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Buffalo Bills rookie nose tackle Marcel Dareus found out pretty quickly, he wasn’t facing the Washington Redskins offense line, a unit he registered 2.5 sacks against a week earlier. Brandon Moore was dominant . . .
On his first carry, Shonn Greene went for five yards up the middle. On the play, Nick Mangold locked up Dareus, and Greene ran behind him.
On Green’s second carry, John Connor didn’t do a great job as a lead blocker, and George Wilson stopped the runner after just a gain of two.
On 3rd-and-3, Mark Sanchez changed the play at the line, and the decision worked, as LaDainian Tomlinson ran for four yards up the middle.
Late in the first series, Brandon Moore pancaked defensive tackle Kellen Heard (6-6, 355) and Greene ran for nine yards to the right side.
Another impressive run on this drive was a Greene gain of 10 up the middle, Brandon Moore locked up linebacker Danny Batten, and Slauson handled Dareus on this play.
One play the line would want back from the first series, was when DE Alex Carrington beat Wayne Hunter with an inside move, and he sacked Mark Sanchez.
Hunter sometimes struggles early before he settles in.
It looked like Carrington surprised Hunter with his quickness. He’s a huge guy (6-5, 305), but he’s very, very athletic. They sometimes line him up at outside linebacker. So he probably surprised Hunter with how quick he is for a big man. It’s hard to get a true feel for quickness on tape. Hunter also had a false start late in the first half.
On the Jets second drive, Moore had a great block on on Dareus, and Greene ran for 41-yards up the middle. The play was called back due to a Matthew Mulligan holding call. Moore had something to say to Mulligan as they were walking back to the huddle, and the tight end was seen yelling back at him. This was Mulligan’s second holding call of this possession.
On the Jets third drive, Mangold locked up Dareus, and Hunter tied up DE Dwan Edwards, and Joe McKnight ran off left guard for a gain of seven.
On the Jets first possession of the second half, on the second play, Dareus got by Slauson to stop Greene after just a gain of two.
On the Jets second possession of the second half, on the second play, Moore pancaked linebacker Nick Barnett, and LT ran behind him for a gain of eight up the middle.
After the Jets got the ball in the middle of the third thanks to a forced fumble by Sione Pouha, Greene fumbled on the next play, and D’Brickashaw Ferguson recovered it. Two plays later, LT ran the ball in off right tackle from one yard out – Moore and Hunter both had pancake blocks collapsing the right side of the Bills defensive line, and LT waltzed into the end zone.
On a long drive that stretched for late in the third quarter, into the fourth quarter, the Jets ran the ball very well. One of the more effective runs of this drive was by John Connor up the middle, and this run had a huge element of surprise to it. Sanchez faked a handoff to LT who protended to run the ball to the right side, and then the quarterback handed to Connor who ran for seven off left guard. The Bills fell for this fake big-time. The Jets don’t give the ball to Connor that much, so usually catches the defense off guard.
Another impressive play was a screen to LT on the left side. Plaxico Burress did a nice job blocking down field on this play that gained 14 yards.
This drive wrapped up with a Connor TD run from one yard out, and once again, Moore had a key block, on guess who, that is right, Dareus.
The only play the Jets line would want back from this long run-driven drive was when Carrington beat Hunter again with an inside move, and stopped McKnight for a loss of three.
But overall it was a dominating performance by the guys up front.
