Cowboy Website - Good Breakdown of Jets Defense

... some good photo's in there as well so i will not copy/paste ...


http://www.cowboysnation.com/2011/09/jets-week-part-one-bad-week-to-miss.html



http://www.cowboysnation.com/2011/0...campaign=Feed:+cowboysnation+(Cowboys+Nation)





l_j_r

 

... there's some good photo's in there as well toronto ... we're truly diservicing the article ... pull it up as well when you have access to a computer ... it's worth it ...



Jets Week, Part One: A Bad Week to Miss Martellus

Posted by Rafael at Monday, September 05, 2011
It's Jets week! We begin our game-one countdown with a look at Rex Ryan's blitzes, and why they present a match-up problem for the kids on the Cowboys O-line.

Rex Ryan does not have a top-tier pass rusher. Calvin Pace led the '09 Jets with 8.0 sacks and Bryan Thomas the '10 Jets with 6.5 sacks. Shaun Ellis, the Jets' top-rushing lineman, now plays for the Patriots.

Ryan nonetheless has built an effective rush, doing it with muscle and scheme. The '10 Jets bagged 40 quarterbacks, ranking eight in the league. Ryan uses an extreme amount of secondary blitzes and zone blitzes. Eleven of those 40 sacks were notched by Jets' safeties and cornerbacks. Ryan uses zone blitzes. He uses overloads. He works through his list of options looking for a type of blitz that works. Then, he calls it until an opponent stops it.

Three years ago, Ryan's Ravens faced the Cowboys in Texas Stadium. Mid-way through the game, Ryan called a delayed inside linebacker blitz at the Cowboys right side, where his nose tackle and a defensive end ran a twist, with Ray Lewis rushing though the guard's gap behind them. The first time called, Lewis ran past a confused Leonard Davis and smacked Tony Romo. So Ryan called it again, and again, Lewis ran untouched through the B-gap.

That half, Ryan ran that delayed blitz six times and it beat Leonard Davis each time. The Cowboys offense scored some late points behind Romo and Jason Witten, but Romo took an immense beating.

Those inside blitzes are a big part of Ryan's Jets scheme, and with Bill Nagy and Phil Costa expected as starters, Ryan will no doubt test them early, to see if he can get some early shots on Romo.

Here's are two effective interior blitzes from the Jets-Giants game two weeks ago which show the pressure Ryan can put on an opponents running backs and interior line to protect their quarterback.

Overload

On the Giants' first drive the Jets line up in an "eagle' front. This is a variation on daddy Buddy Ryan's old 46 look. The three linemen are over the center and guards. Weakside rusher Thomas is outside RT Kareem McKenzie and two linebackers, Pace and Bart Scott, are lined up on each side of the tight end. At the snap, the three linemen rush, locking up the center and guards. The tight end releases and both Pace and Scott rush from that edge. Pace engages the LT and Scott loops inside to the A-gap:

Ryan has overloaded the left side. He's rushing five, but four from the center to the left side. RT McKenzie has nobody to block. Ryan has brought four rushers at three linemen, so fullback Brandon Jacobs has to handle Scott to keep Eli Manning upright. Jacobs actually out-weighs Scott by fifteen pounds or so, but makes a tepid block, pushing Scott towards his QB:

Manning had to hurry his throw and the pass was incomplete. The Jets are going to put similar pressure on Dallas' smaller stable of backs to stand up, or cut blitzers like Scott. Felix Jones has been effective and rookie DeMarco Murray got high marks in college for his blocking, but they will have to handle their man on a dozen or two plays, to give Romo time.

This is a good time to have John Phillips and Jason Witten flexing into the backfield to help protect, but they will split the tight end duties this week with Martellus Bennett out. I doubt we'll see waiver claim Tony Fiammetta get much protection responsibility. He's only been a Cowboy for a couple of days. Jones, Murray and Tashard Choice will have to throw their bodies into their work.

The Delay

Here's an inside linebacker blitz similar to the one that flummoxed Davis so much in '08:

The Giants have spread the field with a three wideout set. The Jets have stayed in a base 3-4 (they run a base 3-4 package a lot more than the Cowboys do) with the OLBs wide. Note one of them is at the bottom of the frame in the right slot. The action is in the middle of the field. The nose tacke is a one-technique, on the center's right shoulder. DRE Wilkerson is a 3-technique, over the LG's outside shoulder.

