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The offensive line was very inconsistent, and needs to play better.
But sometimes you have to give the opponents a little credit.
Dallas is loaded with talent in a Front Seven featuring LB DeMarcus Ware, LB Anthony Spencer, DE Marcus Spears and NT Jay Ratliff.
And top of that, Rob Ryan was blitzing a lot. When teams blitz a lot in the opener, it’s often very effective because there was no film to study from the 2011 season.
But you have to make opposing defenses pay for blitzing, and the Jets finally did that late in the first half, on a 32-yard screen to LT on the right side. The Jets two guards, Matt Slauson and Brandon Moore, did a nice job of getting out in front of the runner on this play. Neither had a great block, but did kind of get in the way, and impact the sightlines of the Dallas defenders.
While on the topic of effective screens, another one of note was on the right side in the fourth quarter, and kudos to D’Brickashaw Ferguson for leading the way on this one, coming all the over from this left tackle spot to the right flat.
The Jets running game wasn’t particularly effecitive.
One nice early runs was a gain of give by Shonn Green on the first play of the second series. He ran up the middle on this play, and Slauson did a nice job of locking up DE Jason Hatcher to create the hole. Three plays later, Slauson had a terrific block on LB Sean Lee, on a Greene screen to the left side that gained seven.
Before we get to Wayne Hunter, it’s only fair to point out that D’Brickashaw Ferguson didn’t play one of his better games either.
Late in the second quarter, Ware beat Ferguson for a QB pressure, and the OLB hit the QB as he threw.
On the first play of the second half, Ferguson missed a block on Hatcher, who stopped Greene for a loss of two off left guard.
As for Hunter, it was a rough night for the right tackle. On the Jets first offensive play, he was beat for a sack by Ware. It’s pretty obvious what happened here. Hunter never expected Ware to go with an inside power move, instead of outside speed, so Hunter’s leverage was all messed up, and Ware beat him easily for the sack.
Late in the third quarter, Spencer beat Hunter for QB pressure, and this led to an awry pass to Dustin Keller, and the Jets settled for a Nick Folk field goal.
DE Kenyon Coleman, the former Jet, beat Hunter, and stopped Greene for a loss of one early in the fourth quarter.
Perhaps Hunter was feeling extra pressure in this game because now he’s the man at right tackle, instead of filling in as a stopgap measure.
Expect a better performance for him next week against his former team. Hunter is very close to Bill Callahan, and they will spend a lot of time together this week, and get this fixed. It’s not a lack of talent.