Home -New England Patriots —For the first time in 20 years the Jets don’t welcome Tom Brady on his annual visit. The Patriots are a curious team, stout on defense with the greatest coach ever at the helm, and probably a running attack based offense. A win here will be hard fought, if it is obtained at all. Projecting the style of offense the Patriots will run depends heavily on whether they select a QB early in the draft. If they do, it depends on which QB. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Julian Edelman —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Dont’a Hightower —Notes: The offensive line should be of high quality even without Dante Scarnecchia. N’Keal Harry could see significant improvement and Sony Michel could bounce back. -Buffalo Bills —Buffalo looks like the big brother in the AFC East this year. Coming off of a solid year with an improved roster, all eyes are on Josh Allen and his expected step forward. The offense will still likely be heavy on the running game, although they will be looking to disperse the ball a bit more to their offensive playmakers. The Bills defense continues to look formidable. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Stefan Diggs, Devin Singletary, John Brown —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Tre’Davious White, Tremaine Edmunds, Micah Hyde, Ed Oliver, Jerry Hughes —Notes: The Bills are a complete team focused on the rushing attack. They will go so far as Josh Allen can take them. -Miami Dolphins —A team that spent big in free agency and is looking to continue rebuilding. Even if the free agent signings work out, it will take some time for the players to get together. A rookie QB will run the show, or Ryan Fitzpatrick who famously can’t have 2 good years in a row. I do not expect the Dolphins to be a high quality opponent in 2020. They have lots of draft picks, but many of those players will take a year at least to become high quality starters. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Byron Jones, Xavien Howard —Notes: The Dolphins need QB and offensive line help if they want to become a legitimate offense. The defense may come together, but very few players are more than decent role players. -Denver Broncos —Second year QB Drew Lock will dictate a lot of how the Broncos fare in 2020. The defense will likely continue to be a force, with a high quality pass rush as their key feature. The offense will likely feature a heavy running game. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Phillip Lindsay, Courtland Sutton, Melvin Gordon —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Jurrell Casey, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, AJ Bouye —Notes: Another team that will go only so far as their QB will take them. They are another pretty complete team, not quite as complete as the Buffalo Bills. -Las Vegas Raiders —The Raiders are a team waiting to break out... maybe. A few key pieces could make all of the difference, but if they are successful it will likely come from a heavy dose of Josh Jacobs carrying the ball. Their defense will look to improve from 2019, but could still face some depth issues. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Jonathan Abram, Clelin Farrell, Max Crosby, Cory Littleton —Notes: A good offensive line and a good running back help pave the way for play action. The lack of WR help makes the team one dimensional. Defensively they have a solid pass rush, but need coverage help. They could get a lot better as a result of the draft. -Cleveland Browns —The Browns are another team who will look to establish the run early and often. A team filled with talent has to be able to put it all together, under a new HC. The pass rush could be a factor against the Jets. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Odell Beckham Jr, Nick Chubb, Jarvis Landry, Austin Hooper —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward, Sheldon Richardson —The Browns are an enigma, as they have more talent than most teams. It has to be assumed that they are less than the sum of their parts until they prove otherwise. -San Francisco 49ers —A pattern is emerging, as the 49ers are another team that will look to dominate with their rushing attack and pass-rush. They should still be one of the premier teams in the league. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: George Kittle, Deebo Samuel —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Arik Armstead, Nick Bosa, Dee Ford, Kwon Alexander, Richard Sherman, Jimmie Ward —This team is tough as nails in both trenches. -Arizona Cardinals —The Cardinals will look to score and stay ahead. They have dynamic WR’s and a mobile QB, so keeping their offense contained will not be easy. Confusing their young QB with Greg Williams defense will be the Jets’ primary weapon. