Gang’s line must pick up the sack
The Jets’ biggest weakness is their offensive line, and the team’s road struggles this season can be traced back to poor play — particularly in pass protection — from the big men up front.
Through 14 weeks, the Jets have allowed the seventhmost sacks in the league at 39. A closer look at the statistics reveals the offensive line has been even worse than that.
The Jets are allowing a sack on 8.8% of their attempts to pass this season, a mark better than only the Packers and Colts, and that percentage balloons to 10.45% on the road. By comparison, the league average sack percentage is 6.5%, and the Chargers lead the league at 3.1% .
The pass protection was a disaster in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos, ultimately leading to the third-quarter hit that ended Josh McCown’s season. The Jets line has allowed 20 quarterback hits and 10 sacks in its past two road games, at the Bucs and at Denver.
Inconsistent communication in hostile environments seems to be the issue, and that starts with center Wesley Johnson, who will be a free agent after this season. On the Jets’ fourth offensive play Sunday at the Broncos, Johnson and right guard Brian Winters both failed to block defensive end Shelby Harris, who burst through the line untouched and sacked McCown for an eight-yard loss.
Correcting the mistakes will only be more challenging this weekend against the Saints in the Superdome, a notoriously noisy building. The Jets are 1-5 on the road this season and are averaging just 16 points per game away from MetLife.
“It’s frustrating,” Johnson said Friday. “It’s a problem we got to fix.”
forTE quEsTionablE
Running back Matt Forte (knee) did not practice Friday for the third straight day and is officially questionable for Sunday’s game in New Orleans. Right guard Brian Winters, meanwhile, was limited and is also questionable. Both Forte and Winters will be game-time decisions, according to Bowles.
“They’ll work out Sunday morning,” Bowles said. “I’m hopeful.”
Rookie running back Elijah McGuire (ankle) practiced fully Friday and will be active Sunday.
morE kErlEy?
Wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, who finished serving his four-game PED suspension earlier this week, will “probably” remain inactive Sunday at the Saints, Bowles said.
The Jets used a week-long roster exemption on Kerley that remains in effect until Monday at 4 p.m. After that, the Jets will be forced to make a move. Either they’ll waive Kerley or clear space for him on the roster by cutting a different player.
Kerley caught 22 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown before being suspended prior to the Jets’ Week 10 matchup at the Bucs.