As the rush begins, the NT and the RE slide across their men and attack the gap one slot over. Wilkerson is in the B-gap, the guard-tackle gap on his side of the line, but he attacks the A-gap, between the left guard and the center. The nose tackle, attacks the A-gap on his side, between the center and RG Chris Snee:

The blocking requires the interior linemen to switch. The LG Dave Diehl hands off Wilkerson to the C and takes on the ILB, while the C passes the nose tackle to the RG. That's not what happened. Snee did come off his double team block on on the LE and pick off the NT. The C took on Wilkerson. However, Diehl stayed with Wilkerson too long, creating a clean lane for ILB David Harris to charge through:

Manning again has to rush his throw. This one is high and gets intercepted. Stopping the three-man stunt requires a lot of communication between the interior linemen. If one man is late on an assignment, or blows it outright, the quarterback gets smacked:

Hudson Houck and Skip Peete will earn this money this week. They have to prepare inexperienced linemen and backs to recognize and react to Rex Ryan's and DC Mike Pettine's tricks. Because those tricks are coming.

 

... and the second part ...

Jets Week, Part Two: Embrace the Blitz

Posted by Rafael at Tuesday, September 06, 2011
In part one of Jets week reviews, I looked at some potential vulnerabilities in the Cowboys' line, and how the Jets might attack them. Today, a more general view of the Jets defense, and how the Cowboys might attack it.

What they do:

The Ryan brothers are tied to the 3-4 as a scheme, because it offers them more looks from base personnel, gives them more options on blitzes, and presents better matchups when they zone blitz. (3-4 matches up OLBs against backs and TEs in drops, where a 4-3 zone blitz puts DEs in space.)

On first down, Rex Ryan and his DC Mike Pettine use 3-4 personnel packages on nearly every play. You'll see three linemen and four linebackers in the game. This does not mean that Rex will give a 3-4 formation. Some times he will go 3-4 base. Other times, he'll have one of his OLBs put his hand down, and give a 4-3 look. He'll under-shift his 4-man line. He'll over-shift it. The Jets use a lot of very late pre-snap movement to try and confuse the line protection. In this still, you see the Jets go to "eagle" the old Bears and Eagles 46 look, using that same 3-4 personnel package:

The DEs pinch, putting three linemen head up over the Gs and C. ILB David Harris walks to the strong side, next to Calvin Pace, where they flank the TE. SS Jim Leonhard walks up into the LB spot, as Doug Plank and Gary Fencik did in the Bears days. This is a classic, Bears 46, the only difference being that the weakside end stands up, where Richard Dent and Clyde Simmons put their hands down for Buddy.

The Jets felt their front seven was aged and lacked athleticism and rush skill. In the draft, they picked to rebuild the line, taking Muhammad Wilkerson in the 1st round and NT/DE Kenrick Ellis in the 3rd. Wilkerson will start at RE, opposite Doug Free.

The Jets have a bigger, faster, more physical front now. There's no elite rusher in the linebacking corps, but they want to be very hard to run against. Only one back has topped 100 yards against them under Rex Ryan. That does not mean that the Cowboys will avoid the run, but they're not likely to just line up and start overpowering New York's front.

The most intriguing matchup for Dallas comes on the opposite side of the line, where rookie Tyron Smith faces LDE Mike DeVito. DeVito is a classic, sluggo-type 34 DE. He's not very athletic, but he's hard to move. Smith has showed the ability to turn linemen in the preseason, and he offers Dallas a potential mis-match. The Giants had some success two weeks ago running counters and tosses at DeVito and strongside OLB Calvin Pace. When Dallas probes for run openings, it's likely to start against those two.

The Jets want to out-muscle you on 1st and 2nd downs and get you into long down-and-distance situations. Here, they bring in some Ryan pass packages that should now be familiar to Cowboys pre-season viewers. They have a 2-4-5 nickel, to nullify three receiver sets:

And a 1-4-6 dime, to stop 4 wideout formations:

The Jets will play some zone, but with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie on the corners, they play man as much as they can. How can an offense attack them? It's difficult, but some teams have had success with these tactics.

