Jets' ground game running on empty

FLORHAM PARK, N.J.

There's no need to get panicky over one loss, even if it's the one game that seemed the most winnable of the Jets' three-game road trip that continues in Baltimore and New England. But in the wake of Sunday's 34-24 loss to the Raiders, it's certainly worth considering some potentially disturbing developments that we'll be keeping an eye on as Rex Ryan's Jets march forward in their relentless pursuit of the ultimate prize in February.

The biggest early-season challenge we see for this team: creating the kind of personality that will turn them into champions. So far, it's just not there.

Ryan has spent the last two years banging into our skulls his Ground & Pound philosophy of running the ball and playing great defense, and for two years, it worked. They got to within a win of the Super Bowl each time and turned around the psyche of a franchise that had known little else but failure in the four decades since their only Super Bowl championship.

But this season it has been more Chuck & Duck than Ground & Pound, with Mark Sanchez throwing far too many passes and suffering far too many bruises. Playing behind a leaky line that still is trying to adapt after Damien Woody's retirement and now Nick Mangold's swollen ankle, Sanchez has spent more time on his back than the Jets could have imagined.

The run-pass ratio has been tilted in favor of the pass much more than Ryan presumably would want. Through three games, the Jets have attempted 111 passes and only 73 rushes. Last year, it was 525 passes and 534 rushes. And the average per rush was 4.4 yards, compared with only 3.4 yards this year.

Sanchez actually is doing OK, all things considered. Yes, there was the interception in the end zone in the first quarter that ruined a terrific punt return by rookie Jeremy Kerley. But it happens. And it was 7-7 at the time, so you hardly can call that a game-changing mistake.

But the offensive line was overmatched against a Raiders defense that is good but hardly great. Rookie Colin Baxter was a huge drop-off from Mangold, and Wayne Hunter still is struggling to replace Woody.

And get this: Ryan hinted Monday that the Ground & Pound might no longer be the most effective way to move the football.

"As long as you're able to move the ball effectively, you don't have to run it," Ryan said.

True, but Ryan's preferred method is to run it. Yet he concedes they might have to keep chucking it, especially against the Ravens on Sunday night.

"This week, you going to run it against Haloti Ngata and Ray Lewis?" he said. "We'll probably have to throw it more than we want."

Yeah, and risk Terrell Suggs getting in Sanchez's face.

Sorry, but if Shonn Greene were running the ball more effectively, I think Ryan would be singing a different tune.

The coach has to be alarmed by a defense that was gashed repeatedly by the Raiders and Darren McFadden, who ran for 171 yards. They can expect more damage from Ray Rice in Baltimore if they don't play to their standards. Bart Scott hasn't been the run-stopping force the Jets need, and a defensive line in transition needs to be more effective.

The formula was pretty simple for Ryan the previous two years: Run the football plus play good defense equals eventual success. But three games in, it hasn't worked that way. If Ryan really means it when he says he doesn't necessarily care how the Jets move the ball, you have to wonder if the identity of this team eventually will translate into the results Ryan is expecting.