Jets v. Raiders Postgame

Jets- 38
Raiders-0

Record- 4-3

The Jets responded with a great game against a terrible Oakland Raiders team.  The running game was great as both Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene rushed for over 100 yards and the offensive line opened up holes for them all day.  As I said before the game, I predicted that the Jets would scale down Sanchez's responsibilities and not put the game on his arm.  The Jets were great at forcing turnovers in this game and knocked out JaMarcus Russell before the first half ended.  However, with all the positives there are a few negatives coming out of this game.  It looks like Leon Washington will miss extended time and could be done for the season.  The injury looked terrible and he was taken off on a cart and taken to an area hospital.  Early predicitons are that he may have torn his ACL.  I will have more on this when we get a report on the actual injury and the time he will miss.

Game Ball:

• This could go to a number of different people but the player of this game was Calvin Pace.  Pace ended up with 7 tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.  He started off the game with a forced fumble which set up the first touchdown run by Thomas Jones and stopped a Raiders drive in Jets territory with another strip sack.  Pace got a ton of pressure on the quarterback and seems to be back at full speed after a few subpar games after coming back from the suspension.

Thumbs Up:

• Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene turned in great games.  Jones ended up with 121 yards and 1 touchdown and Greene rushed for 144 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Jones has a second straight huge game rushing after going for over 200 yards last week.  Greene really showed what he could do after the Jets lost Leon Washington to injury after just one carry.  Greene impressed me with the way he hits the hole and that he doesn't seem to go down after the first hit.  Both of these backs had incredible games and with the loss of Washington they will both have to keep up this effort in upcoming games.

• Bill Calahan and the offensive line had great games.  Calahan, the offensive line coach, has really done a great job with the line over the last few weeks.  He has designed schemes which have opened numerous holes for any running back that has the ball.  The offensive line played great today and allowed Greene and Jones to get to the second level without being touched on numerous occasions.  They are going to have to keep up this effort next week as Miami has a better front seven than both the Bills and the Raiders.

• Mark Sanchez managed this game very well.  After last weeks performance everybody was worried about how he would handle this game.  He ended up 9/15 for 143 yards and a touchdown.  The touchdown throw was a great pass down the sideline to Clowney (who also had a great game).  Sanchez is benefiting from a great running game right now and as long as he manages the game well and does not turn the ball over I am confident that he can do well and lead this team to wins.

•  Mike Westhoff and Steve Weatherford.  Rarely does a punter make any "thumbs up" list in an NFL game (unless you are the Raiders) but the fake punt by Weatherford was great and the scheme by Westhoff was even better.  The Raiders looked like they were blocking for Weatherford rather than trying to tackle him as he went down the middle of the field.
  

Thumbs Down:

• Injuries were huge in this game.  Leon Washington went down with a terrible injury and we will see in the coming days how bad that injury actually is.  My prediction is that we do not see Washington in a Jets uniform again this year.  The loss of Jenkins last week and Leon this week are huge hits to this team.  Bart Scott and Howard Green also went down and we will learn more about these injuries in the press conference.

Game Thoughts:

There wasn't much negative to take out of this game other than the injury to Leon Washington.  The Jets handed the Raiders their worst home shutout loss in team history and both the offense and defense had great games.  Calvin Pace was excellent on defense and Shonn Greene played great in his first extended action at running back.  Next weeks game against Miami is going to be huge and could make or break the season.  More about that in the coming days.