So who shows up at MetLife Stadium on Sunday: Gang Green or gangrene?
If it’s the former -- one of the best teams in football, featuring smart play by the QB, a formidable running attack and a fierce defense -- the Jets win in a laugher.
If it’s the latter -- the infected mess on display in Oakland last week, which seemingly forgot how to tackle and run the ball while both quarterbacks displayed knucklehead tendencies that would’ve gotten them benched in a Pop Warner league -- the Jaguars have a good chance at a W.
Once again, Jacksonville isn’t any good, as has been the case for the past half-decade. However, they appear to be less lousy than in recent seasons.
QB Blake Bortles has taken a step forward in his second NFL season, in large part because he’s not running for his life all the time after the team’s front office revamped the offensive line in the offseason.
The Jags have averaged more than 28 points a game over their last three contests. Those were the first three games marquee free agent addition Julius Thomas played in this season, as the tight end sat out the first month of the year with a broken finger. Thomas hasn’t been a huge factor yet, and comes into Sunday’s game nursing another injury. However, he presents a matchup nightmare for just about every team in the league and the Jets are no exception. If Thomas becomes a bigger part of the visitors’ game plan, it could be a long day for the Jets’ LBs and safeties.
On defense, Jacksonville remains a work in progress. OK, they still stink. In their defense -- hey, they need all the help they can get in this department -- the Jags are much-improved against the run. However, when it comes to pass defense, they bare an eerie resemblance to the 2014 Jets.
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That said, the home team’s QB is anything but 100 percent. Now in his early 30s after 10 years in the NFL, Ryan Fitzpatrick apparently decided over the past few weeks that he’s a running quarterback. The wisdom of this has been questioned quite a bit, particularly in light of the fact that the guy has a degree from Harvard. The Amish Rifle has come through with a few solid runs of late, but his mad dash in the first quarter vs. the Raiders last Sunday resulted in an injured left thumb for the Jets QB that effectively ended his -- and his team’s -- day.
While the ailment impacts Fitz’s non-throwing hand, it’s still a big issue. The reason you don’t see many one-handed QBs in pro football is because handing a snap with the usual number of hands is extremely advantageous. This is even more true in the case of the Jets, as their elite center, Nick Mangold, has been out of action lately with a neck injury, and is listed as questionable to play against the Jags.
Injuries aside, the Jets have more than enough to beat Jacksonville by a big margin. But only if they play like contenders, instead of like last week, when they played like clowns.
