Pats Emasculate Ryan And The Jets
Monday, October 10, 2011
He talks a big game. And, until now, his teams have pretty much backed him up. However, now Rex Ryan’s Jets are in trouble. For the first time in Ryan’s tenure, they can no longer back up his bravado.
Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the New York Jets were beaten in every aspect of the game by the New England Patriots. You name it, the Patriots did it in their 30-21 win which had to sting Ryan because he makes no bones about his desire to dethrone the Pats as champions of the AFC East.
In the strength vs. strength match-up pitting the Patriots offense against the Jets defense, New England dominated. For the 13th consecutive regular season game, New England scored 30 or more points. And while they scored JUST 30, it could have and should have been much more.
Leading 10-7 just before half, the Pats were about to put more 7 points on the board when TE Aaron Hernandez couldn’t handle a perfectly thrown pass from Tom Brady in the endzone. He tipped the ball up in the air allowing Antonio Cromartie to intercept it ending the second quarter.
The Pats also settled for 3 Stephen Gostkowski field goals including the game-clincher with just over a minute to play which put the Patriots up by 9. Had New England needed a touchdown at that point, they likely could have gotten one.
But the domination of the Jets defense was even more than simply the 30 point performance. New England’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage racking up a total of 152 yards on 35 carries (4.3 yards per carry). BenJarvus Green-Ellis had 136 of those yards on 27 carries (5.0 yards per carry) including 2 touchdowns. Even more emasculating for Ryan and the Jets was the fact that Green-Ellis ran the ball 10 times on the 13-play game-clinching drive late in the 4th quarter. The Jets knew that New England wanted to run the ball and still couldn’t stop them.
If the Pats’ offense against the Jets’ defense was billed as “strength vs. strength,” then the New England defense against the Jets’ offense had to be labeled as “weakness vs. weakness.” And the Pats won that match-up too.
New England’s defense entered the game ranked dead last (32nd) in the NFL, a number not lost on many of the Jets players who took the liberty of verbally taking shots at it in the week leading up to the game. The problem is that the Jet offense has its own issues. Once a “ground and pound” offense, the team has relied more on the arm of QB Mark Sanchez and his WR’s this year but with marginal success.
Sunday, they weren’t very effective in either phase of the game. New York managed just 97 yards rushing on 25 attempts (3.9 yards per carry) and a measly 158 yards passing. They were just 3-11 on 3rd down (27%) and were held to a total of SEVEN 3-and-outs by the Patriots defense.
“Obviously they’re a better team right now,” a somewhat bewildered Rex Ryan said after the game about the Patriots. “Against New England, you’ve got to get off the field. They did a great job of sustaining drives. You’ve got to give them all the credit. They earned it.”
Sunday’s win lifted New England’s record to (4-1) on the season. The Patriots are tied with the Buffalo Bills atop the AFC East. Meanwhile, the Jets had their losing streak extended to 3 straight games dropping their overall record to (2-3). More importantly, it left Ryan and his players searching for answers to all of their problems.
The Patriots will host the Dallas Cowboys (2-2) next Sunday in Foxboro. The Jets, meanwhile, have an excellent opportunity to feel good about themselves again when they host the winless Miami Dolphins (0-4) who are without their starting QB Chad Henne next Monday night.
A Jet loss next Monday and there will be outright panic in Gotham City.
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