Paul Hackett's offense leads league in scoring...

[jAZ]

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Sep 22, 6:09 PM EDT

Hackett steers productive Jets offense

By ANDREA ADELSON
AP Sports Writer

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- With a healthy Chad Pennington and reinvigorated Curtis Martin, the New York Jets are scoring plenty of points.

They have 65 in two games, good enough to lead the league so early in the season.

"If you can tell me that at the end of 16 games, I'll be one happy guy," offensive coordinator Paul Hackett said. "It's been a good start, no more than that."

A good start against Cincinnati and San Diego, two teams not exactly known for their defense. Their first big test comes after the bye week, when they play at Miami on Oct. 3. But there is something to be said for being able to find an offensive rhythm so quickly in the season.

Hackett is all too familiar with the other side. After Pennington went down last preseason with a broken left wrist, Vinny Testaverde took over. Hackett acknowledged that he should have tried to focus more on the running game while Pennington was out.

Martin had 15 carries in the opener last year and 10 in the following game. The Jets had to abandon the run so quickly in those games because they fell behind, and Martin struggled to gain any yards even when he got carries.

"Maybe the balance could have been improved upon," Hackett said. "That is being seen now. Now all of a sudden there is a shift in the Curtis Martin focus, perhaps where it should have been a year ago.

"Last year, I did not do a good coaching job. A guy got hurt and we weren't able to overcome it. If you don't learn from the years where you get your butt kicked, you have a problem."

After finishing 6-10, Hackett was the target for criticism. Coach Herman Edwards sat down with him in the offseason to talk about what the offense needed to do to be more productive. Hackett and his assistants went back to watch every game tape dating to 2001, his first season with the Jets.

He wanted to find what worked and what did not work. What he saw was a productive Martin in 2001, when he had 1,513 yards, and an offense in rhythm at the end of 2002, when Pennington had a few games under his belt after replacing Testaverde as the starter.

At the end of that regular season, the Jets posted 72 points in their final two games.

"I think the meetings on the offseason were good on both sides of the football," Edwards said. "We just knew how we wanted to go about doing things. We've kind of played it how we like to play. Done a good job."

So far this year, the Jets have scored over 30 points in both games. Last year, they did it just twice. Martin is in great shape, with 315 yards rushing. And Pennington once again has been accurate and efficient, going 42-of-56 for 482 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 124.3.

Because of the balance, the Jets have noticed better, more creative play calling.

"Hackett is doing such a good job mixing up the formations," Martin said. "He is doing a great job keeping the defense off-balance. They are on their heels more this year."

It helps that Hackett and Pennington have a great relationship. When Hackett came under scrutiny at the end of last season, Pennington was his biggest supporter. Now that Pennington came in as the entrenched starter and stayed healthy in the preseason, there is more continuity.

"The flowing, the rhythm we established in 2002, you see moments of that now," Hackett said. "It's been a year to sort of recapture that."

[Abba-Dabba]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Or, even a horrific offensive coordinator, one who calls for a 3-yard pass on 3rd and 9 every stinking time, and who accepts a college coaching job during the week when his team is entering the playoffs and then doesn't prepare a game plan because he's 'interviewing', and who costs his team a Super Bowl because he won't let the quarterback throw the ball since he's relying on the defense to completely win the game, and who has been known to just give the ball up and punt saying, 'we'll get it back later', and who still causes fans to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat screaming, "HACKETT! IT'S THIRD DOWN AND LONG! THROW THE FREAKING BALL TO A WIDE RECEIVER!", can field a decent offense for a two-game stretch if he's got a very good quarterback who seldom puts them in a third down situation.

Now now now. Following the logic of the thread it could be said Paul didn't throw the actual ball.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Or, even a horrific offensive coordinator, one who calls for a 3-yard pass on 3rd and 9 every stinking time, and who accepts a college coaching job during the week when his team is entering the playoffs and then doesn't prepare a game plan because he's 'interviewing', and who costs his team a Super Bowl because he won't let the quarterback throw the ball since he's relying on the defense to completely win the game, and who has been known to just give the ball up and punt saying, 'we'll get it back later', and who still causes fans to wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat screaming, "HACKETT! IT'S THIRD DOWN AND LONG! THROW THE FREAKING BALL TO A WIDE RECEIVER!", can field a decent offense for a two-game stretch if he's got a very good quarterback who seldom puts them in a third down situation.

I obviously didn't see your offense in action, but it seems more likely to me that the QB was throwing to the checkdown receiver after it was clear to him that the primary targets (who were past or at least closer to the first down markers) were well covered.

Again, I have NO IDEA what your offense was like back then, so I probably shouldn't say anything. Hackett has been decent (not great, but decent) as the OC of the Jets.

[yakkyakk]

Hey its just the opposite of the Chiefs. A good coordinator(Gunther) can't do anything with crappy talent and a crappy coordinator(Hackett) can be successful with good to great talent!

[yakkyakk]

P.S. Maybe it was the Martyball...you think!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I obviously didn't see your offense in action, but it seems more likely to me that the QB was throwing to the checkdown receiver after it was clear to him that the primary targets (who were past or at least closer to the first down markers) were well covered.

Again, I have NO IDEA what your offense was like back then, so I probably shouldn't say anything. Hackett has been decent (not great, but decent) as the OC of the Jets.

Yeah, you didn't see the offense in action. It was never the checkdown receiver.

There was a semi-famous exchange once when Gunther was DC and sat in the booth next to Hackett at OC. On third down, Hackett called a short swing pass that had about a one percent chance of success. Gunther asked, "What the hell are you doing? Are you even trying to get the first down?" CantHackett's response was something like "Don't worry about it. We'll just punt it and then stop them on defense and get the ball back."

Hackett still makes my blood boil, even more than Greg Robinson, and that's saying a lot.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Yeah, you didn't see the offense in action. It was never the checkdown receiver.

There was a semi-famous exchange once when Gunther was DC and sat in the booth next to Hackett at OC. On third down, Hackett called a short swing pass that had about a one percent chance of success. Gunther asked, "What the hell are you doing? Are you even trying to get the first down?" CantHackett's response was something like "Don't worry about it. We'll just punt it and then stop them on defense and get the ball back."

That's about the stupidest thing a coordinator could ever say.