Can Wayne Hunter Repeat Miraculous Performance Against Cameron Wake?

by John B on Dec 31, 2011 12:30 PM EST

FOXBORO MA - JANUARY 16: Mark Sanchez #6 of the New York Jets and Wayne Hunter #78 celebrate on their way to defeating the New England Patriots 28 to 21 victory over the New England Patriots during their 2011 AFC divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on January 16 2011 in Foxboro Massachusetts. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Some things happen on the football field that do not make a ton of sense on paper. Take Week 6 of this year's NFL season. Cameron Wake did not get near Mark Sanchez once when lined up against Wayne Hunter. Make no mistake. Wake's sack numbers are down from last year's monster campaign, but he is having an excellent year generating pressure. In fact, according to Pro Football Focus, only Chris Long has created more disruptions as a pass rusher with either pressure, a hit, or a sack. On the other hand, that site also says no offensive lineman has been responsible for more hits on his quarterback than Hunter.

I could not explain how Hunter stonewalled Wake. He did not get much help in the first game. As a result, I would not expect the Jets to change things up this time. It worked well then.

Wake provides Hunter with some pretty big problems. He is very quick off the snap and has a variety of pass rushing moves. A guy with slow feet like Hunter might have problems gaining leverage. Wake dominated Hunter in the Meadowlands a year ago. If Hunter cannot repeat his brilliance of earlier this year, and Mark Sanchez takes hits and loses confidence, this game could turn into a microcosm of the season.

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Well if that happens

It’ll at least tell the front office to dump him… and schotty. As much as I’d like to see the Jets end the season on a positive note it’s a little hard to realistically see that happening. Or maybe the Defense could look like the 2009 Jets like in the Jax or KC game and step on the other team’s head. I can never tell with this team.

by darshv3 on Dec 31, 2011 12:34 PM EST reply actions

I posted this on Jeff's keys to the game

but I think it is relevant here too. I think the bigger issue/key is not how wake will do getting to Sanchez but how we will do getting to Moore:
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Matt Moore is a sack-taking machine. In a mere 12 games Moore has been sacked 35 times. He is sacked on a whopping 10% of his dropbacks. Last year he was sacked on 8.3% (for reference Sanchez in 2010 was 5.1 and this year, despite all of the talk of breakdowns-6.8%). This is clearly on Moore as it has happened with 2 different teams, and with Long out and no threat of Bush, the Jets game might just turn on the degree of pressure they can put on a guy who holds the ball too long, has a beat up line and no rushing threat.
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The Dolphins have better pass rushers than we do-but actually even with Hunter we have far fewer problems against other teams than they do vis-a-vis pressure. Now they are down on protection and weapons. Despite the fact that Sanchez has faced bad secondaries-he has faced top pass rushing teams. The Jets have faced the #1,2,5,7,7,9,9,9,13,13 sacking teams this year. 10 of our 15 games come against teams that have 38 or more sacks. Thus-we have seen the like of a Miami (#9 in sacks) tons of times this year. On the other hand, Moore is always on his back and should be more vulnerable now.

by Buzzy on Dec 31, 2011 12:57 PM EST reply actions