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Dee Milliner has officially been ruled out in today’s contest against the Oakland Raiders. Rex Ryan kept the media guessing by not officially ruling out Milliner until Friday. That means that converted safety Antonio Allen will in fact make the start opposite Darrin Walls. They will have their hands full handling newly acquired James Jones, as well as other receivers Rod Streater and Denarius Moore. The inexperience and lack of depth at the corner position has been the talk all week leading up to kickoff, and may determine the outcome of the game.
The Raiders are starting a rookie in Derek Carr out of Fresno State, who beat out Matt Schaub for the starting job. The Jets can use his inexperience as well as lack of chemistry with his receivers to their advantage. You can look for a bunch of exotic blitz packages to throw off Carr. Ryan while coaching the Jets are 8-1 against first time starters, only losing to Russell Wilson.
Gang Green has always been effective and pride themselves on stopping the run. In the two preseason games seen at MetLife, the 1st stringers for the Jets looked good in stuffing the run. The Raiders in the offseason picked up Maurice Jones-Drew, who was the Jacksonville Jaguars longtime workhorse. He also will be backed up by Darren McFadden who has proven (When HEALTHY) can be an effective back in both the pass and run game. Look for the Jets D line headlined by Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson to have an impact early. Jason Babin looked good in the preseason and will spell Quinton Coples. Both will be looked to do the clean-up tackling, and is definitely necessary facing two physical runners.
The Jets have boasted about their 3 headed rushing attack. This includes backs, Chris Johnson, Chris Ivory, and Bilal Powell. They all looked good in preseason, especially in the read option packages. In the locker room, Mike Vick spoke about how having Chris Johnson in the backfield with him on those read plays made it a lot easier on him. This can go the same for Geno Smith who will need his rushing attack to help the passing game. Eric Decker will need to be the #1 receiver that they paid him to be. But with that, he needs someone else to step up and make plays alongside him. Ryan hopes that could be Jeremy Kerley, or David Nelson. Jace Amaro also looked good and effective when his number was called.
I believe that the Jets at home during a “white-out” game will be too much to handle for a young Derek Carr. The defense is going to be hungry, and with contributions from the strong run game and a poised 2nd year starter in Geno Smith will ultimately lead to a victory.
Prediction: Jets 17 – Raiders 3
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