Saturday, September 17, 2011

Jets/Jaguars Sunday Storylines: MJD factor, McCown vs. Jets D, ground and pound

The New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars enter Week 2 coming off of home-opener victories. The Jets ousted the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night, 27-24, thanks to 17 fourth-quarter points, while Jacksonville defeated the Tennessee Titans, 16-14, fighting off a second-half Titans surge.

The MJD factor

Maurice Jones-Drew gained 123 yards rushing against the Jets’ top run defense of 2009, scoring a touchdown and picking up five first downs as he led the Jags to a 24-22 victory over the Jets in East Rutherford, NJ.

“You better have a bunch of guys on him,” Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters Friday. “The thing is, too, he hits. You have to wrap him, because he’s a spinner, too. He’s got great body control and power and balance and speed. It’s a great combination.”

Back to ground and pound?

The Jets gained only 45 yards on the ground against Dallas, averaging 2.8 yards a clip. Shonn Greene entered the season as the featured back, but Greene and the Jets’ offensive line didn’t do much to get fans excited about it. When times got tough, veteran LaDainian Tomlinson was called upon as a third-down outlet, and he delivered on short routes out of the backfield.

Jacksonville limited the Titans to 43 yards on 13 carries, though Tennessee was playing catch-up and didn’t have much use for the run game. Look for the Jets to try and establish themselves at the line of scrimmage in the first half of this one.

"We'll see," Ryan said Thursday regarding the Jets' running game. "We know it's going to be tough sledding this week."

Bringing down McCown

Quarterback Luke McCown will be making his ninth career start in the NFL, and the Jets’ defense has to be licking its chops. The Jets are trying to do a better job at getting to the passer this season, and New York hit Tony Romo six times and sacked him on four occasions last weekend.

With cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie on lockdown at the perimeter, the Jets should be able to throw the house at McCown. At least he’ll have Jones-Drew back there, who can get very physical in the blocking game.

"You turn on the film and they're giving every quarterback fits in this league," McCown said Friday, according to The Florida Times-Union. "It's well documented, they're a vaunted defense. It's going to take a lot to decode it."

Other notes

Weather looks good, upper 60s and partly cloudy; Jaguars will field ex-Jet secondary guys in Dwight Lowery and Drew Coleman; Jets wideout Santonio Holmes is listed as questionable with knee/quad issues; Jets linebacker David Harris should be good to go.

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