1) I remember listening to a Rex interview last year where he said that in 2009 it was mostly him making the D calls while in 2010 it was 60% Pettine and 40% Rex. I wonder what the distribution is now and if the lack of the D effectivness can be attributed in some part to Pettine's ability as a play-caller. Looking at the D play you can see it isn't as aggressive as it was the last 2 years. 2) Ok, Revis is the best corner in the NFL, no discussion. Cromartie is anything but a shutdown corner... sure he can make big plays and have very good outings but in the majority of games he gets beaten on a consistent basis. Upside aside he's an avg to slightly above avg corner imo. Our safeties are underwhelming. Considering Revis shuts down 1/4 of the field all by himself there is no excuse whatsoever for having so many players wide open through the middle. They can hardly tackle a TE, let alone covering one and they have their problems when WRs come through the middle too. Leonhard is better than Smith but both are limited athletically. I can accept one very smart albeit not phisically gifted S but 2 is too much. Wilson and Strickland are the only bright spot... in the sense that they are above avg nickel and dime CBs. Revis - Cromartie - Leonhard - Smith - Wilson - Strickland is an above avg group of DBs... but it's certainly not elite.
Hey, ive been viewing this forum for awhile and have decided to join on this post. Ive had the same feeling about Rex handing the defensive calls over to Pettine. I'm also concerned with the lack of comunication between the secondary. Their were many times this season where the back field has been scrambling to lineup. I also believe instead of Scott coming out in Nickel and Dime packages he should be used as a rusher.
I understand we've lost Rhodes, who could cover plenty of secondary ground due to strong range, and yes, we failed to close out a good 2-3 games back in 2009, but our defense could dominate at times during 09. Lito Sheppard wasn't as good as Cromartie either, and Wislon has became a very good nickel back this year. We're also revamped with youth, and in my eyes, more talented on the defensive front this year when compared to 2009 after the Jenkins injury. I also understand that the book has been out on our defense under Rex since 2009, going on 3 years now... But our defense hasn't been anything like it was in 2009 or even moments of last year. All signs point to play calling as of right now. Obviously plenty of finger poining has gone in the dirrection of Shotty Jr in regards to our play calling, but if it's true that Pettine has taken over mostly all play calling duties, then our offensive coordinator shouldn't be made out to be the only scapegoat for a struggling team. Pettine deserves alot of blame for the ways our defense has been lit up this year, and if true... Rex Ryan needs to take over play calling responsibilities once again. He became our head coach because of his defensive ability, as head coach, he should continue to lead our defense.
"He became our head coach because of his defensive ability, as head coach, he should continue to lead our defense. Today 09:01 PM " I agree, I was uneasy even last year when I found that Rex was no longer calling a majority of the plays. Again, where has our secondary been at pre-snap? We must lineup better.
I enjoy Rex as head coach, but part of being a head coach is putting our team in best position to win. Obviously Rex can't run our offense, but the man is a great defensive mind with an outstanding football IQ. If we're struggling because of Pettine and his play calling ability, it's up to Rex to do more than just put a game plan together, it's up to Rex to also call plays on gameday. It won't be easy on Rex having to not only get a feel for the game on the defensive side of the ball, as well as make all the right calls as a head coach... But if he's up for the task of being a great head coach... He should also call our defensive plays, because without his defensive play calling ability, he would have never landed a head coaching position. Look at Sean Payton and the Saints... He's a head coach who also calls the Saints offensive calls. Rex needs to get back to being the Rex of 2009 and lead this team from here on out.
I wouldn't say they suck, both are smart players, but they're awful in regards to covering ground, both have a lack of overall range because of a lack of overall speed, quickness and acceleration. Smith is solid against the run but drop dead awful in pass coverage. That's a problem. Smith would make for a very good backup safety, but as a starter? I agree with you, it'll be a very strong signing to land a safety such as Griffin or Landry. If the Jets were to land either of Griffin or Landry, we could keep Leonhard as a starter because of his defensive IQ. But with all that said, having two career backups playing as starters has hurt our defense.
Interestingly ive noticed most of our big plays seem to come from the middle of the field, for whatever that is worth, simply an observation at most.
I had some theories about this over the past few weeks. Rex has to run the team, not just the defense. He is teaching Pettine the same as he is coaching Sanchez. Gives him a leash, lets him run, and when he gets wild, he yanks the chain. Let's not forget, Mike Pettine was coaching high school ball not so very long ago. He is a work in progress. I don't think he is doing that bad of a job, but he isn't a son of Buddy Ryan and has not been on NFL sidelines his entire life. I gave Schotty 3 years before I dropped the hammer on him, Pettine deserves at least that long as a coordinator, calling shots.
Mostly due to the fact that we lack safetys who can challenge these new era types of NFL TE's down the middle of the field. The Jets aren't the only team struggling to stop opposing TE's though, the safety position as a whole is a weak position (talent wise) in today's NFL... And these pass catching TE's such as Gonzalez, Gates, Witten, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Jimmy Graham, Pettigrew etc, etc are really starting to feast against LB's who aren't fast enough/skilled enough in coverage and safetys who aren't big enough/strong enough or have the type of ball hawking ability needed to stop these guys. It's frustrating, because not only do we lack a safety who can contain these guys, but we have our very own pass catching TE in Dustin Keller could also become one of these new era TE's... But it's up to both Shotty and Sanchez to implement him into our offense the right way. He's a matchup problem waiting to happen.
#2 in passing TDs allowed, #7 in passing YPG. Stats don't tell the full story but considering our pass rush is average at best I say our secondary is doing a pretty solid job.
Smith and Leonhard may be career backups, but you won't find an NFL trio that's better than Revis, Cromartie and Wilson at the CB positions. Revis has already became one of the greatest CB's of all-time, Cromartie may make mistakes from time to time, but he's one of the best #2 CB's in today's game and could start as a #1 on at least 12-15 teams. Kyle Wilson has also came into his own this year, as a 2nd year player, as being one of the best nickel backs around. Improve our safety positions during the offseason, and our secondary will become scary good.
