There are not nearly as many secrets in the NFL as the culture of paranoid coaches and front offiź¦ce executives would lead you to believe. One thing about the Jets that has become no secret two games into the season is this: Geno Smith, their rookie quarterback, is not yet quite ready for prime time.
The quickest way to protectź§ Smith and allow him to flourish while reducing the risk of ą¦making too many game-changing mistakes (see his three interceptions in last Thursdayās loss to the Patriots) is to play good defense and run the ball effectively.
This is where the Jets, as they prepare to play the 1-1 Bills Sunday at MetLife Stadium, are conflicted. Their new offensivešŖ coordinator, Marty š·Mornhinweg, wants to pass, pass and pass some more.
This is a complete reversal of the philosšophy Jets coacšh Rex Ryan successfully employed in 2009 when he carried mistake-prone rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez along for the ride to the AFC Championship.
Remember that successful combo platter of āground and poundāā and great defense, Jš§ets fans?
Those werenāt bad times, where they?
Those times, thź¦°ough, āseem like a decade or more ago, not the mere three or four years weāre removed from them.
Listening to Ryan talk now, tšhough, makes you wonder if he even remembers āground and poundāā ā a phrase he wore out like a badly overplayed hit song on the radio in 2009 and 2010.
āDo I expect us to run more than pass? Not really,āā Ryan said. āThe way the gź§ ame is played now ā¦ I like to attack down the field.āā
Ryan hinted Friday he doesnāt have theš» horses on the roster to rely on the running game.
āWhen we were ground-and-pound, that was based on our personnel,ā he said. āWe had three great tail backs with Thomas Jones, with Sšhonn Greene and Leon Washington [and fullback] Tony Richą± ardson.āā
The Jets will play the Bills on Sunday, still in search of an offensive identity. Theyāve scored a total of 28 points in two games and were lucky to win ošne game.
āI donāt think weāve played enough games together yet to say what our identity is on offense,āā guard Willie Colon said Friday. āItās only Week 3. Itās going to take a cą²ouple more dog fights for us to find out iš³f weāre a pass or a run team. I think we have the personnel to do both at a high level.āā
The Jets might have beaten the Pź¦atriots on Sept. 12 had Mornhinweg not run away from the running game too oftāen. There were a couple of times in the game, a close game because of the Patriotsā ineptitude on offense, when it looked as if the New England defense could not stop the Jetsā running game.
Jets running back Chris Ivory had consecutive runs of 11, 4 and 15 yards and was never allowšed to get back into a rhythm again.
What happened to staying with ź¦the hot hand? Why not keep giving a running back the ball until the defense shows it can stop him? Sometimes in this over-thinking world of rosters filled with role players, coaches outcoaą¹ch themselves.
āAny backš¬ likes to get into a rhythm,āā Ivory said Friday. āBut thatās the coachesā calš¼l. Iām not mad about anything. Iām just rolling with the play calls.āā
Through two games, the Jets have passed the ball 73 times (turning it over six times in the passing game, with four interceptions and two lost fumbles) and run it 61 times. Mornhinweg wants to pass the ball while his quarterback would benefit from a more consistent commitšment to the running game.
āLook, this is more than Iāve ever run theš ball,āā Mornhinweg said Thursday. āWe want to be aggressive, aggressive, aggressive.āā
ą± Aggressive is great as long as the quarterback is not turning the ball over five times in twoš games and completing only 53.4-percent of his passes.
The 1-1 Jets bring the No. 2 ranked defense to the š¦field on Sunday. Good defense alone is going to keep the offense in the game. Add a larger portion of grouną¹d-and-pound to it and sprinkle in some passing game and that will give the Jets their best chance of getting to 2-1 by dayās end.