HOT CORNER: With Darrelle Revis’ season over due to a torn ACL, the Jets will need a big contribution from cornerback Antonio Cromartie (above), who had a 40-yard TD return in Week 1. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
As the cart carrying Darrelle Revis left Sun Life Stadium on Sunday, you had to wonder if the Jets’ playoff hopes went with it.
This is a team that had a myriad of problems already — no running game, no depth at wide receiver, a shoddy run defense — and now it had just lost its best player.
In the immediate aftermath of Revis’ season-ending knee injury, everyone seemed to point at two people who now had the pressure on them — coach Rex Ryan and new starting cornerback Kyle Wilson.
There is no doubt these two suddenly have a lot riding on their shoulders, but they are just two of several who now must step up to salvage the Jets’ season and not let it fall apart because of Monday’s MRI exam of Revis’ left knee.
Here are three men not named Rex or Kyle, who now control the Jets’ fate:
1. Antonio Cromartie: The Jets believe Cromartie would be the No. 1 cornerback on most other teams. On the Jets, he always has been Ed McMahon to Revis’ Johnny Carson. Now, we get to find out if he can carry the show.
Cromartie is immensely talented but far less consistent than Revis. He seems to have two modes of play — brilliant or boneheaded. Sunday was a perfect example. Cromartie shut down Dolphins wide receiver Brian Hartline for most of the game, but then gave up a 41-yard pass to him in overtime. If Dan Carpenter had hit the 48-yard field goal he missed, Cromartie would have been the goat of the game.
Without Revis, Cromartie will be covering every team’s top wide receiver as the Jets do their best to keep as much pressure off Wilson and nickelback Ellis Lankster as they can.
The Jets believe Cromartie can handle it. But they also know he has his limitations. That is why they pursued Nnamdi Asomugha in 2011 before giving Cromartie a four-year, $32 million deal as a consolation prize.
Even defensive coordinator Mike Pettine admitted last season he never is sure which Cromartie is going to show up, saying he asks defensive backs coach Dennis Thurman each week whether they’ll get the “good Cro” or the “bad Cro.”
Now, more than ever, the Jets need the good Cro.
2. Mike Tannenbaum: The Jets’ general manager is going to take some shots if Wilson does not play well. Tannenbaum took Wilson in the first round of the 2010 Draft and has been criticized for the pick.
Wilson mostly has played in the nickel package until now, so the criticism has not all been fair. Now, we should get a clearer picture of what Wilson actually is capable of and whether using the pick on him was wise.
Tannenbaum needs to address what is behind Cromartie and Wilson, too. At the moment, Ellis Lankster and Isaiah Trufant are the Nos. 3 and 4 corners, but both are better suited for special-teams play and limited exposure on defense.
Tannenbaum could find an upgrade off the street or swing a trade. He has shown a willingness in the past to deal draft picks for players (Cromartie, Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards). The trade market is just developing, but expect Tannenbaum to make plenty of phone calls.
3. Shonn Greene: The onus of minimizing Revis’ absence does not fall solely on the defense. The offense can help, too.
It starts with Greene, who is averaging a measly 2.8 yards per carry this year. The Jets want to be a ball-control offense that wears defenses down and keeps their own defense fresh. They can’t string together long drives without improvement from Greene.
This is a crucial season for Greene, who will be a free agent after this year. The Jets need to decide whether he can be the featured back they believed he could be or if it’s time to move on.
In a limited sample size of three games, including one he missed most of with an injury, he has not performed well. He has no runs over 15 yards and the website Pro Football Focus has him rated as their least elusive runner among backs with 50 percent of their team’s attempts.
The loss of Revis is a devastating blow for the Jets. It’s up to these three, along with Ryan and Wilson, to make sure the term “season-ending injury” does not apply to both Revis and the Jets.
No way to account for injury
Rex Ryan never has been through a crisis as great as this one in his four years as Jets coach. Health is the greatest variable in the NFL. When you sit down in the spring or summer and try to figure out how many games a team might win, it’s the factor that can’t be accounted for.
The Jets have been extremely fortunate under Ryan when it comes to injuries. Their greatest losses have been nose tackle Kris Jenkins (2009 and 2010), running back Leon Washington (2009) and safety Jim Leonhard (2010 and 2011). All were good players, but none had the value of Darrelle Revis.
If you look at whom I consider the top 12 on the team (Revis, Nick Mangold, David Harris, Sione Po’uha, Brandon Moore, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Santonio Holmes, Antonio Cromartie, Dustin Keller, Calvin Pace, Mark Sanchez and Bart Scott), they have missed a total of nine games due to injury over Ryan’s first three years.
You could call them the Dependable Dozen.
Last season, Mangold missed two games with a high ankle sprain and the season began to fall apart. Imagine what the impact of life without Revis will be.
It is an example of how small the window for success is in the NFL. The Jets came up a game short of the Super Bowl twice when healthy. When Revis’ knee buckled Sunday, the outlook for this season completely changed.
Overpaid? Only by cap
FORBES.COM published an article last week on the Top 10 most overpaid players in the NFL, and three Jets made the list — David Harris (No. 1), Santonio Holmes (5) and Antonio Cromartie was in the next five.
The article drew attention and led to some easy Jets-bashing, but if you take a closer look at the article it has a major flaw. The author based the salaries on the players’ salary cap number and not their actual compensation.
Salary cap charges are easily manipulated by teams, who convert players’ salaries into bonuses to lower salary cap numbers.
For example, Mario Williams will make $25 million from the Bills this year but his cap number is $9.8 million. Harris has a high cap figure ($12 million) but will actually make less than that this year because of a prorated bonus.
So, while the Jets are an easy target for a lot of things, this one was unfair.