Jets/Raiders: Rushing, man-coverage galore

Recent history says the New York Jets should win in Oakland Sunday. The Jets are 4-1 in the teams’ last five meetings, the Raiders have lost five of their last six home openers, and the last time Oakland was shut out was in a 38-0 loss to the Jets in 2009.

Does all that matter? Not really.

New York (2-0) looks to start off a three-game road trip the right way when it plays visitor to Oakland (1-1) Sunday. The Raiders lost last weekend in the final minute of a shootout at Buffalo, and the Jets are coming off a 32-3 rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium.

Back to ground and pound?

This season, New York’s top two backs in Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson are combining for a 2.7 yards-per-carry average. That’s an unacceptable number considering the Jets were the No. 1 rushing team two seasons ago and pride themselves on offensive line play.

If the Jets are going to get things moving on the ground, now is the time. Despite what looks like a stout defensive front on paper led by defensive lineman Richard Seymour, the Raiders are ranked 27^th against the run, giving up an average of 127.5 yards a game on the ground.

Reserve offensive lineman Colin Baxter will be filling in at center for standout Nick Mangold, who will not make the trip to Oakland due to a high ankle sprain.

Opposite ground and pound

The other side of ground and pound is stopping the run. The Jets’ defensive front has a tough task ahead of it in running back Darren McFadden, who is second in the league in rushing through two weeks.

McFadden is a tough runner and does well when getting the ball on dump-offs and short passes, so the Jets will need to spy him and make contact before he gets a head of steam.

“He's got size, speed and vision,” Jets coach Rex Ryan told the media Thursday. “He's an unusual talent, that's for sure. He can do the wildcat. He did it all in college. He can throw the ball. He can do a bunch of things. He's a very talented young man.”

Man-coverage exhibition

Both the Jets and Raiders love playing man coverage, but Sunday’s matchups on both sides of the ball favor the Jets.

“It’s about winning our one-on-one matchups and getting rid of the football quickly because they’re pass rush is great,” Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez told reporters Thursday. “It’ll be a good test for our wideouts and for our precision in the passing game hopefully.”

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