Fresh off an emotional, come-from-behind win against Jerry Jones and his playoff-aspiring Cowboys on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the Jets will play host to the less-than-imposing Jags this Sunday.
The in-transition Jaguars, after suddenly releasing incumbent starting quarterback David Garrard just days before their opener, will go to battle with 30-year-old journeyman backup quarterback Luke McCown (now with eight career starts) as their starter under center, while they wait for top-pick Blaine Gabbert to familiarize himself with the offense. In other words, they’re not very good. To boot, their untested 1–0 record came against equally unimpressive Tennessee in a battle that could give them the inside track in the race for next-to-last place in the AFC South.
Meanwhile, Rex Ryan’s team fared well against a very good quarterback in Tony Romo and a defense featuring DeMarcus Ware’s pass-rushing ability, combined with the competent play-calling of Rex’s twin—the long-haired version.
Conversely, McCown’s lack of playing time in a league he’s been a member of since Butch Davis took him in the fourth round for Cleveland back in 2004 speaks volumes about his perceived ability to play the most important position on the field—he doesn’t have what it takes. (In all fairness, he hit on 17 of 24 passes for 175 yards Sunday and didn’t throw a pick.)
The last time these two teams met, though, the Jets were the ones going through a bit of a transition, with then-rookie Mark Sanchez making his ninth career start—a 24–22 last-second loss, in which Ryan actually instructed his defense to let Jacksonville go the 10 remaining yards into the end-zone with 90 seconds left and his team clinging to a one-point lead and a single timeout.
Unfortunately, not everyone complied. Said a reminiscing Ryan, “Ten of us knew to let him score. I’m not going to put Marques Douglas under the bus [joking]. You know I love Douglas, but he had the classic quote of all time. He told me, ‘Hey, he’d been breaking that tackle all day.’ [I was] like, ‘Really, that’s what you came up with?’”
After the errant-made tackle on Jones-Drew, the running back apparently caught on to the strategy and promptly kneeled down (untouched) at the one-yard line on the next play. Following a near-complete milking of the clock, place-kicker Josh Scobee hit the go-ahead field goal, and the game was over.
This time, the Jets enter with the more seasoned signal-caller in Sanchez coming off a Pro-Bowl-worthy performance. Their once-reliable running game looks to rebound against a Jacksonville defense, which allowed 4.7 yards per carry last year (third-worst in the NFL), yet held newly paid running back Chris Johnson to a paltry 24 yards on nine carries—numbers comparable to the Jets’ disappointing rushing attack Sunday.
In any case, as long as Ryan’s defense is up to their usual task, the Jags should stay out of the end-zone—so long as Ryan allows it.
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