Bowles’ crew runs nowhere without Ivory
The Jets didn’t want to risk Chris Ivory with a groin injury Sunday, and their vaunted running game was DOA as a result.
Their leading rusher was active and ready to go in, but the Jets never gave him that chance in a 2417 loss to the Eagles at MetLife Stadium that came about in large part because Ivory’s fellow running backs had nowhere to go.
The duo of Bilal Powell and Zac Stacy mustered just 34 yards on 12 carries with Ivory sidelined, even though Philadelphia came in with the NFL’s 24thranked defense (17th against the run) and was missing top linebackers Kiko Alonso and Mychal Kendricks.
Ivory, who had 148 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries in Gang Green’s first two games, said he could have played but signed off on coach Todd Bowles’ decision to sit him despite activating him.
“Early on, I didn’t feel that I would be well enough to be productive,” Ivory said. “But the more I got going and the warmer I got, I felt good. I felt really good. [But] the decision was made. I was happy with it. I was happy with it for the reason that I don’t want something lingering around most of the year.”
Bowles said the Jets were more concerned about the rest of the season for the fragile Ivory instead of just Sunday. “He warmed up and said he could play,” Bowles said. “He missed a lot of practice time during the week. We thought it would be better to go with the other two guys to make sure he was full speed next week.”
Much of the Jets’ futility rushing the ball stemmed from the scoreboard. After the Eagles jumped out to a 240 lead in the second quarter, the Jets were forced to all but abandon the run and rely on Ryan Fitzpatrick’s arm in hopes of rallying.
Fitzpatrick ended up throwing a whopping 58 passes (completing 36, but for just 283 yards with three interceptions), while Powell and Stacy repeatedly hit an unexpected stone wall from the Philly front seven.
Powell finished with 31 yards on 10 carries, while Stacy was held to just 3 yards on two rushes. Fitzpatrick ended up the Jets’ secondleading rusher with 14 yards on four scrambles.
Powell said the Eagles crossed up the Jets with stunts and switches by their defensive linemen that more often than not worked out with a defender ending up in the face of Powell or Stacy.
“They had a lot of young linebackers today because of injuries, so they made up for it with a lot of stunts that caught up to us,” Powell said. “They’d showed that on film, so this was on us.”
Bowles said the Jets’ offensive line didn’t help matters, either, rarely making space for the backs. That was especially the case after guard Willie Colon was lost to a knee injury.
“We weren’t going to come back from a 24nothing deficit just running the football,” Bowles said. “So, there are going to be times where it swings both ways. … We’ve got to create holes for them as well.”