Can Jets Handle Pressure of Being a Targeted Team?

“You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse”– Joe Paterno

One of the realities the 2-2 Jets are adapting to this season, their third with Rex Ryan as coach, is that they are no longer the hunters.

For two seasons, the Jets roamed the N.F.L. landscape with success, searching for and accumulating pelts to put on their wall. Three victories over New England, two over Indianapolis and single victories over San Diego and the Steelers while  going to back-to-back A.F.C. championship games had helped give the Jets the attention and respect they sought.

What has it all added up to?

Now it is the Jets who are the hunted.

Let’s start with two weeks ago, when Raiders Coach Hue Jackson made a point of saying he wanted his team to punch the Jets in the mouth and beat them at their own game. Jackson succeeded, and the Raider star is now shining a little brighter in the national spotlight.

On Sunday night, Baltimore put another hurting on the Jets and their already wounded pride. The Ravens shut down Rex Ryan’s ground-and-pound running game while scoring three defensive touchdowns.

Do you think New England might have something in store on Sunday in Foxborough, the site of the Jets’ division-round playoff victory over the Patriots last season, the game that Tom Brady described as one “he will never get over”? Anyone want to guess whether Brady has had this game circled on the schedule on his refrigerator door?

The bottom line is that the days of  sneaking up on teams is over. Do the Jets have what it takes to withstand the rigors of being a targeted team on a weekly basis?

It won’t matter whether the Jets can handle the pressure if they can’t pick up the quality of their play.

Let’s take a quick look at their problems, with some possible solutions:

1) The Jets can’t run the ball. Does this problem all fall on Shonn Greene? On the offensive line? On the play calling? The answer is probably a mix of all three.

As powerful a runner as Greene is, it’s possible he isn’t suited for the feature back role. It may not be fair to make that prognosis so early, especially since center Nick Mangold has been out for the better part of three of the Jets’ first four games. But the argument could be made that the Jets need a more elusive runner early in games to help create some momentum for the running game. If LaDainian Tomlinson is not the answer this season, as he was early last season, does that mean Joe McKnight deserves a chance to see what he can do? Maybe so.

2) The Jets can’t protect Mark Sanchez. This problem has been evident in every game this season. Against the Ravens,  Sanchez seldom seemed to have more than “one Mississippi” to get rid of the ball. If the Jets have room to maneuver under the salary cap, it is clear they need to look to improve their talent and production on the offensive line. Does anyone have Flozell Adams’s phone number?

3) The defense has underperformed. Yes, they finished strong against the Ravens, and Joe Flacco’s final numbers were terrible (10 for 31; 163 yards; INT). But the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed for the better part of two quarters before it figured out how to disrupt Flacco. The Jets are going to face a very hungry, fast and feisty Patriots offense next week. Will they be able to turn back the clock and figure out how to get inside Tom Brady’s head again?

Extra point I’ll leave it to Fifth Down readers to break down any  other issues. What do the Jets need to do to get back to playing winning football?