The Jets claim their style is ground-and-pound. They say they want to beat teams in the trenches and win games with their offensive line. Yesterday that line allowed a half-dozen sacks and saw the ground game smothered and lost Damien Woody to a knee injury.
“It was horrible. It’s not the way we envisioned, not the way we want it,” said center Nick Mangold after the Jets’ 10-6 loss to the Dolphins. “We seem to be sputtering, shooting ourselves in the foot. No matter what, we have to be able to pound through it, and it’s on us for not doing it. We’ve got to grind, put it on our shoulders. We didn’t do it [yesterday].”
The Jets’ offense came into yesterday’s game averaging 148.4 yards rushing, fourth-best in the NFL, but yesterday were held to 87 yards on 31 ineffective carries. LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene had no room to run, and Mark Sanchez was sacked six times.
“We had some turnovers, killer penalties, just never really got in a groove,” said right guard Brandon Moore. “We didn’t really play well up front I think, didn’t get the job done.
“We just didn’t play well. It’s as simple as that.”
Moore lost Woody, his partner on the right side, early in the game to a MCL injury and replaced by Wayne Hunter. Woody had sprained his knee on Nov. 21, and hadn’t practiced much since then.
“It just locked up. I’ve got to get another MRI [today] to see if anything else is going on, really. We’ve got to see what’s going on and get some more answers,” said Woody.
That could apply to the Jets’ offense as well, which has mustered just three field goals total in losses to New England and Miami.
“We’ve got to get back on track offensively, play the brand of football we know we’re capable of,” Woody said. “We put ourselves in a bind time and time again . . . In order to win the war you’ve got to win your individual battles. Each man just has to step up and do better individually.”
That’s a huge concern with the Steelers’ daunting defense looming next week.
“I’m very concerned,” admitted coach Rex Ryan. “You look at our next opponent, and if you think this defense is good, just wait until next week. Pittsburgh is going to be a huge challenge, and down the road, we need to make sure we find a way to get better. We have to get better.”