New York Jets Need Running Game to Get Back on Track

Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a fine job of carrying the New York Jets to victory over the past two weeks, playing some of the best football he's ever played.

If the Jets want to keep winning, though, they can't continue to rely on him to put the team on his back—or his beard. 

On Sunday against the New York Giants, the Jets ran the ball 24 times for just 90 yards. That's the fifth time in the past seven games that they've rushed for 90 or fewer yards. Their ability to win goes way down when they aren't getting good production out of their running game; they are 2-4 when they rush for fewer than 100 yards, and they are 5-1 when they rush for more than 100 yards.

It's not like they were shut down by the 1985 Chicago Bears, either; the Giants run defense was fairly pedestrian headed into Sunday's game, allowing an average of 110 yards per game before facing the Jets. 

In the past, the biggest excuse has been injuries for running back Chris Ivory. The veteran bell cow had a groin injury earlier this season, but he's no longer listed on the injury report. He was effective on Sunday when he had opportunities, picking up an average of 4.7 yards per carry, but he only had 10 carries for 47 yards.

The Jets would be within their rights to avoid running Ivory into the ground, but with such a small workload, his energy level should never have even crossed their minds. If they wanted to run him, they probably would have.

They didn't, because Fitzpatrick was playing well enough to win the game. He was 14-of-19 for 169 yards and a touchdown in the first half, and 22-of-31 for 221 yards and a touchdown in the second half and overtime. In short, he was very efficient from start to finish in Sunday's game.

The question is whether he can remain that efficient from start to finish as the Jets look to complete their playoff run. History tells us the answer to that question is no. Heck, you don't have to look further back than the 2015 season for examples of the Jets putting the game in Fitzpatrick's hands and watching him drop the ball.

In Weeks 10 and 11, Fitzpatrick was 34-of-73 passing (46.6 percent) for 409 yards (5.6 YPA), three touchdowns and four interceptions. Fitzpatrick has a 15-43-1 record as a starter when he throws 30 or more passes in a game.

He's 2-0 when throwing 30 or more times in the past two weeks, though, and the Jets have had Fitzpatrick throw 30 or more times in eight out of 11 games (not counting Week 8, when Fitzpatrick was injured after five pass attempts). Their record in those eight games is an even 4-4.

The Jets can also find ways to manufacture running plays in the passing game, like they did with Bilal Powell on Sunday. The veteran third-down back had eight catches for 91 yards and his first touchdown of the season against the Giants, making a point that the running backs should always be respected out of the backfield in the Jets offense.

But if they're going to get yards on the ground, the offensive line needs to open those holes up front. That's been a problem for it all season long, and it led to the running game being shut down on Sunday. The offensive line was beat all day long and gave up three sacks of Fitzpatrick in the passing game as well.

Whatever the reason, Fitzpatrick's track record is not good when a team puts the fate of the offense in his hands. He did great over the past two weeks by finding wide receivers Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall on a consistent basis, but he has no margin for error if the running game doesn't get its act together.