Jets Preview
Everyone is toeing the company line. (I edited this sentence from “towing the line” to “toeing the line.” This is why, if you’re interested.) “The Jets are a good team.” “They run a very complex scheme.” “A couple of plays haven’t gone their way, or the record could be much better.” “There are some good football players over there.”
And the media has bought it. Tim MacMahon doesn’t believe the Cowboys will cover the two-score spread. Albert Breer picked them to cover but he is very concerned about it. When we see all of the selections tomorrow, I’m sure a lot of them will be picking the Jets to take this thing down to the wire.
It’s not going to happen. The Jets are bad football team. They are going to try and establish the run. It is what they are best at, yet they are not even an average team running the ball (3.7 yds/att). Time of possession favors Jets opponents by almost 5 minutes per game on average, which is a huge number. Stopping the run is what the Cowboys are best at, and they will not have a problem shutting down this Jets ground attack.
Passing the ball is a scary situation for the Jets. Kellen Clemens only has two starts under his belt and sports a 59.2 passer rating. Jets QBs have been sacked 26 times. Look for the Cowboys to send an extra rusher, a little more often than they normally do, to try and rattle the young Clemens. He has some threats in LaVeranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery but I’m not convinced Clemens can find them on a regular basis. He hasn’t yet. And the Cowboys pressure opposing QBs as good as any team. The Jets are a much better team with Pennington at quarterback.
When the Cowboys have the ball, this is where it gets fun. The Cowboys will also try to get the running game going. And opponents run on the Jets more times (34.6/game) than all but one team (Miami) in the AFC. The Jets hold runners to a respectable 4.3 yards per carry, and they do not give up many big runs (only 5 over 20 yards) but they are worn down week after week in the running game. Time of possession has not been a friend to this defense.
If the Jets are respectable against the run, they are horrible against the pass. Horrible. The Jets allow an AFC worst 8.2 yds/attempt against in the passing game. The only team in the NFL within sight of this mark is New Orleans, who allow a God-awful 8.3 yds/attempt. The Jets give up 65% completions, among the worst in the AFC. The Jets allow opposing passers to riddle them to the tune of a 93.8 passer rating, among the worst in the AFC. And 41.5% of the passes thrown on the Jets result in a first down, the worst mark in the NFL. This is a bad football team. They are not a play or two away from being good. Nowhere is this more evident than in the pass defense.
Yeah, the Jets beat the Steelers last week. Yeah, they have a returner who is capable of making things difficult on the Cowboys. But Romo, Owens, Witten, Hurd and company are going to have field day on Thanksgiving. Again. This is not a divisional opponent, who knows the Cowboys and what they want to do like they know their own schemes. This is a team the Cowboys play every four years. And this is a short week. And the Cowboys stayed home and the Jets traveled. Blowout.
