By Brian Bohl
Before failing to stymie an injury-depleted Bills squad, Chad Pennington was already entrusted to save the Jets’ season from an inauspicious beginning and lead his team back into playoff contention. Now, the eighth-year quarterback will try to avoid becoming intimate with the Giants Stadium turf this Sunday when his reeling team faces a resurgent defensive line.
Since entering the NFL, Pennington’s embodied the role of a game-manager: a quarterback armed with limited range but enough intelligence to methodically lead an offense. He completed a career high 32 passes in Buffalo last Sunday, tossing just seven incompletions. But two of those attempts were intercepted, including the final one that set-up the game-clinching score in a 17-14 loss at Orchard Park.
Don’t place the blame on Pennington. To succeed in the NFL, the offensive line needs to both protect the quarterback and create running lanes for the tailbacks. A year ago, the Jets declined to trade up in the draft for an explosive playmaker like Reggie Bush or grab a potential star quarterback like Matt Leinart. The front office instead drafted local product D’Brickashaw Ferguson to man the left tackle spot for the next decade, while center Nick Mangold was taken later in the first round.
The move worked out well last season, as the revamped line contributed to a 10-6 season and a playoff berth. Then, veteran guard Pete Kendall was traded on the eve of the season opener last month, and the unit has struggled to support new running back Thomas Jones.
After losing to a rookie quarterback (Trent Edwards) and running back (Marshawn Lynch) last week, the Jets are 1-3 and will face the resurgent Giants at the Meadowlands in a crucial game. Quality teams like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Dallas and New England remain on the schedule, and another loss could end all reasonable hopes for making it back to the postseason. To prevent another disappointing loss, Ferguson will be asked to matchup with Osi Umenyiora, who is only coming off a six-sack performance in the Giants’ thrashing over the Eagles. Big Blue put up 12 sacks total, which could mean the biggest mismatch of the season for the Jets’ struggling line.
“It lets us know as a team that they are fully capable and able to make sacks and pressure the quarterback,” Ferguson said. “As a player on the line and as an offense, we will take note of that and be able to develop some type of scheme or plan to prevent that from occurring.”
The one Jet who can alleviate the pressure from Pro Bowl-caliber ends like Umenyiora and future Hall of Famer Michael Strahan is running back Thomas Jones. The team’s biggest free-agent acquisition was the front office’s solution to replace Curtis Martin, yet Jones still does not have a touchdown and was held to just 35 yards on 12 carries against Buffalo in a game that was close throughout.
Jones will need more than 12 carries, though the 5-10, 215-pound back has been limited to fewer than 70 rushing yards in three of the four games this season. The only time he cracked the 100-yard barrier was against Miami. Not surprisingly, that marked the team’s only victory this season, meaning Mangold and Ferguson need to lead a line that was flagged for two holding penalties last week.
“All we can do is focus on each game individually and that is what we are working on this week not only with the running game, but the whole team in general,” Jones said. “We are trying to be as consistent as we can be.”
Pennington completed 15 straight passes at one point against the Bills. Jerricho Cotchery was the biggest beneficiary of those numbers, notching eight receptions for 106 yards. If Jones can’t run the ball consistently, solid production from the receiving corps also featuring Laveranues Coles and Justin McCareins will suffer because the Giants can force Pennington to hurry throws without a run game to keep the defense honest.
“A lot of guys say that they don’t care about the numbers, but they are really lying to you. I really don’t,” Cotchery said. “I don’t care about the numbers at all. That is the way that I have been my entire life. I really want to win. All I want to do is win.”
Since trading Kendall in preseason, the Jets are ranked 28th out of 32 teams in team rushing; averaging 82.5 yards-per-game. Sixth round draft pick Jacob Bender was expected to compete for Kendall’s spot, though Mangini has turned to Adrien Clarke to start at left guard between Ferguson and Mangold. Brandon Moore and Anthony Clement started on the right side in Orchard Park.
It would be unfair to blame the nine penalties (for 65 yards) on the line, yet a poor showing prevented Jones from establishing a rhythm and putting extreme pressure on Pennington. Those areas need to improve facing a 2-2 Giants team currently riding a two-game winning streak. Big Blue will be the home team for the clash at Giants Stadium, so the Jets can pick up a road victory in their own backyard after falling to 1-2 in the division and wasting a chance to get back to .500.
“We had nine penalties, which is very uncharacteristic for this team,” Mangini said. “There were things like burning two timeouts in the third quarter that are very uncharacteristic of this team. I don’t think that was a function of a lack of urgency. That was a function of not executing as well as we should have.”
The Jets offense, led by Thomas Jones and Chad Pennington, has had some serious trouble getting going against some of the league’s worst defenses, including the Bills. This week, they are stuck with the arduous task of facing a red-hot New York Giants defensive line. (sports.yahoo.com)