On the last play of the first quarter of the Jets’ loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, running back Thomas Jones took a handoff, tried to find room to run to the left, and was drilled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of a yard.

The play wasn’t particularly noteworthy, but the player who tackled Jones was: Donte Whitner, the Bills’ strong safety. Although the Jets had three wide receivers on the field on that play — a formation that usually indicates a pass is coming — Whitner was playing close to the line of scrimmage, ready to stop the run. Opposing safeties have been able to do that to the Jets all season because the Jets’ passing game doesn’t stretch the field, and the result has been a disappointing start to the year for Jones.

When the Jets acquired Jones in a March trade with the Chicago Bears, they expected him to make a big impact on their offense. But through four games, he just can’t get going. Jones has 75 carries for 254 yards, an average of just 3.4 yards a carry, and the Jets’ lack of a big-play passing game bears a big part of the blame for that.

The Jets throw short passes almost exclusively. The offensive emphasis on accurate passes that gain ground in small chunks makes sense, to some extent, because quarterback Chad Pennington is not known for his arm strength. But while those short passes might be well suited to Pennington’s skills, they have made it easier for opposing teams to line up with eight in the box and bottle up Jones. When opposing safeties know the Jets won’t test them with deep passes, it’s easy for them to stay in close to the line of scrimmage and help out in run support.

That’s why, even though Pennington doesn’t have a great arm for deep balls, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer needs to call on Pennington to throw a few long passes, if for no other reason than to use the threat of a long gain through the air to open up some room in the running game.

Pennington has never had a strong arm and has probably lost some of whatever zip he once had on his fastball as a result of multiple shoulder injuries. But while having a cannon for an arm is a nice luxury, it’s hardly a necessity. Pennington is capable of delivering the ball 30 yards downfield, and the Jets need to call plays where he does that, even if just a couple of times a game, even if just to keep the opposing defense honest.

And Pennington is more effective throwing deep passes than he gets credit for. On Sunday, Pennington hurt the Bills much more when throwing long than when throwing short. Pennington threw just seven passes that traveled more than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, but he completed five of them, for 117 yards. He threw 32 passes less than 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage and completed 27, numbers that would be okay if they were resulting in long runs after the catch by the receivers. But the Jets’ offense didn’t break any such long runs, and Pennington totaled just 174 yards on those short passes, for an average of just 5.4 yards a throw. Both of Pennington’s interceptions Sunday came on short passes.

The Jets’ passing statistics reflect their emphasis on the short game: They rank fifth in the league with a 67.4% completion rate, but 26th in the league with an average of 10.1 yards per completion. But their running statistics also reflect an inability to get anything going. The Jets rank 28th in the league with just 82.5 yards rushing a game, they rank 29th in the league with just 3.2 yards per carry, and they’re the only team in the league without a single run longer than 12 yards. That’s what happens when opposing defensive backs know they don’t have to worry about getting beaten deep. Jones suffered a calf injury in the preseason and there was some concern at the time that the injury would continue to hamper him at the start of the regular season. But that hasn’t appeared to be the case: Jones looks as quick as ever when he has room to run, it’s just that he hasn’t had room to run very often.

Jones had his longest run of the year Sunday in one of the few situations when the Bills’ defensive backs lined up deep in the secondary. The run came on a third-and-12, and in that apparent passing situation, the Jets took the Bills by surprise with a handoff, and Jones took it 12 yards for a first down. Jones can run effectively when he has room. It’s time for the Jets to develop a passing game that gives him room to run more often.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.