On the first drive of the second half of Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots, the Jets faced a third-and-1 at their own 46-yard line. Already down 17–0, the Jets’ offense desperately needed to pick up that yard, but New England stopped the hand off up the middle to fullback B.J. Askew for no gain. On the next play, facing fourthand-1, Jets coach Eric Mangini decided to go for it, but the Patriots stopped another hand off up the middle, this time to running back Kevan Barlow.

After that fourth-down stop, the Patriots drove for a touchdown that gave them a 24–0 lead. Although optimists could look at the rest of the game and say the Jets’ ability to narrow the margin to 24–17 shows for the second straight week that quarterback Chad Pennington is healthy and playing well, the failure to pick up one yard on two straight plays demonstrates the Jets’ biggest problem: The ground game is going nowhere.

The current state of the Jets’ running attack is not unexpected. After all, the franchise’s all-time rushing leader, Curtis Martin, is out with a knee injury and likely to retire. But no one could have imagined the Jets’ running game would look as bad as it has in the first two games. After two weeks, the Jets have run 58 times for 142 yards, an average of 2.4 yards a carry and picked up only four first downs on the ground.

To fix their putrid running game, the first thing the Jets need to do is acknowledge that they erred in giving Derrick Blaylock a five-year, $11 million contract in 2005. Blaylock, who started both of this season’s games, was disappointing last year and has been even worse this year. Although cutting a player two games into the second season of a five-year contract might seem hasty, that is exactly what the Jets should do. Blaylock has only 43 yards on 25 carries and not a single first down, and his longest run went for just six yards. Keeping Blaylock on the roster only hinders the development of the Jets’ younger running backs, second-year player Cedric Houston and rookie Leon Washington.

Regardless of whether they release Blaylock or not, the Jets should make Barlow the starter. Barlow’s numbers this season (77 yards on 25 carries) aren’t good, but he has a strong first step and can break tackles. Barlow is also more experienced than Blaylock — they both entered the league in 2001, but Barlow has started 30 games in his career, while Blaylock has started just eight — and Barlow is a more accomplished receiver, with 138 career receptions compared to 53 for Blaylock.

When Barlow needs a rest, the Jets would be wise to substitute him with Washington, a rookie who so far this season has played special teams almost exclusively, carrying the ball only once.

At 5 feet 8 inches and 202 pounds, Washington is the smallest of the Jets’ four backs, but he’s also the fastest. If they alternated between Washington and the 6-foot-1-inch, 234-pound Barlow, the Jets could develop a two-back approach that utilizes both Washington’s speed and Barlow’s power.

In 2005, Houston started the last four games after Martin went down with a knee injury. Although his numbers were less than stellar (302 yards on 81 carries), he still looked better than Blaylock. Houston has been inactive for the Jets’ first two games, but nothing either player has done in a Jets uniform can explain why Blaylock should start while Houston doesn’t even suit up.

The Jets also should consider involving rookie receiver Brad Smith as a regular part of their running game. A converted quarterback who ran for 4,289 yards in his three years as a dual runpass threat at Missouri, Smith has the team’s longest run of the season on a 12-yard end-around. A creative approach that puts the ball in Smith’s hands could open up the running game and force opposing defenses to prepare for the possibility that Smith could throw the ball on trick plays.

Losing Martin hurt, and the front office blundered by failing to have an adequate replacement lined up, but the offensive line is an equally important aspect of the Jets’ failure to run. The biggest problem is in the middle, where center Kevin Mawae started every game between 1998 and 2004 and made six Pro Bowls. Last year Mawae missed 10 games with a tricep injury, and this year he left for the Tennessee Titans. Rookie Nick Mangold is Mawae’s successor, and while he has promise, he isn’t nearly as good as his predecessor. The Jets’ other rookie offensive lineman, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, has also struggled as a run blocker. Ferguson was drafted because he has quick feet that could make him a great pass-protector some day, but he still needs to develop the pure power needed to become a dependable runblocker.

The best news about the Jets’ running game is that the key players are young and can still grow into offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s system. Barlow and Blaylock are both 27. Houston and Washington are both 24. Ferguson and Mangold are both 22. In a few years, the same players could form the nucleus of one of the league’s best running attacks. But until then, Jets fans should expect some growing pains.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.