With a week gone by now since Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets offense put up their latest putrid effort it seems apparent that Ryan will stand by last week’s postgame declaration that Sanchez would remain the starter moving forward. That would presumably still leave Tebow, who the Jets traded multiple draft picks for in the offseason, as the little-used backup.
When asked Monday, according to a report on the team’s website, about whether Tebow would have an increased role, Ryan responded, “We'll see.” Meanwhile Ryan also mentioned he would talk with Sanchez about the Miami performance, though no major changes seemed in order.
This would seem to spell a continuing problem.
To recap the Jets season thus far, keeping Sanchez in at quarterback would appear to be the safe, yet unproductive move that would keep the Jets headed toward another unacceptable, non-playoff ending season. The fourth-year quarterback Sanchez boasts a quarterback rating of 72.8—good for 30th in the league out of 34—and has shown little signs of improvement.
Obviously the 3–5 last-place Jets need to improve on offense, if they want to avoid a 6–10 season and another offseason of second-guessing. Remember the Jets, after playing five of their first eight games at home, are now away for five of the final eight, making a significant run toward the postseason even more difficult.
If Ryan is intent on going down the same road with Sanchez as the starter while Tebow bides his time on the sidelines at least he should change the way Sanchez drives—go to the no-huddle offense.
The only time the Jets had any semblance of a capable offense against Miami Sunday was at the end of the first half and the end of the game when they were in desperation mode and just scrapped the huddle for parts of the series.
The no-huddle puts the defense on their heels making it difficult to substitute, while the offense is able to find a rhythm.
Sanchez was a combined 18/29 passing for 192 yards and a touchdown on those three series (two in the fourth quarter), which is good for a quarterback rating of 92.9. That would mean for the rest of the game Sanchez was just 10/25 passing for 91 yards and an interception—good for a rating of 33.9.
That would explain the nine points scored.
Is it likely that Ryan and his offensive coordinator Tony Sparano will go for it? Of course not. Not only have they been resistant to change their clearly struggling quarterback, they seem intent on staying with the slower paced ground-and-pound run game despite the results.
The Jets are 14th in the league at 109.8 rushing yards per game but are just 24th in yards per carry at 3.9. Yet on those three no-huddle drives against Miami the Jets ran the ball three times for 23 yards—good for 7.7 yards a pop.
Granted the rushing numbers are based off an extremely small sample, but if Sanchez is passing well in the no-huddle, is it that much of a stretch to think that defenses would finally have to adjust, which would open up the running game? Doesn’t seem like it.
The no-huddle offense is certainly an extreme adjustment to their mediocre offense, but when you’re already in last place, it couldn’t be any worse.
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