In a battle with rookie QB Derek Carr for the Raiders vs Jets’ sophomore QB Geno Smith, the New York Jets hinge on their vicious rushing attack to grasp a 19-14 win at Metlife Stadium to start the season off at 1-0. The Jets made a name for themselves when they used Chris Ivory to boost the offense with a 71 yard rushing touchdown and helped Rex Ryan shift to a 8-3 record vs rookie quarterbacks.
Geno Smith opened up the game strong in the first half for the Jets by going 15/20, threw for 184 yards, 1 TD, 1INT and lost a fumble in the end-zone. The Jets led at the half 10-7. Smith continued his success later on in the second half by leading three field goal drives. The second year QB from West Virginia finished the game only throwing 5 incompletions, and threw for 221 yards. Not to mention, Geno showed great footwork and ability to escape the pocket when he picked up 38 rushing yards.
“[Geno Smith] looked great,” Jets head coach Rex Ryan said after the game via team live press conference. “He just needs to do a better job in protecting himself when running the ball.”
Jets OC Marty Morhinweg went back to the Jets’ old fashioned ‘'ground and pound” rushing game to support the offense in routing the Raiders. RB Chris (CJ2K) Johnson made a standout in his first game as a Jet after being released by the Tennessee Titans and later signed by New York in free agency. Johnson ended his day with 13 touches for 68 yards.
Chris Johnson was also supported by backup RB Chris Ivory who exploded for a 100+ yard rushing game. As it was aforementioned, Ivory’s biggest highlight came late in the fourth quarter when he ran through the defense for a 71 yard TD (missed 2-pt conversion) that made him rack up a total of 102 yards off of 10 carries.
“That Chris [Ivory] guy is the man,” Rex said enthusiastically on his running back. “So is Chris Johnson. John Idzik and I need to find more Chrises.”
One thing to note is that the Jets used a lot of option packages that involved veteran QB Michael Vick. Considering that both Geno and Vick are running quarterbacks, there was a play where Vick rolled out of the pocket and tried to throw a TD pass to WR Eric Decker but just over threw him.
As for Oakland, their offense led under Derrick Carr, seemed to not click after the first quarter when he threw a 12 yard touchdown pass to Rod Streater. Oakland later on ended their consecutive streak of 8 straight 3 and outs (punts) when Carr threw a meaningless 30-yard touchdown to WR James Jones to nudge the score to 14-19. Carr finished his rookie opener by completing 20 out of 32 passes, threw 151 yards and two touchdowns.
Conversely, Rex Ryan noted the miscues the Jets made like dropped interceptions that included rookie CB Calvin Pryor and said that it would’ve likely resulted in a different outcome.
“The negatives are what’s holding this team back,” Rex said. “Without the mistakes, it would’ve been a beat down.”
The Jets will look to improve on both sides of the ball in practice next week and to hopefully expect CB Dee Milliner to return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. The Jets will be on the road next Sunday (9/14) to face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. The game is set to kickoff at 4:25pm ET and is watchable on CBS.
