New York Jets Season: Should Jets and Their Fans Be Worried This Year

The New York Jets won a wild one against the Dallas Cowboys this past Sunday night, but it was an ugly one.  Yes, I know, at least they got the win; and yes, good teams know how to win in those types of situations.

But should the Jets have been in that situation to begin with?  Their mistake-filled game almost cost them that win.  Then we're not looking at: "good teams find a way to win," or "we'll take a win," blah, blah, blah.

A team and their head coach who is predicting a Super Bowl look far from being capable of getting there...so far.

The way the Jets looked on Sunday night, should the Jets organization be worried about fulfilling their mission?  Should the fans be worried about more empty promises?

Offensive Line

The Jets O-Line played terribly against the Dallas Cowboys' defense.  In total, they allowed four sacks and six QB hits.  Sanchez played well, but a few days after the game, the team ran some tests looking for any signs of a concussion.  Sanchez was crushed by OLB DeMarcus Ware on the Jets' first play.

Sanchez needs time in the pocket, and  the O-Line isn't giving it to him so far (lookin' at you, Wayne Hunter).  Hunter was getting spanked by DeMarcus Ware for most of the game.  The pass-rush wasn't up to par either.

A team that prides itself on being a physical football team was far from it in its first game.  They need to fix that immediately, with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming up this Sunday.  They don't want a repeat of their game against the Jaguars in '09.

Defense

The Jets, who are known for their smothering defense, looked anything but that against the Dallas Cowboys.  The defense posed very little to no threat in the pass-rush, giving Dallas QB Tony Romo enough time to pick apart the Jets secondary.

It's known that the Jets, at times, have problems defending the middle of the field, and don't play well against big TE's.  If they want any chance at the Super Bowl, or even making  the playoffs, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine needs to adjust.  Their linebackers who aren't adept to pass-coverage need to step up.

The secondary, with the exception of Darrelle Revis, looked awful—Antonio Cromartie is still recovering from some burns after being toasted by Miles Austin and Dez Bryant, each for a TD.

Mistakes

The Jets and Mark Sanchez made a few mistakes that almost cost them the game.  Mark Sanchez and Tony Romo were playing who wants to lose the game more in the fourth quarter, and Tony Romo ended up winning that battle.

Yes, if it weren't for a blocked punt,  the Jets wouldn't have been able to put themselves in a winning position.  But what we witnessed in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter was absurd, and most likely won't happen again any time soon: Tony Romo fumbling at the one-yard line and the Jets recovering, Sanchez, feeling bad for Romo, decided to give the ball right back, fumbling the ball after a few plays; Romo then decided to play catch with Revis and threw the ball right at him.

Oh, I almost forgot, Sanchez also threw an interception to LB Sean Lee at the end of the third quarter, and it resulted in the Cowboys scoring a TD.

Slow Starts

It's no secret the Jets are notorious for their slow starts.  As of now, the Jets have yet to score an offensive TD in the first quarter in their last 16 games.  That needs to change immediately.  The new-look offense and its "improved" receiving corps were M.I.A. for the early part of the game. 

Sanchez connected with Plaxico Burress late in the game for a TD, and Derrick Mason had a few receptions for 19 yards (Mason dropped a pass in the end zone).  The Jets' passing game struggled for most of the half against a weak Dallas secondary.

The Jets need to start scoring early in the game, or else they'll be playing catch-up throughout the season, and luck may not be on their side again.

The Disappearance of the Ground 'n Pound

The Jets are known for their "ground 'n pound" offense, but it was non-existent against the Cowboys on Sunday night.  Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 42 yards combined.

Due to the lack of production, and having to play catch-up, the Jets strayed from the run game for the most part.  Less than 30% of the offensive plays called were runs.  Rex Ryan promised to "air it out" this season, but the attack needs to be more balanced.

LT showed he can still make some big-time plays as a third-down back, catching some key passes (six receptions for 73 yards) out of the backfield throughout the game, but Shonn Greene needs to step up and produce as a feature back this year.  Greene had 10 carries for 26 yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry; not exactly feature back stats.

Again, this may not be entirely the running backs' faults, and may be due to the O-Line's problems and lack of run blocking this game, but regardless, the run blocking and run game need to improve dramatically, so it can open up the play-action and passing game more.

Jets Legitimate Contender?

The way the Jets started off against the Cowboys, the Dallas offense having their way with the Jets defense, the Jets being unable to produce anything on offense, was eerily similar to the way the 2011 AFC championship against the Steelers started, except the outcome was different this time around and the Jets were able to get the win.

The Jets need to step up and be able to back up their talk soon, or they will come up short of expectations again and this season will end the way last year's did (we all know how that one ended), and that's all it will ever be, just talk.