NFL

Hard to give Jets benefit of touchdown drought

The Jets are saying all the right things about their preseason touchdown drought — the games don’t count, no reason to panic, wait until the regular season. But what are they really thinking?

“If you were a fly on the wall of that offensive meeting room, you’d see guys as embarrassed as you can possibly be as a professional athlete,” said ESPN analyst Merril Hoge, who played seven years for the Steelers and Bears. “It should be taken very personally.”

Hoge recalled the 1990 season with the Steelers when his team struggled in the preseason and then failed to score an offensive touchdown in the first four games of the season under new offensive coordinator Joe Walton, the former Jets coach.

“We did not click in the preseason,” Hoge said. “We had no confidence, and it did carry over.”

The Jets swear they won’t let their preseason performance affect them when the regular season begins in less than two weeks — Sept. 9 against the Bills.

But there is plenty of reason to be concerned after watching them fail to score a touchdown in 35 possessions over three games. The Jets could not even punch it in when they had a first-and-goal at the 7 in Sunday night’s 17-12 loss to the Panthers.

“By the time we get going, we will be a confident group,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt. Have we had our entire offensive package out there in the preseason? No. Do we feel comfortable with our offense? I would say yes. … We’ll see once we get it cranked up, but again, there were some encouraging signs [Sunday.]”

The numbers are not encouraging. The Jets are dead last in the preseason in scoring (7.0 points per game), yards (203.7), passing yards (99) and yards per play (3.5). They are 31st in third downs (22 percent), ahead of only the Giants.

Hoge points the finger at the offensive line. While the pass-protection struggles of the exiled Wayne Hunter garnered headlines, Hoge said the team’s run blocking most concerns him.

The Jets have preached getting back to a “ground and pound” mentality, but Hoge said the Jets are struggling to block linebackers on the “second level.” Hoge points to two plays the Jets ran effectively in 2009 and 2010 — a Power O and a dive up the gut — that he said the Jets have not run effectively.

“When they went to two AFC Championship games, they could control the line of scrimmage and tempo and dictate when they threw the ball,” Hoge said. “They ran the Power O 90 percent of the time to the right. Everyone knew it, but it didn’t matter. They couldn’t stop it.”

Hoge believes the Jets should move quarterback Tim Tebow to running back as a complement to Shonn Greene.

“If I was them, I’d realize there ain’t no way he’s going to get better [as a quarterback],” Hoge said. “You could run some Power Os with him at 250 pounds. Obviously, there would be a flea-flicker/throw element to what he does.”

Tebow finished the preseason completing 36.1 percent (13-for-36) of his passes for 151 yards with two interceptions and seven sacks. Starter Mark Sanchez completed 68.6 percent (24-of-35) for 203 yards with two interceptions and six sacks. Both will sit out Thursday’s finale in Philadelphia.

Things have been so bad for the Jets that wide receiver Santonio “Mr. Positive” Holmes was searching for silver linings Sunday night.

“The field goal team looked pretty good out there, making their field goals,” he said after the team made four 3-pointers.

Well, there is that.