Since the bye, the offense has looked pretty bad (with the exception of the last 4 minutes of today's game). It's popular to just blame the playcalling or say Sanchez has taken a step back, but I can't reconcile that with the team offense that went up against New England, Miami, and Minnesota and acquitted themselves quite well. To me, the major difference is LT. After the first five games in which he averaged at least 4.7 yards a carry in each one, he hasn't cracked 3.8 since. Despite this, he has still played the role of feature back and Shonn Greene has basically been his back-up. With Tomlinson underperforming, the defense has been able to put more pressure on Sanchez and the Jets have paid the price. Maybe the solution then is to give Greene more carries? He looked pretty good today, but he hasn't really had a chance to get into a rhythm yet. Next Sunday, I would give Greene something like 20 carries and see how he and the offense react as a result. Thoughts?
There were some plays today where the Jets ran with 9 men in the box (before the first td). Defenses are going to load the run & it'll be up to Sanchez & the passing game to make them pay for it. === Manning is a great qb & most see him as one of the top 2 qb in the game. If he sees defenses loading up in the secondary, he calls runs. That's the way you need to run your offense. Sometimes, it's more effective to attack the defense's weakness that utilize your offense's strengths.
I agree with the OP it is time to give LT a rest and give the rock more to Greene. I still believe his pounding style will help wear down and open it up for LT later on rather than the other way. Plus you can still use a little more LT on third downs. Also, contrary to what people have been posting the Jets have been successful running even with 8 in the box, the problem is that even at 2nd and 5, 6,or 7 - Schotty calls a pass play almost every single time. We should be running in those situations 75-80 % of the time. It has been a long time since we really committed to run the ball.
Teams are stacking the box like crazy the last few games. Prior to this game both Greene and LT looked like stir fried shit. Greene was the better runner today by a wide margin........ However, LT looked pretty shot on those last few drives catching the ball huh?
Yep, cute play calls on 2nd down are our undoing. The conventional wisdom is that this is the down to do something crazy and Schotty follows that every time. Honestly, the offense is the exact opposite of the defense. Too complicated, waaaay too many responsibilities for each player to remember and too complicated for a young QB. Instead of Keep It Likable and Learnable, it's Keep It Complicated and Kooky as in KICK the ball away every time. A simpler offense where every player can simply do their job well would serve this offensive talent very well. No complicated passing trees with 7 reads. Just simple runs and counters off those runs and play-action off those counters. Not rocket science, however hard Schotty tries to make it that. It's no coincidence that most of our points came when we were in the no-huddle. You HAVE to keep it simple then. Rex needs to take this offense back and start making it simpler again.
Greene is intended to be used late in games to wear teams down once we have the lead.Havnt had that lead late in games recently though.
Ditto with everything said about Greene. Woody needs to be replaced btw hes been looking terrible lately, Im worried he might get Sanchez killed one day.
I told my son today as we watched the game that Tomlinson is starting to look as if he is lacking that surprising burst he displayed the first 3-4 weeks. Maybe I'm looking for it as I have all along thought it was coming and maybe it is because of the stacked boxes but I certainly hope he holds up because obviously McKnight is still struggling.
I didn't think LT was ever supposed to carry the load this year. He was amazing the first 6 or so weeks, but these games he's looked flat. He simply needs to be used less, give him fresh legs. Make it less predictable and use LT in the passing game both for blocking and as a receiver more so than as a ball carrier. Greene is fine to take the carries for the majority of the game.
I think the solution to the offensive troubles is to stop with all these stupid penalties. Stop with the fumbles, and dropped balls. I can't believe how often this team gets penalized lately. Love Rex Ryan and think he is doing a fantastic job, but this is something he definitely needs to address immediately. These penalties are just hard to overcome in this league, and often kill drives. It has been driving me absolutely insane watching all of them called...
As others have said, I don't think LT has looked any different. He still has the burst and the bounce he had throughout the first 6 games. The problem is the defenses are keying in on him and Greene and stacking the box. As soon as Sanchez and the receivers start making plays on a consistent basis, the run game will open up again.
The problem isn't whether LT or Greene are getting the bulk of the carries. The problem is the way in which the Jets, Schotty specifically, have reacted to opposing defenses stacking the box. We need to spread the field more. When defenses put 8 or 9 in the box we should be spreading out our offense. Go three wide and then run or pass out of that kind of formation. If the opposing D keeps their guys in the box then we'll have a field day throwing the ball. If they respond by spreading their guys out, we run the ball between the tackles. Simple as that. Actually, this is the approach that worked for us at the end of the game today!
Tomlinson looked pretty explosive on that checkdown he turned into a first down, with the game on the line
