5 2014 Stats the New York Jets Must Improve Upon in 2015
The New York Jets were downright awful in 2014.
Gang Green lost 11 of its first 13 games and finished the season with a lowly 4-12 record.
The team struggled in a variety of areas on both sides of the ball throughout the year.
New York has upgraded multiple positional units this offseason in an effort to improve the squad.
However, in order to win more than four games and compete for a postseason spot for the first time in a half-decade, the Jets have to improve in several significant statistics.
*Unless otherwise noted, all statistics were gathered from NFL.com
Passing Touchdowns Allowed
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The Jets were nothing short of horrendous against the pass last season.
With a makeshift secondary made up of unproven and subpar defensive backs, New York was burned by opposing passing attacks every Sunday.
Gang Green entered the year with significant question marks in the secondary, and a season-ending injury to Dee Milliner only worsened the situation, as did rookie Calvin Pryor’s relative ineffectiveness.
It also didn't help that New York had to face a murderer's row of elite quarterbacks week in and week out for much of the season.
In all, the Jets gave up a ridiculous 31 touchdowns through the air, which unsurprisingly ranked dead last in the league.
However, after the team's free agent blitz that brought back former Jets Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, as well as Buster Skrine and Marcus Gilchrist, that number could be cut in half.
It better be if New York plans to compete in 2015.
Turnover Ratio
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A mistake-prone quarterback and a defense that lacks playmakers are not a good match.
And that's exactly what New York had to deal with in 2014.
Geno Smith repeated many of the errors that plagued him in his rookie season, as he struggled with poor decision-making and inaccuracy.
Smith's struggles resulted in him being benched for a three-game stretch late in the year, but his replacement, Michael Vick, wasn't much better.
The two quarterbacks combined for 15 interceptions over the course of the season, and the Jets only threw the ball 498 times.
In addition, New York fumbled 14 times, losing nine of them.
Moreover, Gang Green's defense wasn't able to make opponents pay for their mistakes.
Despite solid play from the front seven all year long, the Jets only managed six interceptions and seven fumble recoveries.
Rex Ryan's team ended 2014 with a horrific minus-11 turnover ratio, which ranked near the bottom of the NFL.
With a revamped secondary, the Jets defense should be able to force more mistakes in 2015.
However, with Geno Smith still slated to start under center, the offense may face many of the same issues.
Sacks Allowed
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Many of New York's mistakes on the offensive side of the ball are directly correlated to the poor pass protection from the line.
The offensive front was inconsistent throughout the year, especially when Geno Smith dropped back.
In all, the unit allowed 47 sacks. Only the Chiefs, Titans and Jaguars were worse in that department in the entire AFC.
Most of the issues on the line were a result of subpar play from the guard spots, as Willie Colon, Brian Winters and Oday Aboushi all struggled in pass protection.
D'Brickashaw Ferguson also continued his steady decline, as he was consistently beaten by quicker outside pass-rushers.
The Jets have done little to improve the interior of the line this offseason aside from bringing in James Carpenter.
Carpenter is young and has some potential, but he has yet to emerge as a solid starter.
Unless the former Seahawk can step up his game, and either Winters or Aboushi can develop considerably, New York could once again struggle to keep its quarterback upright.
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Red-Zone Efficiency
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The Jets offense wasn't as terrible as it was made out to be in 2014.
At times, the unit looked pretty dangerous, especially in games against the Packers, Bears, Patriots and Vikings.
However, New York struggled to put up points throughout the season, largely due to its struggles in the opponent's 20-yard line.
Gang Green only managed to score a touchdown on 36.17 percent of its red-zone appearances, per Team Rankings.
That conversion rate ranked dead last in the NFL. In fact, every other team managed to reach the end zone on at least 40 percent of its red-zone trips.
The Jets' red-zone struggles could be blamed on a number of factors, whether it be Marty Mornhinweg's questionable play-calling, Geno Smith's inaccuracy or a lack of red-zone weapons.
Whatever the reason, it must be improved significantly in 2015.
Points Per Game
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It is hard to string together victories in today's NFL if you just can't score points.
And that's exactly what the Jets' problem was a year ago. Frankly, it has been the team's problem for over a half-decade.
New York only managed 17.7 points per game in 2014. It scored over 25 points just once—in Week 17—and was held under 20 points on 10 separate occasions.
Even with a mightily improved defense, the Jets face an uphill battle to make the playoffs in 2015.
In 2014, five of the six AFC playoff teams averaged over 25 points a game. The only postseason contender that put up less than 20 points a contest was the Cardinals, who played most of the season without a viable NFL quarterback.
In modern-day NFL, scoring wins games.
If the Jets can't do much of it next season, it might not matter how well the defense plays.
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