Dismal Performance, But Jets Still Win

JETS 26
BUCCANEERS 3

This one was ugly!

Really ugly!

Not only was the Jets offense unable to take advantage of great field position, Kellen Clemens looked God awful in relief of Mark Sanchez, in the emergency start for the injured quarterback. Clemens lacked good control of his passes, was inaccurate, and it was pretty clear that the Jets coaching staff didn't trust Clemens, as the Jets ran the ball 42 times, and even used Brad Smith multiple times at quarterback on gadget plays.

The only reason why the Jets won this game was their superior defense, which smacked around the even more pathetic Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12). The Jets didn't surrender a first down to Tampa in the entire first half, sacked rookie quarterback Josh Freeman three times, and picked him off three times.

On the opening play of the game, Freeman was picked off by David Harris to set the Jets up nicely at the Bucs 30. But, the Jets played it conservative, running the ball three times to set up the field goal for Jay Feely, a clear statement that Gang Green didn't want Clemens to throw the ball.

The Jets treated this game as if it was a pre-season game, as they mixed in the likes of Danny Woodhead and Mark Mulligan (yeah, exactly, who are these guys).

The only highlight for the Jets was a 33-yard run by Thomas Jones, in which he split the tackles, charged up the middle, and raced into the endzone for the touchdown to give the Jets a 16-0 lead.

The Jets (7-6) didn't get any help on the scoreboard as both Miami and New England won their games. The Dolphins beat the Jaguars 14-10, extending their already large tie-breaker against the Jets to three games.

The Jets will try to keep their extremely slim playoff hopes alive one more week when the welcome in the Atlanta Falcons. It is not known if Matt Ryan and Michael Turner will play in that game for Atlanta. Both have been rumored to have season ending injuries, but they have not yet been disabled.

The Jets hope that Mark Sanchez will be back next week as well; they better pray, because Kellen Clemens is awful.