The Jets Running Game Isn't Average
 

It's Terrible. Stats:

YPG: 96.whatever - it doesn't matter. We are 26th out of 32 teams, meaning we are in the bottom fifth in yards gained by running the ball, on the average per game. But the more significant stat especially for a team that has trouble getting a first down and maintaining drives between the 20's [as opposed to the red zone where we perform better than average]:
YPC: 3.6 - 29th out of 32 teams. which is bottom 8th in the league, meaning only THREE teams are worse than us. Of the 3 teams worse than us two have had major long term injuries to their starting RB: Cleveland's starting and backup RBs are both OUT [Hillis played in 4 games (the first 4) and Hardesty has been out the last 4 (he took two carries in the first of the four)].
NYG's Bradshaw has been out in forever.

Threading these two metrics into the overall picture on offense, you can easily see a major dynamic in the general failure as an offense.
Att/G: 26.9. There are only 11 teams that run the ball more than we do, putting us in the top 3rd of the league in Att/G. Does that mean we're riding a dead horse to the finish line, or what explains for it? Is it because we are always protecting a lead in the fourth quarter? You tell me. I think the playcalling tempo and strategic intuition for playcalling is just so bad on this team.

To round out some of the edges in the data, look at how the averages are formed - it is just consistent mediocrity, with a complete lack of big plays.
Long: 25 yards. Tied for last in the league. We have not had a game-breaking 40 yard run this year. We haven't even had a nice scamper for 30 yards. Wait...we haven't even had a 26 yard run this year.

Other stats marking the form of the data are 40+ and 20+ carries.
40+: 0. Given the above, this is not all too surprising. There are actually 11 teams that have no 40+ runs this year. And 4 actually have less 20+ than us:
20+: 4. There are 4 teams worse than us here, again we are in the bottom 8th of the league. We are tied with two others.
Putting this information together, we can see that because we have 4 carries over 20 and no carries over 25 yards, the four longest carries of the year are between 20-25 yards.
Attempts: 269. Of the 269, exactly 4 have been between 20 and 25. The rest are hovering about the pathetic average - 3.6 - again, there are only three teams in the entire league worse than this.

Fumbles and TDs: 6 and 7. Again, to add dysfunction to inefficacy, there are only 7 teams turning the ball over more. And of the 7 rushing TDs, our QB has 3...

The data can go deeper. But to squash any note of uptrend, two of the last 3 games [after the bye] our ypc is significantly under our aggregate 3.6 - the one vs NE where it is likewise above was a blowout loss in which we never led and in large part, we were more than one score down:
Buffalo: 3.2 ypc
NE: 4.4 ypc
Denver: 3.0 ypc

Thank you for this.

People have been ripping on Sanchez and the passing game. While they haven't been good either, most of the success that we have had on offense has come through the air, not on the ground. We are a run first team that can't run the ball.

We can't run the ball, but Rex wants us to "ground and pound." We're shooting ourselves in the foot.

If a team has problems running they better pass if they want to win. No excuses for Sanchez. he gets paid to win but does REQUIRE a run game to be fairly successful. The run game has suffered because teams do not fear Sanchez's arm and crowd the LOS. Who do we blame for that?

i don't see the Defenses crowding the line. I see us unable to run the ball, and when we pass, unable to pass block.

this year has been a disaster for the OLINE, with or without Mangold.

That is a factually incorrect statement. It's been a year and half since teams have regularly stacked the box against us. It's only done on a situational basis now, the same as it is for almost every other team in the league.

This is yet another one of the empty criticisms that people like to throw out that make it sound as if they know what they're talking about.

+1

The common factor between passing game and running game is the OLine. OLine needs to play better and it should elevate both running and passing games down teh stretch.

Two Things:

1. O-line. Mangold was out for a couple weeks and Hunter has sucked.

2. The entire league knows when we're running almost 100% of the time.

even with mangold, we haven't really been that good. the entire OL has to be culpable, as does the CS - esp Callahan and Schottenheimer, which also goes to ur second point.

REX hasn't a clue.......

the pass opens up the run for the Jets. if they can't pass they can't run. not with an avg OL (without Faneca and Woody)

Wow...those stats are glaring. Just illustrates how bad the o-line play has been this year? Go figure how the droppoff could be that big given that Hunter filled in nicely last year. Need to get this corrected asap.

Fixed

In 2009 and 2010, defenses didn't fear Sanchez and crowded the LOS, and the Jets still ran over everyone.

All the more reason to start vlad over hunter.