The Jets’ 27-7 shellacking of the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night answered a lot of questions. Yes, Plaxico Burress can still play. Yes, Mark Sanchez looks to be primed for a breakout season, and yes, the defense played like it was in midseason form.
Are the Jets a finished product? Not yet, but they don’t have to be at this point in the game. We can go down the list of nagging issues the Jets need to address, but most of those can be fixed.
You’d be surprised at what position is in question. The Jets’ running game has been dependable for well over a decade. From Curtis Martin to Thomas Jones to Shonn Greene, the ground-and-pound philosophy has helped lead the Jets to seven playoff appearances in the last 13 years, including three AFC title game appearances. But there could be some chinks in the armor.
Greene, expected to be the Jets’ lead back, has gotten nicked up the past two seasons and has missed time dealing with several troubling injuries. In fact, Greene sat out Sunday’s game with a foot infection. His durability, along with LaDainian Tomlinson’s age, raised serious questions about the Jets’ running attack. Nonetheless, Joe McKnight’s performance on Sunday (7 carries, 36 yards) was impressive.
Depending on your point of view, Jets coach Rex Ryan was either pleased or relieved with McKnight’s performance-pleased that McKnight is another weapon for Sanchez and relieved because now they can reduce Tomlinson’s role in the offense. Tomlinson has had a great career, but he’s slowed down considerably and is slated to be a third-down, scatback-type or runner this season.
“It was great,” Ryan said of McKnight. “He had that concussion or something the week before, but he ran great.”
Teaming McKnight with Greene fits right in with today’s NFL model. Most elite teams have two quality running backs. The Jets have been no different. Prior to the Tomlinson-Greene collaboration, the Jets lived off the fruits of Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.
You can never have enough of anything in the NFL.