Sunday, December 9th, 2012
Post Game Recap
Final Score: New York Jets: 17
Jacksonville Jaguars: 10
Run Game Propels Jets to Victory
The New York Jets were able to overcome
an ugly first half yesterday and pull out a victory against the woeful Jaguars
17-10 Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville.
A dominant run game mixed with a dominant third down defense equaled a
victory for the Jets, who are on their first winning streak of the season.
The Jets are capitalizing on their weak
schedule right now, keeping alive their slim playoff chances as they moved to
one game under .500 with a 6-7 record.
The critics will be quiet, at least for one week, as the quarterback
controversy can be put to sleep as Mark Sanchez led the Jets to the win.
For at least another week, Sanchez has
staved off a benching, as he bounced back from a rough start. The play calling was ultra conservative, as
Sanchez was relegated to handing it off most of the afternoon and was not able
to air it out.
This is not a cure-all win by any
standards for Sanchez or Rex Ryan for that matter, as Sanchez still showed
skittishness in the pocket and was only asked to make one big time throw;
albeit he did complete that pass to Jeff Cumberland for 37 yards on third down
to seal the win.
Ryan did show confidence in Sanchez
though just with his pre-game lineups, as he chose to start him and dress Tim
Tebow as the backup, moving Greg McElroy back to third string; Tebow didn’t
play a single snap as he is still battling through rib injuries.
It wasn’t the greatest played game by
Sanchez, but he did not implode in the fashion he has been accustomed to at
times this season. He did a good job of
handing the ball off to the Jets running backs, who had a very successful day on
the ground and wore the Jaguars defense down.
Sanchez finished the game with 111
passing yards on 12 of 19 attempts. He
did not throw a touchdown or interception, but fumbled once for his 19th
turnover of the season.
The Jets running game this week was a
two-headed monster led by Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell. Each running back scored a touchdown and
combined for 166 yards on 39 carries; 77 on 20 carries for Greene and 78 on 19
carries for Powell, as the Jets have moved into an equal time share at running
back.
The Jets terrible luck of injuries
continued Sunday as well, as rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill suffered what is
thought to be a serious knee injury. Hill
slipped on a wet spot on the grass and television replays showed a gruesome scene. An ACL injury would be awful for Hill, who
has struggled at times but is a big part of the Jets future. An injury like this would most likely
sideline him through workouts and preseason, something a young player benefits
greatly from participating in.
With the injuries, the Jets were without
their top three receiving threats in Hill, Santonio Holmes and Dustin
Keller. This in turn forced the Jets to
use an underwhelming receiving crew of other team’s castoffs and practice squad
players.
The Jets defense was dominant once
again, but it is nothing that was not expected.
They were facing off against an already bad offense, was also injury
ridden as well. The Jaguars were down to
their second string quarterback, fourth string running back and their top receiver
missed the game with injury.
For a second straight week though, the
Jets owned third down, allowing the Jaguars to convert only two of 16
attempts. They also put immense pressure
on Chad Henne, the Jaguars quarterback, sacking him three times and hitting him
on multiple occasions with a vast array of blitzes and coverage schemes.
Next up for the Jets is another road
game, this time on Monday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans.
