Ground and Pound Looking Like the Jets' Forte
Todd Bowles was livid at the way his Jets played in the first half against the Cleveland Browns last week. He wasn’t quiet about it either.
“Don’t come back in here without a win,” said Bowles during his halftime speech in the locker room. “You’d better have an attitude in the second half.”
The rest of his speech wasn’t as clean, but the point was made, and his team responded with 24 unanswered points and a victory. Granted, it was against the 0-8 Browns, but the Jets showed an attitude and aggressiveness in the second half that they have been missing this season. The last time New York made the playoffs was 2010, when they were known for their “ground and pound” style, playing angry under Rex Ryan. After an underwhelming start to the season to say the least, Bowles tried to ignite a fire under this team and make them play angry again. Ryan Fitzpatrick is one step ahead of him.
“I probably play better as an underdog pissed off,” said Fitzpatrick. “So going forward, yeah, I’ll be pissed off.”
Sheldon Richardson isn’t far behind him.
“I just want to play, and yeah, get paid my fair share,” said Richardson after his name floated around the league in the days leading up to the trade deadline. “We’ve got three guys that play the same position. I’m the odd man out.”
Bowles doesn’t care why his guys are angry, but as long as they’re playing with attitude, that’s good enough for him. The Jets hope their second half performance from last week can carry over to this week when they travel to Miami. That all starts with the running game. The Jets have had success the past two weeks pounding the ball up the middle with a combination of Matt Forte and Bilal Powell. Last week the two running backs combined for 158 yards and 3 touchdowns, as they had their way with the Browns front seven. Having success with the run has been the key lately for the Jets. When Forte carries the ball at least 25 times, New York is 3-0. When he doesn’t, they’re 0-5. Forte has seven touchdowns in wins, and zero in losses. Bilal Powell needs his touches too, as he’s averaging 7.1 yards per carry on the year, more than any starting running back in the NFL. For the Jets to win on Sunday, they’ll need to win the line of scrimmage and bully the Dolphins up front behind the two-headed rushing attack of Forte and Powell.
Bilal Powell rips off a 35-yard touchdown run in the first quarter against the Browns, his first of the season.
Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Of course, the running game is only half of the “ground and pound” mentality that the Jets need to establish in order to exude a level of aggressiveness on the field. The “pound” part starts on the defensive end, and it’s up front where the Jets have been able to make an impact. The trends remain the same. In wins, the Jets have allowed only 55 rushing yards per game to opponents, an astonishingly low total. The front four need to continue to make other teams one-dimensional, and get to the quarterback. The pass defense simply isn’t strong enough to afford constant single coverage, so blitzing more than any other team in the league isn’t really an option for Bowles like it used to be. Richardson will need to play more on the line, and along with Leonard Williams and Muhammed Wilkerson, he’ll need to turn that anger into pressure on the quarterback.
This is considered a very winnable game for New York, and with only two weeks left until the bye, they can very feasibly sit at .500 going into the last six games of the year. That will only happen if the Jets can establish their aggressiveness from the outset, and enforce their will through a “ground and pound” attack that has escaped the Jets not only this season, but in recent years. Maybe Bowles showing an angry side of his own will give them that spark.
