How Michael Vick Can Jump-Start the New York Jets Offense

The New York Jets' season is all but over, but they still have jobs, paying fans and pride to play for—which is why veteran Michael Vick will resume duties as the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. 

While Vick's upside is limited, there is no question that he gives the Jets a better chance to win in the immediate future and potentially save a lot of doomed jobs. 

A backup quarterback will usually jolt his team with a temporary spark, which Vick did to an extent last week. However, if the Jets are going to make the switch to Vick worthwhile, they will need to plan around his strengths and hide his weaknesses as much as possible. 

At age 34, Vick is at best equal to Geno Smith in terms of raw throwing ability—but he separates himself with his experience and effectiveness with his legs, even if he is no longer the video game glitch he was as a younger man. 

Run the Option

Vick may be a seasoned veteran, but he is best treated like many of the "option" quarterback coming out of college today with his mobility. The option does not quite have the same buzz it had a couple years ago, but it would be an ideal way to loosen up Vick in his first start while generating safe yardage. 

The Jets used the option effectively in the red zone early in last week's loss to the Buffalo Bills, setting up their first touchdown of the game. 

Lined up in a two-back set, the Bills defense is already presented with the possibility of three different ball-carriers handling the ball—Percy Harvin (left), Vick or Chris Ivory (right).

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The ball is snapped, and Harvin is the option runner to take the handoff. Vick, however, sees the defensive end key on Harvin and elects to keep the ball. 

This opens up a wide-open lane for Vick to pick up eight precious yards without having to put the ball in the air. 

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This play is dependent on two factors: quality blocking and Vick making the right read on the closing, unblocked defensive end. If Vick makes the correct read, the Jets immediately have a numbers advantage blocking down the field, as they do not have to account for the end who has been faked out by the option. 

This is far from the most highbrow way to go about moving the football, but the Jets are in no position to get picky as to how fashionable they look while playing offense. At this point, they need to approach their offense one series at a time.

Lighten the Box

Vick's combination of mobility and arm strength may not be quite up to the standards it used to be at, but it still strikes fear into opposing defensive coordinators. When Vick is under center, defenses still show respect for Vick's arm and mobility, showing a willingness to yield yards by more conventional ways than be the wrong party in a future Vick highlight. 

On this play, the Bills are ensuring that no big play is made against them with two deep safeties to defend the pass and give them some extra insurance in case Vick finds a running lane. 

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However, there is a price to be paid for this style of defense. The light box (seven or fewer men) gives the offense an advantage in the run game. Chris Johnson is able to pick up an easy five yards on this play, taking advantage of a designated weak point in the defense. 

This is not a case of the Bills playing a certain style of defense all game—they showed considerably less respect to Smith earlier in the half in the same area of the field. Instead of playing a conservative Cover 2 look, the Bills played a much more aggressive Cover 1, showing heavy blitz—on second down. 

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With Vick permanently in the lineup, the rest of the Jets offense will see a lot less in-your-face pressure, making it easier to complete a simple pass and get off effective running plays. 

This is in stark contrast to the weeks under Smith's watch, where defending the Jets because no more complex than an online game of Madden. 

Defend the Whole Field

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Prior to the insertion of Vick into the lineup, opposing defenses were starting to read on Smith's tendencies, figuring out that he was a one-read quarterback. 

How easy was it to defend the Jets offense under Smith's watch? According to one Bills player (h/t the New York Post's Mark Cannizzaro), they were "bummed" to see Smith pulled from the game, knowing how predictable he was with the football.

In the same report, Bills linebacker Preston Brown went on to describe why:

"

He was just eyeing down receivers. We saw it on film that he was just staring guys down. When we know if you do that we’re going to jump on guys’ routes, and we got some picks in the back-end with just reading his eyes.

"

Vick is not the most refined passer to every play in the NFL, but he is far from being a predictable rookie quarterback who needs to be walked through his reads with training wheels on. 

With Vick, the Kansas City Chiefs and all future opponents will have to defend the entire field and account for all possible targets (and running lanes) as opposed to zeroing in on the one primary, predetermined receiver Smith was going to throw the ball to. 

Vick has his share of flaws as a quarterback. He struggles with ball security and is more than capable of throwing away a productive drive with a bonehead decision or errant throw. After all, he had as many turnovers as Smith had by game's end last week. 

However, if the Jets are true in their intentions of winning as many games as possible, starting Vick was the only logical route to take. Not only will Vick help them from an X's and O's perspective, but the idea of a proven, respected veteran in the lineup can only give this team some much-needed juice in a lost season. 

If Vick can bring the Jets back into the realm of respectability for the first time all season, the jobs of Rex Ryan and/or general manager John Idzik may stand a chance of surviving after all. 

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