A lot has been made of the New York Jets' fading identity as a power football team with their increased number of passing attempts and their struggling running game.
Monday, Jets coach Rex Ryan downplayed the idea of identity, using the New England Patriots, who picked up 152 yards rushing in their win over the Jets Sunday, as an example. The prolific New England offense was able to kill clock at the end of the game by pounding the rock and forcing New York to spend timeouts rather than throwing.
“What’s the identity of the New England Patriots?” Ryan said during his press conference. “They throw the ball all over the place, right? Well, they ran the ball, they’re more balanced now.
“We’d like to be balanced. I think every team in this league would like to be balanced.”
It was a nice attempt by Rex, but the fact is that New York did have an identity as a running team and did in fact lose it. They're ranked 31st in the league in ground offense after finishing No. 1 in 2009 and No. 4 in 2010.
And the Patriots’ identity still is the air attack, as they have the No. 1 passing offense in the league. It’s just that New England knew it could get the job done on the ground against Rex’s anemic run defense, so why not run it?
Sorry Rex, that's a strike.
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