Jets Dominate Rams in 27-13 Victory

The New York Jets (4-6) have a playoff pulse. They completed dominated the Rams (3-6-1) in St. Louis in one of their most complete games of the season. The only negatives of the game, besides Tim Tebow’s incredible lack of productivity, was Nick Folk having another field goal blocked and his first outright miss of the season. Mistake-Free Offense The Jets opened the game driving into St. Louis territory before stalling and punting; however, they pinned the Rams deep in their territory. Mark Sanchez did fumble but he recovered it so as far as I’m concerned he didn’t make a mistake there.  The Rams drove right down the field and scored a touchdown on fourth-and-goal. After that, it was all Jets.  Gang Green responded with a field goal. After a blocked field goal and the first unsuccessful fake punt of the season, the Jets forced and recovered a fumble. Two plays later Sanchez threw a perfect ball to Chaz Schilens who gave the Jets a 10-7 lead they would never surrender. On their last offensive possession of the half Sanchez was able to drive the Jets into field goal range to tack on another field goal. The second half was just power running for the offense as second-year running back Bilal Powell had his first and second career touchdowns. Sanchez stayed efficient completing 75 percent of his passes while distributing 15 balls to nine different receivers. Sanchez had a decent pocket for most of the afternoon only getting sacked three times for only 12 total yards. A few of the sacks could be attributed to him holding the ball too long and solid coverage from St. Louis. The quarterback showed he can be effective when he has ample time in the pocket. Play-Making Defense Similar to last week against Seattle, the Jets defense made plays and forced turnovers early as Eric Smith intercepted Sam Bradford which gave the Jets a red zone possession (ended in blocked field goal). Later in the second quarter Muhammad Wilkerson had a strip-sack fumble that Bart Scott picked up. This turnover led to the touchdown pass to Schilens. For the defense, it has to feel good to see the offense finally converting a turnover into points considering how much the offense struggled after the defense made plays the week before. In the fourth quarter, right after Bilal Powell scored his first of two touchdowns, LaRon Landry forced a fumble on backup running back Daryl Richardson. A Garrett McIntyre recovery led to another Bilal Powell touchdown, which essentially put the game out of reach as the Jets took a three-score lead with 8:29 left in the final quarter. Events like this commonly get overlooked but when the defense sees the offense capitalize after a turnover, it really provides life to them and it’s as if they scored as well. In the Seattle game it looked as if the defense got lethargic as the game wore on and the offense couldn’t capitalize. Today, the defense continued to play tough and not allow much of anything and I think that the offense getting points off the turnovers was the defense’s main source of momentum. Special Teams Woes The Jets may have dominated this game, save for an opening drive touchdown and a garbage-time touchdown, but the special teams continued to struggle. Nick Folk had another kick blocked, this time by an untouched rusher. On another of Folk’s attempts, a free rusher came from the exact spot as on the block. This shows poor recognition by the coaches, and players, and a failure to make the proper adjustments. The kick was good but it was clear that Folk was forced to rush the attempt. With under a minute remaining in the first half, the Jets allowed another kick-off return touchdown. Fortunately for them, it was called back due to a holding call. The player that was held could have made a play on the returner but it wasn’t out of the question that he could have broken it for a touchdown regardless. The coverage unit also allowed a 48-yard return that was not called back. Other Notes: Steven Jackson would have had a really nice game if he got more carries. He finished with 81 yards on just 13 carries. My fantasy football “Hit or Miss Start of the Week” was a huge success as Brandon Gibson caught two balls for three yards. However, both of those catches were touchdowns, and that’s all that matters. The Jets only managed one sack (the strip-sack by Wilkerson) but they consistently got pressure on Bradford which led to his unimpressive day. 23/44 for 170 yards 2 TDs 1 INT Due to the effectiveness of the Sanchez-led offense, Tebow saw minimal playing time. This is how every game should be managed. Had Sanchez been struggling, feel free to put Tebow in for a spark. Bilal Powell had his best game as a Jet, catching two balls for 18 yards and rushing 11 times for 42 and two touchdowns. The Jets kept themselves alive and really could have used an Indianapolis win over the Patriots, but of course the Colts gave up 59 points instead. The Jets enter a short week as they welcome division-leading New England to MetLife for a Thanksgiving game.  This season home teams are 7-4 straight up on Thursday night (including the season opener on Wednesday night). Rodgers That   Follow Dan Rodgers on Twitter: @dhrodgers52 Stats and information courtesy of ESPN.com