Jets v. Raiders Pregame

The Jets travel down to Oakland today to take on the Raiders in a showdown of struggling teams.  The Jets have lost three straight and are reeling after losing Kris Jenkins for the year.  The game with Oakland poses a lot of questions for the Jets.  Will they be able to stop the run without Jenkins?  Will Sanchez be able to rebound from an absolutely terrible performance last week?  How will the loss of Jenkins effect the rest of the defense?  All of these questions should be answered (in part) at 4 PM in Oakland.  The Jets have traditionally struggled in Oakland and this will be a very tough game.

What to watch for...

•  The Jets defense will have to survive without the key man in the middle, Kris Jenkins.  Jenkins is the best nose tackle in the NFL and him being out will dramatically effect the performance of the rest of the defense.  Oakland will attempt to run the ball right at the Jets all day.  Darren McFadden is out for this game which is definitely good news for the Jets.  Jenkins was amazing this year and he will be sorely missed.

• How will the scheme change?  Without Jenkins in the middle the defensive scheme will have to change. I expect to see more 4-3 fronts as the Jets will attempt to stop the run on the early downs and force the Raiders into 3rd and long situations.  If they can force 3rd and long the Jets will go back to their 3-4 defense and put a lot of pressure on JaMarcus Russell.  The key to this game will be stopping the run early, forcing 3rd and longs and making Russell actually throw the ball.

• Sanchez was talked to by coaches, Tony Richardson, and Alan Faneca about the body language he showed during his terrible 5 interception performance last weekend.  He has said that he has to stop getting too low with the negative and too high with the positive.  He will need a cool head in this game as the Jets have always struggled in Oakland.  Oakland is coming off a big win last week against the Eagles and they will have confidence that they can repeat.

Players to Watch...

• Mark Sanchez will have to rebound after blowing the game last week with a 5 interception performance.  Oakland has not been a good football team this season but they will have confidence after shutting down Donovan McNabb and the Eagles last week.  Sanchez needs to settle back into the rhythm that he was in the first few weeks.  Ibelieve that Rex Ryan and Brian Schottenheimer have scaled down his responsibilities this week which should allow him to focus more on making good reads and throws.

•  Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are going to get a lot of carries in this game as the Jets will try to win this game on the ground.  As I said before, Sanchez will have his responsibilities scaled down and this will put extra pressure on Jones and Washington to have repeat performances as last week where they combined for over 300 yards on the ground. 

• Sione Pouha  will have to play a great game to replace Jenkins in the middle.  If the Jets hope to create any pressure out of a 3-4 front Pouha will have to do at least half the job that Jenkins has been doing the first 6 weeks.  Pouha is not even half the player that Jenkins is but his play will be key if the Jets hope to create any pressure as well as stop the run.

Game Thoughts:

I think the Jets will win this game for the simple fact that the Raiders offense is not very good.  If the Jets can put up some points early they shouldn't have a problem holding the Raiders defensively and winning this game.  The key will be stopping the run which has been difficult for the Jets to do so far this year.  If JaMarcus Russell has to win the game by throwing the ball I have no doubt in my mind that the Jets can take it. 

Game Prediction:

Jets: 13
Raiders: 7