Jets have suffered slow starts all season

LANDOVER, Md. -- Darrelle Revis is just like the rest of his teammates, wondering why the Jets typically sit idling on the runway at the start of games rather than immediately turning on the thrusters.

"I have no clue. I really have no clue," the cornerback said. "Everybody gets ready a certain way. Some people may cry before games, some people might smile. Some people might be angry, some people might throw up.

"But as a whole collectively, we haven't been doing a great job of coming together, everybody being on one page to do what we need to do to start fast."

Much has been made recently about the way the Jets (6-5) are finishing, whether it's yielding a game-winning 95-yard touchdown drive to Denver's Tim Tebow or last week's heart-stopping final two minutes in their victory over the Bills.

But the Jets continue to sputter at the outset of games, failing to play enough mistake-free minutes to sustain any sort of rhythm on either side of the ball. They've been outscored 67-33 in the first quarter and haven't produced a single point in the initial 15 minutes of their last four contests, a tendency they're hoping to stop Sunday when they visit the Redskins (4-7) at FedEx Field.

"You always look at the way you play or the different types of trends that you set," defensive tackle Sione Pouha said, "and we know that we have to get off to a fast start, and then we know that we have to finish off. So those are things that you work on and come out with the mentality on Sunday, like, 'We've got to start fast.' We know that if we start fast and finish strong, everything will work in our favor."

Fair enough. Exactly how, though, do they find a way to rev things up much quicker after the opening kickoff?

"I think we are all kind of just baffled by that, to be honest with you," running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. "It's a question none of us can really answer."

Tomlinson paused.

"I don't know. Maybe it's something we're eating before the game," he said with a laugh. "Maybe we are getting too full. I don't know. We know the plays, we know what we want to get accomplished. But it just never seems to happen at the beginning of the game for us, starting fast."

The only two times the Jets have led going into the second quarter was against the Jaguars in Week 2, when they were up 9-3, and against the Dolphins in Week 6, when they led 7-3. They won both games.

The Jets have shut out only one opponent in the first quarter -- in the Jets' Week 9 win in Buffalo -- and they've scored a touchdown on their first possession only once, leaving coach Rex Ryan perplexed. They're 4-5 this season when their opponent scores first.

"It's been a three-year process here," Ryan said. "I think when you look at it statistically, and we've turned the ball over some, I think that's part of it. We've got to start faster. We've got to be more productive. There have been times we look great and times that we haven't. The big thing is not to turn the ball over in the first quarter of games. I think that really relates to winning and losing as well."

With offensive consultant Tom Moore hanging around for a few days to help evaluate things last week, Ryan suggested picking the 72-year-old's brain might help. After all, for 13 seasons, Moore was partly responsible for the Colts' high-powered attack engineered by Peyton Manning.

"We've tried a bunch of things, but maybe that is something I really need to ask him," Ryan said. "You mention that, I haven't asked him that specifically, but maybe I will while he's here."

Anything to try to reverse those lethargic early-game ways that are loaded with three-and-outs on offense and seemingly countless mistakes.

"The key for us is making sure we don't beat ourselves early, don't get behind early," Tomlinson said. "As long as we're in the game, as you've seen, we kind of get rolling and then we just play unbelievable football."

Said wideout Santonio Holmes: "We have to put all of the pieces into the puzzle right away. We can't go searching around, trying to find out where can we find it. We've got to come out with that spark from the beginning, hitting those guys in the mouth -- offense, defense and special teams."