Jets O-line isn't living up to expectations By Matt Sohn - Sept. 15, 2008 The Jets? retooled offensive line, believed to be a strength entering the season, isn?t holding up its end of the bargain. A sore spot throughout 2007, the Jets gave boatloads of cash to Steelers OLG Alan Faneca and Lions ORT Damien Woody to fortify the front wall, believing that an influx of talent would be able to provide more running lanes for RB Thomas Jones and allow their quarterback to set in the pocket instead of hurrying throws. In the Jets? 19-10 loss to the visiting the Patriots, the Jets? offensive front didn?t show any improvement from its Week One showing in Miami where the Dolphins' understaffed box defenders made a far greater impact than they should have. The Patriots? defensive line and linebackers are far better, and it showed. The Pats only recorded two sacks ? one by OLB Adalius Thomas, one by DE Richard Seymour ? but the way they controlled the trenches dictated the Jets? offensive play-calling. The PFW spin No, owner Woody Johnson isn?t rethinking his decision to make Faneca the highest-paid offensive linemen in league history and to give Woody that $20 million deal that most around the league saw as far too rich a deal for a past-his-prime player, but it?s closely approaching that territory.Woody and OLT D?Brickashaw Ferguson have been particularly vulnerable on the outside. Seymour made Ferguson his personal chew toy throughout much of the afternoon at the Meadowlands, which was a significant source of concern for New York heading into the contest. Ferguson, the fourth overall pick in the 2006 draft, continually has struggled with bull rushers throughout his young career, and that?s precisely what Seymour represents. Seymour didn?t have to test his surgically repaired knee with lateral quickness to rush Favre into hurried throws or funnel Jones inside into the teeth of New England?s defense. Woody had difficulty against his former team as well, even though he didn?t technically give up a sack. But Ty Warren showed why he?s considered one of the best, if not the best, 3-4 base ends in the league. In a role reversal from Ferguson, Woody has trouble against speed rushers, and never was that more apparent than on a play early in the third quarter when Woody literally had to tackle Warren on the end?s double move to keep him from planting Favre into the turf. Needless to say, holding was called. And Warren hardly possesses the first step of Jason Taylor.In fairness, the interior play was decent, which is saying a lot considering Patriots NT Vince Wilfork makes many interior linemen look silly. This spring, C Nick Mangold told PFW that the five linemen were spending a lot of time together not just in practice but away from the gridiron as well in an effort to build chemistry and cohesiveness. At this point, it?s clear that they still have a long way to go, as communication between them isn?t where it needs to be ? especially when it comes to blitz recognition. The good news is that it should steadily improve. Communicating is particularly critical against 3-4 defenses such as the Dolphins and Patriots that try to confuse with multiple formations stunts. In the meantime, New York might need to scale back much of the downfield passing game it intended for Favre to direct. Keeping him healthy is essential if the Jets are to reach the postseason. > http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFL/AFC/AFC+East/NY+Jets/Spins/2008/spin091508.htm
pfw sucks... i like the play of our line. they need some more time to totally gel but they look good. i was at the game on sunday and they looked very good at times... i agree they need more work but come on..
I stopped reading after the 3rd completely false statement I read. Champ and Grogan will eat this up though.
104 QB rating for Favre... TJ has 4.4 YPC... where is the problem? I never expected a top 5 Line... top 12 line is better than a top 30 line.
So does that mean the Jets o-line is better then the Pats O-line since Favre has been sacked less and the Jets have a better YPC avg?
Based on what I've seen...yes. Now over a 5 year period or consistently..absolutely not. But through the first 2 games...and on paper...absolutely.
the QB rating is, but the YPC is a lot better than last year. The Offense is ranked around 26th, but I don't think that is the O-Line's problem. Dropped passes, and questionable play calling can do that - like back to back screen passes.
Like our quarterback play and our defensive play, I expect our line to only improve as the season goes on.
After 2 games, a couple of long runs can make an average runner look great. If he still has 4.4 or higher by mid-season, I'd say it means something.
jones hasn't had any runs of really great length. the running game has pretty consistent so far this year. it is ok to say the jets are doing something well when they are. i know its foreign as a jets fan to praise anything they do, but o-line has not been a problem this year.
I have trouble with using the word 'consistency' after 2 games. In my mind, consistency is what builds a season, and 2 games is hard to gauge it by. It's too early to bash the O-line, but it's also too early to praise them.
We've all seen enough football to know that even with the penalties in game 1 and some of the plays against us with NE, our OL is decent, even if we can't point to a specific statistic. I cannot recall being more satisfied with the Jets OL since the days of Ward and Powell.
exactly, we could all tell at 2 games last year that the line was bad. barring injury it is easy to tell that this line will be consistent all year. maybe not great but consistent enough to help the team win.
One thing people are refusing to take notice of...is that alot of the pressure favre's under is the result of failed blitz pick ups by skill players outside of the front 5. Both Leon and Franks have both been responsible on more than one occassion. It's easy when you see a sack to automatically blame the front 5..but step back and take a look...sometimes(and in this case alot of the time) it's the RB or TE. I had ALOT of reservations about this line..specifically the right side w/ Woody and Moore. And I've been very impressed w/ the play thus far...and it's only gonna get better.
i agree. But we don't have any more than two games to look at. And you have to admit, that through the first two games they are looking solid. I personally think that it will stay the same quality or get better with more time to gel, but i could be wrong.
The O-Line should have created a hole for Jones to run into the endzone the other day. For christ's sake they had THREE straight chances!
I Think we've been okay against the run and pass but that wont cut it. They need to create more of a pocket for Favre to throw in and be more consistant with the run. Its very Early in the season i think well only improve.
i have been fairly happy with the line, actually the only person i have really been unhappy with at times is our brand new expensive guard and this is a unit that will surely continue to gel and will definitely get better as the season goes. and they are playing pretty damn well right now.
