San Diego is #1 in Defense and Offense, they are 2-4 I'm just happy our D is closing out games, and the stats should work their way up to # 1 or 2 by the end of the year.
Has anyone else noticed that on every 3rd down teams keep putting two running backs in the backfield to block? Rex needs to control his blitzing so that we don't keep getting burnt. That's the biggest reason why this defense isn't playing lights out right now. Teams have seen what we try to do on 3rd and long and have prepared for it.
I think we need to clarify that the D would be playing better if Revis were 100%, but that does not fully serve to compare to last year. The reason is that Cro has been playing quite well. As well as Revis last year? Not that great, but still he's having what Ryan called a Pro Bowl year. I also don't think at least in terms of ppg for O that the opponents the Jets have faced so far rank particularly highly, so I don't thikn that argument means much. Mostly I don't think the 2 point increase in PPG over the course of only six games is all that meaningful. As I noted above the D is still ranked fifth in the league based on ppg. They are even now a top D, imo. Let's see how they play throughout the season. The question what is wrong is being a bit overanalyzed here, imo.
I disagree that this defense is identical to what Rex ran down in Baltimore. He has different personnel in the Jets (Ravens have no one like Revis at CB and the Jets have no one like Reed at Safety) and he's altered his defensive scheme accordingly (and impressively). I think it does take a full year for opposing coaches to fully discern what another team is doing and figure it out. Isn't that why most QBs have a "sophomore slump?" I think other coaches are get wise to Rex's game. I don't think he can't adjust, I just don't think he's done it yet.
We need a good OLB pass rusher in next years draft. I want to see a guy they can rely on to make some sacks, not just simply always relying on the scheme to get the QB.
Pace getting back to full health should provide taht... but I agree we should draft a OLB high (1st or 2nd rd)
I agree mostly, but one thing you're leaving out is that he hasn't really been able to fully run the scheme he did last season because #24 hasn't been 100%. So while other teams have definitely adjusted to the blitzes, there are things he isn't able to do behind those blitzes that he was able to do last season. I thought the pass defense was significantly better on Sunday than it had been all season. It's no coincidence that 24 was on the field and a lot closer to 100%.
The biggest problem with rankings and stats is that no one knows how to use them. YPG could be the worst stat to ever judge a team on. Points scored per game and points allowed per game are much better "guides" to use but no one seems to get that. The cowboys are in the top 5 in offense and defense in terms of YPG. They are 21st and 16th in offense and defense in terms of PPG, respectively. A lot more telling of whats going on. Its all about the secondary being on the same page by playing together longer, and the offense scoring more TDs in the redzone.
Jets can't generate consistent pass rush without blitzing. Last year, Revis would eliminate the best passing offensive weapon. Not only were the Jets able to consistently send an extra man (because of Revis) but the opposing QB had to try to beat the blitz without his favorite target. Cromartie has played well this year but this year's Cromartie doesn't lock down a receiver like last year's Revis. Also, Rex's system (with Jets personnel) has been in place for over a season & there should now be enough film for everyone else to study. Hopefully, Revis can be 100% healthy & return to last year's form. == As for the running game .... it's impossible for the Jets to find someone to play NT @ Jenkin's level once the season started. They're just going to go through this season & hope to upgrade NT during the offseason.
On the OP's topic, I don't think I've seen anyone mention that *all* teams are now, at least in some part of their defensive game plan, attempting to mimic Rex's D. Look around the league, find a random game on Sunday, wait for 3rd down, and you'll see a) defensive players waiting until the last second to get into position, b) (at most) one player with their hand on the ground, while the rest "float" around the LOS, c) coordinators sending the house, and d) the "trailing blitzer(s)". Sound familiar? With every other team playing copy-cat, many teams we now face haven't had just film to watch on us, but also more than likely played against something similar so far this season. That alone has dropped us to the middle of the pack on defense. However, even with that, once Revis is back to 100% we'll be able to send that one extra blitzer that other teams can't afford to send. It's also a long season - the YPG will most certainly come down by the end of the season.
