After becoming only the 2nd player in franchise history to gain 1300+ yards in consecutive seasons, the other was some guy named Payton, Thomas Jones signed with the Jets in the offseason and looked to solidify a running game that was near the bottom of the league since the future Hall of Famer Curtis Martin retired. In fact Jones’s backup last season in Chicago, Cedric Benson gained only three fewer yards than the Jets leading rusher Leon Washington.

Add Jones to a team that went a surprising 10-6 in a conference looked upon as the bigger brother to the NFC and it looked like a recipe for another trip to the playoffs with the possibility of giving a scare to the Colts, Pats, Steelers, and Chargers.

Jones has been known for slow starts and this season started no differently, but at the halfway mark he’s not far behind last year in yards rushing, 557 this compared to 612 last season. The big differences are in yards per carry, 3.8 this season compared to 4.4 last season, and rushing touchdowns, still none this season yet 3 at this point last season.

So, is Jones to blame for the team’s unpredictably poor first half of the season? I think Schottenheimer deserves some of the blame for not being able to get Jones in a rhythm. Jones will get two, maybe three carries in a row then disappear for a drive or sometimes more. Last season Jones would get six, seven, sometimes more consecutive carries in a row on drives because he was getting five plus yards a carry.

An example of this happened last week against the Bills, Jones had a five yard run, then a six yard run, then a seven yard run to start a drive. The next two plays Chad dropped back to pass and both were incomplete ending what started as a good drive. Also, the trick play on 3rd and 1 late in the first half when the ball was snapped to Brad Smith and he handed off to Washington who fumbled and killed that drive in the red zone taking at least three points off the board. The Jets paid big money for Thomas Jones, yet the offense has to run a trick play to get a first down and 3rd and 1. That sums up the first half of the season right there.

With Jones still on pace for a 1000 yard season, does he deserve some of the blame for the offense’s struggles? Maybe so, and he’ll get a bigger finger pointed at him if he can’t take some of the pressure off of Clemens now that he is the starter. But be happy we have him here Jets’ fans because the Bears look to be dreading putting all theirs eggs in the Cedric Benson basket.