New York Jets Defense Gashed on the Ground in Loss to Oakland Raiders

The Jets defense is usually very good against the run, even when facing elite backs like Darren McFadden. Today, however, the Jets defense looked anything but elite against the Raiders rushing attack. 

The numbers are a bit odd in this game; the Raiders failed to convert a single third down, but still put over 200 rushing yards on the Jets. Most of McFadden's yards came on a long scamper for a score, but he still managed to add some chunks of plays on the ground after that. 

The weakness in the Jets run defense is now well-known: they are weak when defending outside runs. Most of the Raiders rushes up the middle were not very successful—but when the Jets started missing tackles on the edges, McFadden made them pay. 

The Jets at least enjoyed some quality play from Mark Sanchez, who threw for over 350 yards. LaDainian Tomlinson had a huge game as well, which is something Raiders fans are all but too familiar with seeing. 

Both teams had a ton of penalties, especially in the secondary. In fact, most of the Raiders' first downs came on penalties, most of which were committed by Antonio Cromartie, who also muffed a kickoff return, which the Raiders converted into seven points.

The Jets clearly missed Nick Mangold, and were only successful running the ball on the edges. Sanchez took a lot of hits and was clearly rattled by the end of the game. The Jets need to get him back as soon as possible before something serious happens to Sanchez. 

However, if they don't get better on defense, it might not matter anyway.