New York Jets Run Offense vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Run Defense

The Bucs are brutal against the run. They give up over 160 yards on the ground each game and 4.2 each carry. They are about as bad as the Bills against the run. You may remember the Jets hanging over 500 yards in two games against them. With a backup quarterback in the lineup and the kind of power rushing attack the Jets own, you can expect to see healthy doses of Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene.

Stopping the run starts in the middle, and the defensive tackle situation tells us a lot about why Tampa Bay struggles. Chris Hovan and Ryan Sims have been two of the worst tackles in football this year. They consistently lose their matchups. Sims in particular will be New York's target as the Jets seem to have a big edge with him going against Nick Mangold and Brandon Moore. We'll see another below average run defender, Roy Miller, join the mix at the position as a rotational player. You'll see a lot of mock drafts suggesting Nebraska tackle Ndamukong Suh will end up with the Bucs. There's a reason.

At end things don't get a ton better. Stylez White is the one lineman on Tampa Bay who plays the run well, but he'll be matched up with D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who should have the edge. The Jets love running it to the right side anyway, and Damien Woody will be facing Jimmy Wilkerson, a below average run defender giving about 50 pounds.

Tampa's best linebacker against the run is Geno Hayes, undersized at 220 pounds and battling a hamstring injury. Middle linebacker Barrett Ruud has been something of a bright spot, but strong side backer Quincy Black, ironically the biggest Bucs linebacker, has played poorly.

Tampa Bay will probably load up the box, but I'm not sure how much it will help. They seem pretty overmatched up front.