You are comparing a three game stretch vs. an entire season. But you can compare the stats of many players three game stretch vs. an entire season of another and get a skewed result.
Read that section that you quoted again. I actually compared Thomas Jones' last three games to Shonn Greene's last three games, one of them being against the same team one week apart. The only difference is that Cincy was playing for more when Greene was the Jets' lead back as opposed to Jones... and Greene still shredded them for much more.
I totally disagree with that. Until the playoffs, Thomas Jones was the lead back and had more rushes than Greene. Greene rushed for 15 or more time in a game in the season twice (garbage time vs. Oakland and garbage time vs. Indy). The only time that Greene rushed for 20 or more times was the first two games of the playoffs which could have caught boh opponents off guard because they were expecting Jones.
I'm not buying that last line at all. There isn't THAT much of a difference between Jones' and Greene's running styles. On top of that, whether they were "expecting Jones" or not, they were still gearing up for the run game. Hell, everyone and their mother knew what the Jets offensive gameplan was headed into the playoffs: run the ball and only let Sanchez manage the game. Even my girlfriend knew that. Cincy, San Diego, and Indy gameplanned that way as well. They dropped one, sometimes two, extra men in the box to stop the run game. By the way, that last line could only *MAYBE* be applied to one game, and that's the wild card game. After the wild card, San Diego and Indy knew they had to gameplan for Greene as well as Jones.
Never compared the offensive system or o-lines. But while we are, the reason why Addai fell apart has nothing to do with his offensive system and gameplan which didn't really change from when he was a rookie to today all that much. It had to do with the player. If the Colts significantly changed their system or o-line (their o-lie was already in flux after Tarik Glenn retired), then I would agree you have a point. I will argue having Manning as your QB makes it as easy to run as a great o-line because you can never put eight in the box against the Colts.
First of all, throwing Joseph Addai in here to try to make a point is a pretty clear cut red herring. But I'll address it even though it didn't really have a place in the original discussion. Addai's 2006 (rookie season) attempts: 226 (1,081 yards). By the way, he started 0 of those games. Addai's 2007 attempts: 261 (1,072 yards). Addai's 2008 attempts: 155 (544 yards). Addai's 2009 attempts: 219 (828 yards). As you can see, after his first two seasons, Addai's attempts went down SIGNIFICANTLY in 2008. In 2009, they went back up but he was also battling for playing time with Donald Brown and Indy's other backs as well. Another funny thing about Addai's 2009 season is that he set a career high in receptions (51) which says a lot about my point: that he plays in an offensive system that isn't conducive to him being a stat machine at the position. On top of this, you make an interesting point below about the Patriots run blocking suffering at the expense of their pass blocking. You should probably take this into account when looking at Indianapolis and Joseph Addai as well.
And what if the passing game gets worse? There is no guarantees that Sanchez will get better or he does, that he gets significantly better. Sanchez was 2-8 this past season when he threw 20 or more times. I doubt Ryan will open up the offense all that much more unless he is forced to or he significantly upgrades his receiving corp.
What if the o-line becoming more of a pass blocking team takes away some of their run blocking agression. We have seen that happen to the Patriots, why couldn't it happen to the Jets.
These are all valid points, Rob. However, that said, with the way Sanchez's season went in 2009 (abysmal) I don't think it's far fetched to say that he'll probably improve, if only by a little bit. And their run blocking could suffer. I certainly hope it does. However, I doubt the Jets will go pass-first like the Pats did in 2007 (which is the season that I believe our offensive line lost it's smashmouth run blocking style). And, personally, I think the Jets have a pretty good receiving corps. They could upgrade Braylon Edwards, but Jerricho Cotchery is their WR2 and he is one of the better WR2's in the AFC. They also have Keller at TE who isn't too shabby either. It isn't exactly like Sanchez doesn't have anything to work with. If he improves only a little, he does have weapons at his disposal.
What if teams don't respect Sanchez enough and continue to put eight in the box? Can Greene take the offense on his shoulders for 16 games like Jones did? The jury is out.
You can't really say that about Jones either, though. Jones wasn't constantly facing 8 guys in the box consistently until after the bye week. When he did, he started to break down quickly (as any Jets fan will probably tell you). Regardless, I still think the Jets draft another RB this year and they get Leon Washington back as a third down specialist, so I doubt Greene will be carrying the running game all by himself (though he will, obviously, be the feature back). So we shall see. I'm hoping for nothing but the worst for Greene and the Jets. I just have my doubts as to whether that will happen.
