IS OFFENSIVE
Can’t wait to see Wildcat after problems dog QBs
T he Tebow-cat offense better be pretty special when the Jets finally unveil it in the season opener in exactly three weeks against the Bills, because so far their conventional offense stinks. After getting pushed around by the Giants on Saturday night in a dreary 26-3 loss, the Jets have now put up three field goals in two practice games. No touchdowns. Not very good. “Clearly, we’ve got to get more production in the regular season than we’ve gotten in these two preseason games. There is no doubt,” Rex Ryan said without any anger or frustration. “But I’m 100% sure when we kick it off for real that we will have more production.”
Who says Ryan is done with guarantees? It’s not quite like guaranteeing the Super Bowl, but getting into the end zone is a first step. There are three pretty good reasons why the Jets offense looks like it had skipped the last three weeks in Cortland:
The Wildcat will be a big part of the offense and the Jets have not run one play with the scheme in which they expect Tebow to flourish. The first Wildcat play will come against the Bills.
There are not enough playmakers when everybody is healthy, and against the Giants they were without Santonio Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, Chaz Schilens, three of their top four wide receivers.
The offensive line is a big problem. It’s hard to imagine what Ryan and GM Mike Tannenbaum were thinking going into the summer with Wayne Hunter at right tackle again. He picked up where he left off last year, and against the Giants’ explosive pass rush, he was responsible for Sanchez getting sacked three times.
“I know we can play better than that up front,” Sanchez said. “I know we can block those fourman rush looks. I’ve seen our guys do it. I know we have the right personnel. We’ll get that stuff right and we’ll improve.”
The Jets are running out of time. The starters will likely play three quarters next Sunday night against Carolina and then not at all in the final preseason game against the Eagles. “Rex said it after the game — it’s the second preseason game,” Sanchez said. “It’s not time to hit the panic button. We have to improve. I know we can do it.”
Just mentioning the existence of a panic button they claim they are not hitting means the Jets are close to hitting the panic button. Sanchez faced so much pressure from Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul that it’s hard to put too much blame on him for what happened to the offense.
Still, one of the few times he had a clean pocket and was not facing any pressure, he threw behind Patrick Turner and rookie cornerback Jayron Hosley jumped the route and picked it off. Hosley returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. Pick-sixes have been a problem for Sanchez.
“That’s one I would like to have back,” Sanchez said. “I know I can complete that pass.”
Tebow was greeted with a nice reception from Jets fan when he entered the game for the first time with 11:52 left in the third quarter. He immediately started moving the offense. Of course, it helped that by this time Tuck was yukking it up on the sidelines with Eli Manning while Umenyiora and JPP had towels draped over their shoulders as they chatted on the bench.
Even so, at least the Jets were moving. On a second-and-20 from the Giants 29, Tebow ran out of the pocket to his right. That’s a hard throw for a left handed quarterback. But he had rookie Stephen Hill wide open two yards deep in the end zone. No Giant was anywhere close. Tebow misread the safety and threw it low. Hill dived for the ball but could not come up with it.
“I should have put it up higher,” Tebow said.
In three weeks, the Jets get the Bills. They know what Saturday night was all about. “Ultimately, it’s practice,” Tebow said. Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano is playing it very vanilla. He doesn’t want to put anything on tape in August that teams can use to prepare against the Jets in September. But for their confidence, the Jets need to have some success against the Panthers next week.
Sanchez and Tebow were sacked a combined seven times and threw for only 128 yards. About the only positive news was that the first-team defense held Manning to just two field goals in the first half.
The Sanchez-Tebow tag team is still is not nearly on the level of Tom Brady, of course, but the Jets’ season depends on the gamble Ryan is taking that two quarterbacks give the Jets a better chance to catch the Patriots.
However the Jets want to spin it, they brought in Tebow because of doubts that Sanchez could handle the job himself. Tebow brings a completely different skill set and between the two of them the Jets hope to create enough firepower to back up a defense that should be among the best in the S league. anchez regressed last season, which is why the Jets first contacted Peyton Manning, and when he had no interest, they traded for Tebow after the Broncos signed Manning. Sanchez will run the Jets’ regular offense, Tebow will run the Wildcat and between the two, Ryan hopes the Jets score enough points to move ahead of the Patriots and finish first in the AFC East.
Of course, after the way the Jets looked against the Giants, you have to wonder what they were doing up in Cortland the last three weeks.