Sidebar on the New York Jets' run defense for the Washington Times
Misery, cliches persist for Jets
By Denis Gorman
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the New York Jets' somber locker room, players stared blankly, spoke in hushed tones and dressed quickly and quietly.
This is what happens when you have lost six games in a row and have a 1-8 record. This is what happens when you allow 296 yards on the ground on a startling 48 carries.
Following their 23-20 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins, the Jets offered nothing but the typical cliches spewed forth by losing teams: We have to get back to work. We have to look at tape. We're playing well in spurts, but we"re not getting any breaks. We have to finish games.
That may be well and good, but the important questions are more basic: Is it the scheme? Is it the players? Or both?
Coming in, the Jets were 27th in the NFL in run defense, having given up 1,074 yards on the ground. They had allowed more than 100 yards in seven of eight games.
Playing a Redskins team that ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing attempts with 209 and a third-year quarterback starting his 15th game in Jason Campbell, the Jets' game plan should have been simple: Stop the run, and you stop the Redskins.
They couldn't, and they didn't.
Clinton Portis carried the ball 36 times for 196 yards and a touchdown, the first 100-yard game for the sixth-year back since he gained 112 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. The 36 carries were a career high, and the 196 yards were his most since rushing for 218 against the Kansas City Chiefs in December 2003 while playing for the Denver Broncos. His 1-yard touchdown leap early in the fourth quarter gave the Redskins a 20-17 lead, their first of the day.
In overtime, Portis had carries of 4, 3, 10, 17 and 2 yards to set up Shaun Suisham's game-winning 46-yard field goal.
"Any loss is tough and we've had our fair share of losses," said Jets safety Kerry Rhodes. "Portis is a tough back. Overall, we're doing better [against the run], but they changed some things up during the game, ran away [from the defense] a little bit."
Perhaps the play that best exemplified the Jets" inability to stop the run came midway through the third quarter when the Redskins faced a third-and-14 from their 34.
Finding no one open, Campbell escaped from the containment and scrambled 29 yards to the New York 37. Campbell threw an interception three plays later, but the tone was set. In the Redskins' final 25 offensive plays, they ran the ball 21 times.
"It doesn't feel good [to allow almost 300 yards on the ground]. We have to see what the problem is and fix it," said linebacker Eric Barton, who finished with eight tackles, a sack and the interception of Campbell. "We just weren't playing with the sound technique. We'll go back and watch the tape and see what we need to correct and correct it. We knew we had to stop the run and we didn"t. That"s why the game turned out the way it did."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS01/111040073/1001
November 4, 2007
By Denis Gorman
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the New York Jets' somber locker room, players stared blankly, spoke in hushed tones and dressed quickly and quietly.
This is what happens when you have lost six games in a row and have a 1-8 record. This is what happens when you allow 296 yards on the ground on a startling 48 carries.
Following their 23-20 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins, the Jets offered nothing but the typical cliches spewed forth by losing teams: We have to get back to work. We have to look at tape. We're playing well in spurts, but we"re not getting any breaks. We have to finish games.
That may be well and good, but the important questions are more basic: Is it the scheme? Is it the players? Or both?
Coming in, the Jets were 27th in the NFL in run defense, having given up 1,074 yards on the ground. They had allowed more than 100 yards in seven of eight games.
Playing a Redskins team that ranked eighth in the NFL in rushing attempts with 209 and a third-year quarterback starting his 15th game in Jason Campbell, the Jets' game plan should have been simple: Stop the run, and you stop the Redskins.
They couldn't, and they didn't.
Clinton Portis carried the ball 36 times for 196 yards and a touchdown, the first 100-yard game for the sixth-year back since he gained 112 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. The 36 carries were a career high, and the 196 yards were his most since rushing for 218 against the Kansas City Chiefs in December 2003 while playing for the Denver Broncos. His 1-yard touchdown leap early in the fourth quarter gave the Redskins a 20-17 lead, their first of the day.
In overtime, Portis had carries of 4, 3, 10, 17 and 2 yards to set up Shaun Suisham's game-winning 46-yard field goal.
"Any loss is tough and we've had our fair share of losses," said Jets safety Kerry Rhodes. "Portis is a tough back. Overall, we're doing better [against the run], but they changed some things up during the game, ran away [from the defense] a little bit."
Perhaps the play that best exemplified the Jets" inability to stop the run came midway through the third quarter when the Redskins faced a third-and-14 from their 34.
Finding no one open, Campbell escaped from the containment and scrambled 29 yards to the New York 37. Campbell threw an interception three plays later, but the tone was set. In the Redskins' final 25 offensive plays, they ran the ball 21 times.
"It doesn't feel good [to allow almost 300 yards on the ground]. We have to see what the problem is and fix it," said linebacker Eric Barton, who finished with eight tackles, a sack and the interception of Campbell. "We just weren't playing with the sound technique. We'll go back and watch the tape and see what we need to correct and correct it. We knew we had to stop the run and we didn"t. That"s why the game turned out the way it did."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/SPORTS01/111040073/1001
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 11:03 PM
