Sparano's Offense Struggling In New York
NEW YORK (CBSMiami) – New York Jets fans are about to enter full-fledged panic mode as the offense under first-year offensive coordinator Tony Sparano continues to sputter in preseason. It's something Miami Dolphins fans can relate to and likely knew was coming.
Sparano was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2008-2011. While he was here, he tried to implement a ground-and-pound approach and his offense's never ranked higher than 15th in the league in points scored and never ranked higher than 12th in yards gained in a season.
In fact, in each of his last two seasons, his offense's never ranked higher than 20th in scoring and never ranked higher than 21st in yards gained.
What was supposed to be Sparano's specialty, the offensive line was constantly in flux and the right side of the offensive line never was set under Sparano's watch in Miami.
Now in New York, Sparano has another struggling right tackle and no way to mask it or correct it. And so far, the Jets have played two preseason games and have scored a grand total of zero points.
In the Jets' loss to the superior New York team, the Giants, the Jets managed just four first-downs with starting quarterback Mark Sanchez on the field. Right tackle Wayne Hunter, who may not even make the team, gave up two sacks in the Giants game alone.
Plus, the Jets' acquisition of Tim Tebow is starting to generate a slow-burning fire of a quarterback controversy. All of it, has to sound familiar to Dolphins fans who went through nearly four full seasons with Sparano at the helm.
The Jets' offense had been ranked consistently above 17th in points scored and was in the top 20 in yards gained each of the first two seasons Jets coach Rex Ryan was in charge. The Jets will continue to work with Sparano's offense, but what hasn't been determined is how much the Jets will use the single-wing offense, aka the Wildcat, with Tim Tebow under center.
One thing is for certain, if the Jets don't start moving the ball under Sanchez, the calls for Tebow will become deafening. And if Sparano doesn't have the Jets going in the right direction this season, he could be looking for work for a second-consecutive offseason.
