Are the Jets getting away from their identity?
LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene had a combined 22 carries in Sunday’s 9-0 loss to the Packers, meanwhile, Mark Sanchez threw 38 passes. The improvement shown by Sanchez is evident. He has just four interceptions through seven games and seems to have more confidence.
But are the Jets relying on him too much?
Tomlinson has shown he still has a lot left, while Greene is capable of going over 100 yards on any given Sunday.
The Jets have clearly gone away from their talented duo the last few games. Without a stout running game the Jets offense has stalled. Tomlinson didn’t touch on his lack of carries, but admitted he was frustrated with the lack of scoring on Sunday.
“It is alarming, but at the same time, we can look at ourselves and say a lot of times, it’s what we didn’t do,” Tomlinson said when asked how he felt about the team not scoring a touchdown in the team’s two losses. “Today was that case. We just killed ourselves with self-inflicted wounds. (We) had a couple turnovers that are not like us.”
All four of Sanchez’ picks have come over the last two games. Not coincidentally, the running game has also been shaky. The Jets poor showing on offense can be attributed to many things: Sanchez’ interceptions, receivers dropping passes and shoddy play-calling by Brian Schottenheimer.
Yes, the Jets coaching needs be scrutinized here. Sanchez threw 44 passes during a rainy Monday night in Minnesota. The winds were howling on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the Jets from dialing up 38 pass plays. Having a young quarterback throw that many passes into swirling winds on a cold late-October day is a lot to ask.
The Jets (5-2) need to get back to the balanced attack that helped them win four straight games. They’ll get that shot to re-establish their identity against a very vulnerable Detroit defense on Sunday at Ford Field at 1 p.m.