newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

There is a certain genre of movie that comes out every year depicting human beings as crude and/or unfeeling, and even a waste of existence. Directors are perhaps drawn to these types of films because they think that portraying life as hopeless and punitive makes their movie edgy and thought-provoking. I was stuck on a plane not long ago and saw the movie “Young Adults,” starring Charlize Theron and directed by Jason Reitman (son of acclaimed director Ivan Reitman).

From start to finish, the protagonist is devoid of any amicable emotion or gesture, and halfway through I wished I could stop watching it. But, as often the case with in-flight movies, you keep watching to pass the time.

I bring this up for two reasons. Even though a movie disappoints, it may not be a complete failure. For the director, Reitman, the movie was mediocre. But for actor Theron, it showcased her versatility. She showed impressive conviction for a character whose distasteful personality saw her completely distance herself from any positive human connection. The lesson? What is a setback for one person can be a plus for another.

This analogy brings us to the Jets, a team heading towards a season record of four wins minimum, seven maximum. For a group that had “Super Bowl aspirations,” this is unquestionably a failure. However, head coach Rex Ryan may have just felt his leash grow longer. And General Manager Mike Tannenbaum can breathe a little easier from the chokehold around his neck.

With franchise cornerback Darrelle Revis’ season-ending torn ligament injury, and now No. 1 receiver Santonio Holmes’ season-ending Lisfranc injury, the Jets’ brain trust can blame it on bad luck. They also have a plethora of bad contracts, like the $7.50 million in guaranteed money they owe Holmes in 2013. So this becomes only the penultimate season of the Ryan-Tannenbaum era, and next year will see them bring back many of the same players in whom they are so invested. This year is effectively a mulligan, buying the Jets’ operating personnel another year to try to rework the product.

For Jets fans, this is terrible news. Their rushing offense is obsolete. Shonn Greene is the worst running back in football and he is still labeled as their starting running back. They get no push against any defensive front that is quasi-pedestrian, and no ball carrier on their roster has any ability to break a big play.

Their passing offense is built around a quarterback who is best suited to be a caretaker of the offense, not a franchise quarterback. Since Sanchez is at best a “game manager,” he needs some weapons on offense to be successful. He has none. No one in his receiving corps can beat man-to-man coverage, or effectively use their speed on the perimeter. The Jets have no playmakers, and that was true even with Holmes in the lineup. After getting to paydirt four times in the season opener, the Jets have half that amount (two) in their three games since.

Defensively, New York’s rush defense is being gashed and last week San Francisco opened some huge holes for their runners to go through. In fact, every team the Jets have played has been able to capitalize on their leaky front seven, generating a 31st ranked rush defense. The tackling is abysmal and they are getting out-muscled and out-maneuvered.

With Revis, their secondary is supposedly their biggest strength; without him, they are a specter of their former selves. The Jets allowed Niners’ quarterback Alex Smith far too much time to sit inside the pocket, and their inability to generate a pass rush will haunt them against more precise quarterbacks.

Now that all of those deficiencies are properly highlighted, what do the 4-0 Texans do so well? First, they utilize Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme that was made famous when he was the offensive coordinator in Denver during the John Elway years. The two big benefactors of this scheme are Arian Foster and Ben Tate, who have combined for 497 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Their average yard per carry has been substantially lower than last year, but the play-action that quarterback Matt Schaub has learned to sell to perfection is still an equally formidable weapon that will extend the field vertically. The recipient of these long vertical passes tends to be a streaking Andre Johnson, who remains one of the games best receivers and most difficult coverage assignments (Johnson has twice led the league in receiving yards).

Defensively, the Texans are first in scoring defense, and second in total defense, and a large part of that is due to their “manimal” defensive end J.J. Watt. Watt, future 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, has accrued 1.5 sacks in every game this season with 7.5 total sacks and four stuffs.

According to Football Outsiders, Watt has 17 defeats (a defeat is a play that result in negative yardage, a turnover, or a stop on third or fourth down) and leads the league with 7.5 quarterback takedowns. When you consider that in Texans’ offensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4 scheme, Watt will be matching up against right tackle Austin Howard, Sanchez could end up being seriously injured if the Jets’ offensive line doesn’t do a better job. If Watt gets stuffed, linebackers Brian Cushing and Brooks Reed will be flying through the gaps to pressure Sanchez. The Texans have an excellent front seven, and a very stout secondary that has helped them produce the second best pass defense in the NFL through four weeks (their secondary had two pick-sixes last week).

Lastly, there is another Football Outsiders’ statistic called DYAR that measures performance on every play against expected performance for that situation. Schaub has a positive 73, which is good but not great. The NFL’s worst? Sanchez, with a negative 165.

The Texans have the best defense in the NFL at getting off the field on third downs, and Sanchez, sidled with the NFL’s least talented offense, will be forced to throw to stay competitive. The Texans have a cutback run scheme that will consistently see their guards reach the second level, a disturbing omen for a Jets team whose defensive gaps have become a vacuum. With New York’s propensity for overrunning plays, Foster may make fantasy owners very happy on Monday Night.

PREDICTION: Rex Ryan should have a colorful press conference in the postgame. His team is overmatched and getting dominated physically on offense and defense. The upshot is that they do not have the proper personnel to play the way Ryan wants his team to play.

Texans 35, Jets 3