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: DeAndre Hopkins, Kenyan Drake, Larry Fitzgerald —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Chandler Jones, Patrick Peterson —Notes: The Cardinals will be able to move the ball through the air. Can they stay strong on defense? Away -New England Patriots —See above. The Patriots are a short trip, and one that the Jets are used to making. Whatever the weather is for the game, it will be something the Jets are used to playing in. -Buffalo Bills —See above. Buffalo is a close trip but a hard place to play. The fans are intense, and bring an edge. Weather is unlikely to be a disadvantage. -Miami Dolphins —See above. It could be very hot if it’s an early season game, but otherwise Miami doesn’t represent much of a disadvantage for the away teams. Their stadium often is full of Jets fans. -Kansas City Chiefs —An ultra explosive offense in a raucous stadium. Going to visit the Chiefs is going to be a very difficult task this year. Super Bowl champions, and they didn’t get any worse. Kansas City's weather ranges from very hot in the summer to bitterly cold in the winter. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Chris Jones, Frank Clark, Tyrann Mathieu —Notes: The Chiefs are a good overall team, but Patrick Mahomes is what makes them great. -Los Angeles Chargers —One of two visits to LA this year, the Chargers are a difficult team to predict for. Flying to the west coast is never easy. The Chargers offense is nebulous, as they may or may not actually run with Tyrod Taylor as their QB, and will probably still be a run heavy operation. The weather in LA is generally pristine. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Austin Ekeler, Hunter Henry, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Derwin James, Chris Harris Jr —Notes: The Chargers have a choice in the draft, to complete their team, or get a QB. -Indianapolis Colts —The Colts will probably be a very good team this year. Phillip Rivers May not be around for a long time, but he still has ability. The Colts will probably be a high quality defense and offense and be generally well rounded. I do not suspect they will have many glaring weaknesses without injuries coming into play. Dome conditions mean no advantage, but if the Colts are good the stadium will be loud. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: TY Hilton, Marlon Mack —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: DeForest Buckner, Darius Leonard, Justin Houston —Notes: The Colts have just a couple superstars, but a roster full of good starters. -Seattle Seahawks —The Seahawks have an amazing QB and solid receivers, and still they love to run the ball. The second of 3 west coast visits, not to mention the famously loud crowd means the Jets will not have an easy time trying to take down the Seahawks, who have a legitimate chance to be Super Bowl contenders again. Weather could be a factor, as it is often wet and sometimes cold. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockette —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Bobby Wagner, Shaquill Griffin —Notes: A team in transition from one great ensemble to possibly another, but not quite there yet. -Los Angeles Rams —The Rams seem to be a team unsure of exactly who they want to be. They have had a number of their best players decline or be traded or released. They had a good run but they missed their shot to win a Super Bowl with Goff on the cheap. Now he needs to carry the team as they figure out how to surround him with younger players. The 3rd west coast game, and second in LA itself, the Jets will likely be jet lagged for whichever west coast game comes last. —Legitimate Offensive Playmakers: Cooper Kupp, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods —Legitimate Defensive Playmakers: Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, Jalen Ramsey —Notes: Can Jared Goff transition the Rams to a passing powerhouse without relying on Todd Gurley anymore? Maybe, maybe not. Season Notes: Air miles. The Jets travel to Los Angeles twice, and Seattle on the West Coast. They travel to Indianapolis and Kansas City in the Midwest, and Miami in the Southeast Coast. In 2019 the Jets barely had to go anywhere of distance, but this year they are making up for it. I count 10 opponents who will be looking to have their offense flow through the run game. Many of them have questions at QB, while others are just built with powerful offensive lines and are looking to minimize mistakes. -Bills x2 -Patriots x2 -49ers -Raiders -Broncos -Browns -Chargers -Seahawks The rest of the opponents are either passing oriented or more balanced. -Colts -Cardinals -Rams -Dolphins x2 -Chiefs The Jets strength will likely be run defense vs pass defense, so this matches up well with their 2020 opponents. Let me know if you think I missed anything or anyone of note.
There are at least a lot of unproven QB’s. Tier 1 Great QB’s Patrick Mahomes Russell Wilson Tier 2 Great QB’s Declining Phillip Rivers Tier 3 Solid Veteran QB’s Jimmy Garoppolo Derek Carr Jared Goff Tier 4 Young QB’s That Could Be Good Baker Mayfield Josh Allen x2 Kyler Murray Drew Lock Tier 5 Who Will Be Playing QB? Chargers Dolphins x2 Patriots x2
Agree, and like I said, only 2 are head and shoulders above Sam. Rivers is at that age where you just don’t know what you’ll get Tier 3 valid arguments that they are better but not clearly better or all that much better and Sam fits squarely in tier 4, if not the top of the tier. now, v G Williams’ defense only Wilson and mahomes scare me. The rest are extremely beatable and we have a playoff caliber defense.
