Sunday afternoon, the Jets finally didn't need to worry about any sort of quarterback controversy. They let their running game do the talking.
Rex Ryan's "ground and pound" offense finally made an appearance against the Colts Sunday leading the Jets to a dominant win over Indianapolis, 35-9. Shonn Greene had a career-high 161 yards rushing to go along with three touchdowns. The Jets rushing attack combined for 252 yards, which was the most all season. Mark Sanchez didn't need to do much thanks to the success on the ground. Sanchez was just 11 for 18 for 82 yards to go with two touchdowns.
The Jets did what they were looking to do all season on Sunday. They ran the bell extremely effectively allowing Sanchez to be more comfortable in a limited role seeing him throw a lot less passes. Gang Green let Shonn Greene and even Joe McKnight do the talking in the week six win over the Colts. McKnight had a big 61-yard run in the third quarter that would lead to a Jets touchdown before leaving the game with an ankle injury. That came right after the Jets had lost running back Bilal Powell to a shoulder injury.
Not only did the Jets running game destroy the Colts, Gang Green's Revis-less defense held rookie quarterback Andrew Luck in check all afternoon. Luck was just 22 for 44 for 280 yards and two interceptions. The most important thing that the Jets defense did Sunday was pressure the quarterback. We finally saw a pass rush from the Jets defense as they sacked Luck four times. The rookie was hurried all day long as the Jets defense made it extremely difficult for him to become comfortable in the pocket.
And what's a Jets win without a little bit of Tim Tebow?
On a 4th and 11 from the Colts 40, Tim Tebow executed the fake punt to perfection as he received the snap and threw the ball to a wide open Nick Bellore. It came at a great time and was perfectly executed by Tebow and would lead to a Jets touchdown to give them a 21-6 lead in the second quarter.
It was refreshing to see the Jets do what they wanted to do since day once...run the football successfully. There was no controversy needed over the quarterback position. The Jets had their best all-around performance of the season thus far. They were successful on the ground, in the air when they needed it, on defense, and even on special teams.
The win propels the Jets to a 3-3 record and their 2-0 division record puts them atop the AFC East. All four teams are tied at 3-3. That will change next week as the Jets will next travel to Foxboro to battle their division-rival New England Patriots. The Pats are coming off a devastating loss to the Seahawks in Seattle. If the Jets could have continued success on the ground and continue to bring a pass rush, we could see some more winning football from Coach Ryan's team this season.
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