New York Jets: Grade for Each Position Group

The New York Jets defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, and the game allowed fans to gauge their team's performance, especially on a positional basis. 

Additionally, the team's performance will allow all Jets' observers to predict the outcome of the season. Though these predictions are preliminary, knowing that their first game is out of the way allows for a better outlook.

Of course, breaking down each of the Jets' position and analyzing them one by one will give us a better look at how well the Jets actually did.

Here are the grades for each of the Jets' position groups. 

Quarterback: C-

Although Mark Sanchez had a really good game on paper, it's tough to argue he had a good game at all. 

For the better part of the game, Sanchez looked good after the Jets' coaching staff decided to let him loose after two seasons as the starting QB. But when the fourth quarter came along, Sanchez seemingly forgot how to pass. 

In the fourth quarter, Sanchez found open receivers and missed them entirely. His passes were often erratic, and that held true on routes that weren't very complicated and his wide-outs had great spacing. Couple these erratic throws with an interception that nearly cost the Jets the game, and the conclusion is pretty unanimous: Sanchez looked pretty mediocre.

Offensive Line: B

The Jets' offensive line didn't look horrible in this game for the most part – rather, the Dallas Cowboys' aggressive pass rush rarely let up and often forced Sanchez into rushed throws. And when Sanchez handed it off to Shonn Greene, the line didn't crumble and allow very many negative-yardage plays. 

That said, it wasn't the Jets' offensive line that anyone's used to. DeMarcus Ware was constantly making a mess of things and disrupted whatever gameplan the Jets had laid out.

To be fair, the Jets' minor issues at the offensive line are also the blame of the team's new-found faith in Sanchez. Had the quarterback gotten the ball out a little quicker, the Jets' offensive line doesn't look so bad.  

Running Backs: B-

Looking at the ball-carrying numbers, both Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson played horribly against the Dallas Cowboys. 

After watching the game, though, it isn't difficult to see that Greene and Tomlinson had bigger impacts in the passing game. 

When Mark Sanchez successfully dumped off to LaDainian Tomlinson (like he had done for a good part of the fourth quarter), LT was a difficult carrier to wrap up – he eluded numerous Jets' defenders for pretty big yardage on screens and check-downs and gave new life to the Jets late in the game. 

Shonn Greene didn't have the same impact that LT did, though. He only caught one pass and ran ten times for 26 yards. Though you can pin that on the fact that the Cowboys have a great defense now, it's tough to look away from Greene's inability to find ways to get better yardage.

Wide Receivers: A-

It is difficult to penalize the Jets' wide-outs for not having as big of a game as they should have against a supposedly-weak Dallas Cowboys' secondary. 

Much of the blame has to be put on Mark Sanchez and the running game that the Jets didn't establish early on. Because when guys like Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes are open and they aren't having passes delivered to them on point all the time, it's frustrating.

But when Sanchez was playing relatively well in this game (and he had his moments), Burress and Holmes headed a very strong receiving corps. Burress' length was an asset for the Jets and it was easy to throw it in Plax's direction while he did the rest.

The other part of the equation that would lead to the Jets' receiving corps having a big game is that of the Cowboys' secondary. While starting cornerback Terrence Newman was out for the game, the Cowboys' corners and safeties aren't all that great. In this game, though, it was easy to tell that Rob Ryan had a positive influence that helped hinder the Jets' wide-outs.

Regardless, the receivers had a great game, considering the circumstances. 

Defensive Front and Linebackers: B

The New York Jets' front seven were actually pretty good. Against an average opponent, this performance would have garnered an 'A'. 

Of course, it's hard to ignore that the Cowboys started a terrible (albeit young) offensive line to start the game. Though some of these guys will have impact, too many of them are inexperienced and the Jets' defensive front is always too much for any inexperienced line. 

Tony Romo was under pressure quite a bit and the Cowboys' run game was non-existant. The Jets' defensive line had its hand in shaping Romo's collapse at the end of the game, mainly because they forced him to move out of the pocket and let the secondary blanket the receivers. 

Overall, the performance was good, but against an offensive line like the Cowboys? You had to expect an absolute clinic.

Secondary: B+

It's a little surprising how well the Dallas Cowboys' wide-outs did against the Jets' stingy secondary. Though Darrelle Revis shut down Dez Bryant while he covered him, Tony Romo did a good job of exploiting the weak corner, Antonio Cromartie and slinging it to Miles Austin on numerous occasions. 

The passing game had its way with the Jets' secondary, something not a lot of teams can say. And though the Jets did win, had they lost, the Cowboys' passing game would have been the reason for it.

Still, the Jets' secondary forced Romo into some really terrible plays down the stretch because of their tight coverage. Plus, before the Cowboys' collapse, the majority of passes caught by the Cowboys were hotly contested, including a Miles Austin touchdown pass that saw both Cromartie and Austin come down with the ball in the endzone.

Kicker: A+

Nick Folk had a tremendous impact on the game in the only real way a kicker can have such a big impact – in the waning moments of the game with the contest on the line. 

Folk drilled a 50-yard go-ahead field goal with almost a half-minute left in the game. And though there was plenty more the special teams unit did, this was the most significant.