Schwartz: A Lot For Jets To Shore Up In Jersey
By Peter Schwartz
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About a year ago, someone finally convinced me to give "Jersey Shore" a chance.
It was five minutes of my life that I'll never get back.
I kind of feel the same way about the three hours I spent navigating my way through Sunday's Jets-Raiders game, a 34-24 loss by Gang Green that has created more questions than answers.
Snooki might have been more effective than Antonio Cromartie. The AFC defensive player of the week had a rough day by the bay getting torched all afternoon and getting called for multiple holding a pass interference calls.
To make matters worse, he left the game with a rib injury. Cromartie went to a local hospital to get checked out and returned home to New Jersey with the team.
But let's not put this all on Cromartie's shoulders. He had plenty of help as the Jets blew a 17-7 second quarter lead.
The Jets allowed 234 rushing yards. 234!
And this is supposed to be the best defense in the NFL?
You figured going into this game that shutting down Darren McFadden was going to be a tough chore and it was. He rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns including a 70 yard scoring romp.
What in the name of J-Woww was going on out there?
On the other side of the ball, the story kind of remained the same. There were some good drives and some bad ones.
In the first half, Mark Sanchez threw a terrible interception in the red zone and then the Jets had to settle for a field goal after having a first and goal from the four-yard line. They left eleven points on the field and that first half lead could have been 28-7.
Then, maybe, things could have been different.
Some other game notes...
Sanchez completed the first half with 173 yards, the most yards he has thrown for in the first half in his career. He finished the game with a career-high 369 yards surpassing his previous high of 336.
LaDainian Tomlinson had five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. It was the third 100-yard game of his career and first since 2003. He has moved past Thurman Thomas for 15th place on the NFL's all-time receiving yards list for running backs.
The Jets drop to 15-8 on the road under Rex Ryan.
Lost in the shuffle of what was a disappointing defensive performance, the Jets' defense forced the Raiders to be 0-8 on third down. Opponents are 3-24 on third down against the Jets this season.
Overall, it was a very disappointing performance by the Jets in the first of three straight on the road.
As you woke up this morning, who would have thought that the AFC East would look like this:
Buffalo Bills 3-0
New England Patriots 2-1
New York Jets 2-1
Miami Dolphins 0-3
Well, we kind of knew that the Dolphins are not that good. But, Buffalo's win over New England means the Jets stay tied with the Pats. Unless you believe that the Bills are going to keep this up, it wasn't a total lost Sunday for Gang Green.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Jets return to practice on Wednesday as they begin preparations for Sunday night's game against the Ravens in Baltimore. Ryan will face his former team for the first time in the regular season.
In his first season as Jets head coach back in 2009, Ryan and the Jets lost to the Ravens in Baltimore during the pre-season.
There's a lot to clean up this week. That's all for now!
Check back later in the week for more!
Are you worried about the Jets defense? Be heard in the comments below...
