New York Jets Too Big For Allen, Not Carr
When the strength of your team is your offensive line, your’re supposed to commit to running the ball—not give up on it. What I wrote on the last page about the Raiders needing to throw deep to take a safety out of the box is right. But it’s also about who you give the ball to against certain defenses that makes a difference in how the running game goes.
For example, fellow running back Darren McFadden averaged 3.8 yards per carry to Jones-Drew’s 1.7 yards per carry yesterday. That’s because the Jets have a fast defense that closes holes quickly and 1.7 is what you’ll average if you don’t have that burst through the hole. I said that it looked like Jones-Drew lost some burst this preseason then everyone assumed that wasn’t the case when he had a 40-yard touchdown run.
That happened because he broke two tackles on a short yardage play and there was no one there after that so he jogged in. McFadden is the one that showed the most burst this preseason, hitting holes much quicker and that blink of an eye makes a big difference between a 1.7 or a 3.8-yard gain. But Allen gave up on the running game when Jones-Drew didn’t get very far with it instead of giving McFadden more than four carries yesterday.
This in no way is a slight on Jones-Drew but when you have two backs like that, it’s a matter of whose style work better against a given defense. But either way, 11 carries isn’t enough for Jones-Drew and four isn’t enough for McFadden. That’s only 13 carries between two star running backs and that’s no way to establish that you are a running team.