NFL

Jets RBs get few chances

The Jets brought what they thought was a pretty stout rushing attack into Sunday’s game against the Steelers at MetLife Stadium. If you go by the statistics, you would have thought the Jets’ running game would control the Steelers’ defense, which was ranked 25th in the NFL against the run.

But when the game was over, a 19-6 Steelers win, the Jets’ 11th-ranked rushing offense looked like it was 25th in the league and the Pittsburgh run defense was ranked 11th.

The Jets’ three-headed running backs corps — Bilal Powell, Chris Ivory and Mike Goodson — managed 75 yards, though were limited to 17 carries despite having some success, averaging 4.4 yards per carry.

Worse yet, Powell, the team’s leading rusher, left the game in the fourth quarter after getting hit and Goodson was knocked out of the game late with a left knee injury that required him to be carted through the tunnel. Powell’s injury does not appear to be serious. Goodson’s, however, could be a problem.

“We pride ourselves on being a great backfield and being able to run the ball in any situation, so it’s definitely a surprise when we can’t run the ball,’’ Jets fullback Tommy Bohanan said. “But [the Steelers] had a great defense and they played very physical and came in ready to play and played downhill.’’

With that, the Jets’ chances to win the game went downhill, because the running game was critical to take the pressure off rookie quarterback Geno Smith and allow the Jets to control the line of scrimmage the way they had a week ago in Atlanta.

Now, with at least Goodson likely to miss some time, the Jets may play New England next Sunday short-handed.

“That’s definitely a big blow, because that’s two of our running backs and they’ve both been paying very well,’’ Bohanon said of Goodson and Powell. “Mike just got eligible to play and he’s been doing well the last two games and was starting to pick up a head of steam. Hopefully, they’ll be all right and we’ll have them both next week.’’

Some of the Jets believe their failure to sustain a running game had more to do with them than the Steelers.

“I don’t know if it was so much them; we weren’t as efficient as we need to be,’’ right guard Willie Colon said.

Colon seemed to second-guess whether the coaches abandoned the run too early, though quickly backed off that and supported offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

“I definitely thought we could have stayed with the run game,’’ he said. “I thought we were being efficient in that aspect of the game. But all we can do is our job. We’re not play-callers. We’ve got a lot of faith in (Mornhinweg) and his ability to call games and I’m always going to stand behind him.’’