JETS 101

The New York Jets have suffered their second devastating injury in as many weeks, with wide receiver Santonio Holmes expected to miss the rest of the 2012 season with a suspected Lisfranc injury. The Jets have already lost cornerback Darrelle Revis for the season, meaning they will now take on the rest of their 2012 regular season schedule without their most talented player on each side of the ball. For an offense already thin at wide receiver and short on playmakers, this is a major blow that causes major concern in terms of the ability of the Jets to score enough points to compete each week.

For New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes, the injury marks the second straight season with an extremely disappointing finish since he signed a big money deal with the team in 2011. Last year's implosion was self-inflicted, while this injury was just bad luck. Santonio Holmes had been off to a good start prior to suffering the Lisfranc injury in last week's 34-0 shellacking at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

For the New York Jets, their offense is now left without a clear cut No. 1 wide receiver. Some had questioned whether Santonio Holmes was a strong enough top receiver to be the focal point of their passing attack, but now the receiving corps is inexperienced, unproven and banged up. Rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill has the skill set to be a top receiver, but he's too green at this point to even be viewed as a given as a No. 2. Plus, Stephen Hill i still dealing with a hamstring issue that kept him out of the game against San Francisco.

Jeremy Kerley can play up as a No. 2, Chaz Schilens can help out and with the signing of Aaron Berry, Joe McKnight can be used split out on the offensive side of the ball, but none of these guys are No. 1 wide receivers. That means defenses aren't going to have to focus one on wide receiver, allowing way more flexibility in terms of bringing extra pressure on Mark Sanchez – pretty much the way Darrelle Revis has allowed Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine tons of freedom to be creative.

Once Dustin Keller returns the Jets will have a reliable tight end, but it will almost surely be too little, too late, even if that's this week. The Jets weren't a scary offense to defend on paper before the season started. With some of their most dynamic playmakers underutilized or injured, defenses will be salivating each week as they get their shot at the Jets offense. The only way to mask the deficiencies would be with an elite quarterback or a dominating ground game. Mark Sanchez and the Jets running game haven't shown the ability to get it done at anywhere near that level so far this season.

Does that mean it's time to throw in the towel? Of course not. The Jets defense will make things interesting, even without Darrelle Revis. They are good enough to keep games tight and the Jets will pull out some more wins. As far as any kind of real run, it just doesn't seem to be in the cards this year.

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Tags: Aaron Berry, Darrelle Revis, Dustin Keller, Football, Lisfranc injury, Mark Sanchez, Mike Pettine, New York, New York Jets, NFL, Rex Ryan, Santonio Holmes, schedule

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