of his development. I believe if Greene gets 15-20 carries yesterday (particularly in the short yardage situations) we may have well had a winning outcome. The speed and authority with which Greene hits the hole compared to Jones was like night and day to my eyes. In my opinion, Greene has the potential to be our best first option in establishing the ground game, which we have yet to do so far this year. It is wholly unreasonable to ask or expect Sanchez to carry the offense on his shoulders so early in his pro career. I think getting Greene and Leon into a rhythm in the ground game should be the team's first priority and I don't understand what the heck we are waiting for.
Shonn Greene left the game after his fourth carry with an ankle injury. He looked good before he left the game, though. But we did need to run the ball more.
It's hard to be a difference-maker with only four touches, and Shonny certainly didn't approach that level yesterday.
If Greene hadn't been injured I have to think that he would've seen some more carries yesterday. What is baffling to me is that Leon got so few touches.
greene is a beast although its a little unsettling for the guy to get hurt after 4 carries reminds me of felix jones as far as injuries...not in their style lol
I think it is kind of hard to judge a player's injury history when he has had four carries as a pro. That being said, perhaps he was hurt in college alot? I don't know.
Guys, I think a lot of us are missing the biggest part of the game. New Orleans scores a FG first; 0-3 NO. Then the Jets drive the ball to the 5 yard line and things are going well and the INT happens for 6 going the other way; 0-10 NO. Then we stop NO in short yardage at the goal line. Then Sanchez holds the ball a bit too long on a pass from the endzone, fumbles, and NO gets antoher quick 6; 0-17 NO. Now, at this point the game is still very young and you're down by 17 points against a very good offense. That will effectively change everyone's gameplan from a Jets Offensive point of view. It will also allow the Defense of New Orleans to be able to gamble a bit more. Sorry, but we can Monday Moning QB this all we want; the Jets dug their own grave yesterday. The 2 costly errors by Sanchez early changed the complexion of the game enormously from a tactical point of view for both sides. It also meant that the NO Offense didn't have to gamble that much, too.
It may have been a fluke the first or second time it happened. It keeps happening though. Maybe he has a more serious injury than he letting on and it needs more attention. Maybe he's injury prone. Does anyone know if he had injury problems in college?
What baffles me is how Greene picked up yards but TJ did not. 2 years ago I thought TJ had bad eyes... Then last year, we had huge holes on the line. Yesterday, it looked liked Greene was untouched. Maybe without TJ in the backfield, it wasn't so glaringly obvious that we were running the ball. Ala Herm.
I just read 4 different scouting reports and not one mentioned injury issues, so I hope all this was just an anomaly and he doesn't turn into another Kevin Jones. The only concern was the fact that he started only one season at Iowa before being drafted, but he made it through the whole season, so again, I hope this multiple injury nonsense will blow over and we get the guy we thought we drafted. I thought this quote fared well for us: Nothing more than the Lamont Jordan effect. Any backup can look good coming in against tired opponents. Until he starts a game, you are just making untested assumptions.
I can't understand why fans keeping getting at Jones. He grinds out the hard yards and the opposing D always prick up knowing his stature which is why he is making slow production this year but we see what he can do if the line can break him some daylight, (Houston game and last night). I like the look of Greene he has a real spark and is going to be a real threat for us soon. I hope he can stay healthy because when this Jets running game hits gear we are going to have some serious tools including the "tenderiser" Thomas Jones.
Jones is fine when he has space, but he doesn't break ANY tackles. He goes down on the 1st hit, every time. Even Leon breaks more tackles than him.
On the play where Greene got hurt, he got tackled with his legs underneath a jet, and then bent over backwards. I said out loud "Son of a bitch, he broke both his legs". I was happy he jogged off, under his own power. With the next 3 games being "cupcakes", I see Shonn getting a bunch of 2nd half carries. Which will boost him into a starting role by seasons end