-- Work the middle of the field. The Jets safeties are competitive and smart, but they are not as athletic as the corners. Pass routes that attack them, in the intermediate and deep middle, have some success. Jason Witten has a significant height and size advantage on SS Eric Smith and will likely be a game-plan priority running seams, corners and deep ins at greater depths.

-- Pick on Cromartie and the Jets nickel back when you throw to wideouts. Revis' reputation has the best CB is deserved. He's been on an amazing statistical run that has seen him post yearly YPAs in the threes. Last year was an ''off'' year for Revis, but he still finished 8th in YPA metics, stopping 67% of the passes in his direction. Teams can beat him here or there, but it's hard-headed to game plan around attacking him. Cromartie has also rated in the top 25, but offers a more inviting target.

-- throw deeper to the running backs. Bears OC Mike Martz had one of the best game plans of 2010 against the Jets, putting 38 on Rex in a shoot-out win. His game plan is informative, because he runs an offensive scheme very similar to Jason Garrett's.

Martz created some huge plays for RB Matt Forte by anticipating and attacking Jet max overloads. Rex calls a breed of blitzes his brother Rob has not shown this summer. He'll take three or four guys and overload one side of the field, leaving his secondary on the open side thinly staffed. He relies on superb tackling to blunt successful passes that beat his pressure. The still below shows one such max look. From a base 3-4, Rex has moved both of his ILBs to OLB spots, putting three rushers against two blockers on each perimeter. Will he blitz from Jay Cutler's left or his right, or from both edges?

Martz and Cutler embraced the rush, knowing that their receiving targets would get single coverage. Instead of staying in to block, Forte released immediately on a hot route, feinting a quick out, then cutting hard straight up-field. The double move lost ILB David Harris and gave Cutler and easy throw to his wide-open back:

Forte made another long gain running a wheel route against OLB Jason Taylor. Felix Jones has the speed and the hands to win these match-ups, and to win them big -- if Tony Romo gets the time to find Felix.

Here's another example of Martz anticipating and destroying a max blitz with his back. The Bears spread the field on a 1st down, leaving only the tailback Forte and TE Brandson Manumaleuna in the backfield with the QB. New York countered with another all-out blitz look. Count the Jets -- you can see all eleven of them in this frame, all within five yards of the line of scrimmage.

The Bears don't have a tight end on the line. They just have the F-back Manumaleuna flexed into the backfield in an off-set I. The Jets put eight men in the box against six Bears blockers and stack most of them on the F-backs side:

By doing so, Rex and Pettine have no safety help for a pass or a run that breaks the line. Martz attacks this by calling 50 counter, a play the Cowboys call F-counter, where the right guard and the F-back pull and lead the back to the weak side. The rest of the Bears linemen block down to their right. RG Roberto Garza takes out the ROLB Jason Taylor:

Manumaleuna leads Forte through the hole, seal blocking a pursuing inside linebacker:

Forte is free, and with no Jet free safety, he gains 32 yards before he's tripped.

Martz embraced the Jets blitz. He spread the field, even though it left his protection a bit thin. His erratic O- line was well prepared by OL coach Mike Tice and they picked up New York's blitz packages. Without a plus rusher who could win one-on-ones regularly, the Jets could not sustain a rush. Jay Cutler had time to work the whole field. This gave Forte and slot receiver Devin Hester time to exploit their mis-matches.

Go back to the camp reports. You'll see that Rob Ryan blitzed the Cowboys offense heavily from day one. The young offensive line has been exposed to Ryan pressure on a regular basis. Garrett's guys beat that pressure in a couple of mid-camp scrimmages. Was this due to Rob's unit's inexperience, or has the offense innoculated itself to pressure?

We're going to find out Sunday night. I have a feeling that Jason Garrett won't back down from the blitzes, and that he, like Martz, will attack them. If this is the case, the Cowboys offense will get a handful of plays where Felix Jones, Jason Witten and Kevin Ogletree are matched one-on-one in open space.

The Cowboys' success or failure in these duels could shape the game.