I couldn't disagree more with this. Look at the games Dallas has lost. They have all been by 7 points or less, many of which they were very much in and just couldn't close it out. Now, you may think that makes them an awful team, but I think that just says they're a poorly coached team. I wouldn't, for a second, consider Dallas a worse team than St. Loius, Cincy, Jacksonville, or Oakland (among others), all of which have better records. YPG is a huge indicator of the *talent* on your roster. PPG is just a complimentary reflection of your record. Clearly, if you hold teams to fewer points, you'll have won more games. Just as an example, suppose a team wins a game on 2 kickoff/punt returns, but couldn't move the ball for s*** on offense, and caught some lucky breaks in their own red zone, even though the opposing offense rammed it down the D's throat all day... is the team that won really the better team? Would you expect them to win *all* season long playing that type of game? I also disagree with the sentiment that "you are what you record says you are". Sure, we're 5-1, so everyone one the board is boasting about our record; but last season "we're so much better than 9-7, look how close our L's were!!!". In reality, you have to look at the overall picture, which isn't just YPG or PPG. However, if you're choosing to look at just one, YPG is a far better indicator of the quality of a football team. Our defense was ranked no. 1 last season in YPG, and you could see that stat meant something when you watched us play.
Granted, that's something I shouldn't have ignored. The real acid test will be when Revis is healthy and Rex has his druthers with playcalling. I think the defense won't be as dominant as last year simply because the film on them is out there. The offense needs to step up this year for the team to realize the success they want.
I totally disagree. The game is played according to who scores the most, not gains the most yards. Your argument contradicts itself, too. A team with a great O that scores a lot will kick off more than punt, averaging the D into longer fields rather than short ones. A lousy D playing on a short field gives up a score quicker, perhaps, than one playing on a long one, but you can only give up at most a TD on a given possession. So? Of course all other things being equal on O, a team with a great D will tend to score more, given the likely effect the D will have on field position. We all agree I think that one affects the other, as do special teams affect both, and that no single stat including overall record can be relied upon to give you a clear picture of the quality of a part of the team standing alone, here focusing on the D. And ftr I am not saying that YPG is not a useful stat. It is just far from clear that it is a better one than PPG. PPG has the virtue of being more directly related to what REALLY matters, which is the final score. More to the point I am mystified with the moaning on this thread that ignores the Jets stat on PPG - which is a quite good fifth in the league, while anguishing over the decline in YPG standings compared to last year. For example, look at the Chargers. They have the fourth ranked O in terms of PPG, first in YPG. Their D is tops on YPG standings, but their Points Given at 21 is a miserable 24th in the league (and yes that is at 6 games in - some teams only played five have worse PPG). Which team has the better D? I would take the Jets D over SD's any day of the week.
You're record does tell you who you are. This paragraph proved it. A team with a high powered O and D but shitty coaching and the inability to close out games is, in an overall sense, a bad team. This isn't baseball. Stats don't work the same way. PPG is the most telling stat. It shows that you can't score. Forget what you do in between the 20s. A poorly coached team with a lot of talent that loses by one possession is in fact a bad team due to their lack of discipline and inability to finish. You proved my point. PPG is much more telling of whats going on with a team. And FTR, I think St. Louis can beat Dallas - they finish games. If we are going to use Dallas as the example. Yes I do. Until they start putting points on the board and stopping teams from scoring, I can see them playing like this all season. If Dallas is the better team, why can't they win. I guess, as a team, they aren't that good. As individuals they're quite talented. Those Jets fans didn't realize that the team was exactly a 9-7 team. The D, as good as it was, couldn't finish games. The offense had trouble passing due to Sanchez's rookie season. The Jets were also #1 in PPG last year on defense, and both YPG and PPG didn't tell the whole story about how more than once a team drove down the length of the field and scored in the final 2 minutes of a game against that #1 Jets defense. This isn't baseball, but PPG is a much more telling stat.
ND, Nice post, but the business about the 9-7 record was, yes, overall over the course of the regular season, the Jets, particularly Sanchez, made too many mistakes and lost games, and the team was very much a 9-7 team. But when those mistakes were minimized and the team made it into the playoffs, it played better than a 9-7 team. Which it was. Heh.