Now that the opponents have their drafted rookies and a few more trades have taken place, we can look over these again and a bit more thoroughly. NE -Well, it looks like Jarrett Stidham is going to be their starter at QB. You never know what that will mean, but no matter what he is inexperienced at best. Greg Williams will hopefully be able to dial up some exotic blitzes and confuse Stidham into a couple of turnovers. While they have a solid offensive line featuring (LT—>RT) Isaiah Wynn, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, and Marcus Cannon, their Center Andrews is coming off of a major health complication which I believe were blood clots in his lungs. He may be full go, but it’s possible he won’t play as well. There is not much I think the Jets can do in terms of a pass rush with a 4 man rush on this line, however some LB/S/NB blitzes may be able to help with that, especially if their starting Center is MIA. I don’t think they will have a significant advantage in run blocking if the run defense maintains a high level of play as they did last year. In terms of RB’s, most of their corps is still made up of receiving specialists in James White, Brandon Bolden, and Rex Burkhead, but they do have Sony Michel and Damien Harris as well. Without a top notch passer, there is just not much that I think is threatening to a good run defense. Their WR room is not electric by any means, although there is always the possibility N’Keal Harry takes a step forward. He was only a rookie after all. Julian Edelman is no doubt a good player but at his age combined with his physical style, health is going to be an ongoing question for him. Muhammad Sanu is nothing scary, and Damiere Byrd is just a burner who has done basically nothing until a career year of about 350 yards in 2019. Marqise Lee has never been special and has had 2 season ending injuries in the last 2 seasons. Yes, the Jets’ CB’s could use improvement, but who there looks like they are ready to torch anyone? Their TE group is interesting, with veteran Matt LaCosse and then 2 rookies in Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene. However, even if well coached they will be rookies none the less. Both are projections in their own way, with Asiasi being a plus athlete at the position, and Keene an undersized but versatile and feisty blocker. Jamal Adams and Ashtyn Davis make for an interesting matchup with these two. Offensively, there are just a lot of questions and youth everywhere besides the OL for the Patriots. Even with weak pass rush and CB play, the Jets match up fairly well. The Patriots defense lost some pieces, but return their full secondary featuring Devin and Jason McCourty, Patrick Chung, and Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. This foursome will likely be as difficult as ever to pass the ball on. Their LB corps is a funky blend of players with Dont’a Hightower continuing to man the center of the defense. Two rookies join up here as well in Anfernee Jennings and Josh Uche, both promising edge LB’s. Chase Winovich will probably take on a larger role after being a situational pass rusher last year, and Brandon Copeland is a solid if unremarkable edge LB veteran. Shilique Calhoun and Ja’Whaun Bentley round out the primary LB’s with Bentley a more traditional MLB type and Calhoun being another OLB in the rotation. This group on many teams would be underwhelming, but with Belichick so frequently using his LB’s in out of the box roles the past few years, there may be more than meets the eye with these 7 players. Unique formations and blitzes could cause plenty of confusion for a Jets OL who hasn’t spent a lot of time playing as a unit. The defensive linemen for the Patriots will do their part, and probably won’t be flashy as they do so. Lawrence Guy and Beau Allen are journeymen who have bounced around the league, and Deatrich Wise has been in the Patriots system for 3 years and 2 SB appearances so he knows what is expected of him as well. LB’s and DB’s are what keep this version of the Patriots defense rolling, and this could spell trouble for an OL with little experience and WR’s who are unproven. The Jets run game and TE’s could be pivotal in going 1-1 against an always well coached Patriots team this year. Jets that need to step up in a big way to win 1 or both of these games: -Sam Darnold -Le’Veon Bell -Lamical Perine -Christopher Herndon IV -Ryan Griffin -Connor McGovern
Ugh the Cardinals are playing the Jets this year. Should I wear my David Johnson or Robby Anderson jersey? The Cards had a great offseason. Should be a fun game.
After the Team Building series we will do in depth breakdowns of every team in the league, but not necessarily through the lens of Jets opponents since it’s not a Jets specific show. But we will talk about every team with a lot of detail. We will go division by division and for sure we will cover everything you could want to know.
Excellent post, Maximus. Here are a few updates following the draft. Patriots - Added Kyle Dugger, S; Josh Uche, Edge. Bills - added AJ Epenesa, DE; Zack Moss, RB Dolphins - Added Austin Jackson, LT; Noah Igbinoghene, CB; Robert Hunt, OG; Raekwon Davs, DT. The Dolphins OTs ([if he starts] and are shaky at best Broncos - Added Jerry Jeudy, WR; KJ Hamler, WR; Michael Ojemudia, CB; Lloyd Cushenberry, IOL Raiders - Added 3 WRs (Ruggs, Bowden, & Edwards) so one cannot say definitively that they will be a run first team any longer. They also added a pretty good CB in Damon Arnette, so their secondary should be a little better. Browns - Added Jedrick Wills OT to protect Mayfield. Will he play RT or LT? Added Grant Delpit, S. 49ers - Added Javon Kinlaw to the middle of their DL. Added Brandon Aiyuk, WR. Cardinals - Added defensive playmaker Isaiah Simmons, LB; Josh Jones OT Chiefs - Added Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB; Willie Gay, LB; Lucas Niang, OT. As if their offense wasn't scary enough, now they add perhaps the perfect RB. Tough, quick/fast, can catch the ball. Chargers - Added Justin Herbert at QB. Will he start? Colts - Added Michael Pittman, Jr. WR and Jonathan Taylor, RB. Bastards! Pittman should have been ours. Seahawks - Added Jordyn Brooks, LB; Darrell Taylor, DE Rams - Added Cam Akers, RB; Van Jefferson, WR; Terrell Lewis, OLB
Hail Maximus. Awesome job. On paper, it looks like a really scary schedule. Suggest you mail in your resume and replace that worthless excuse for a Jets journalist Metha. Wait, what am I saying? you are too good for the Daily Newsance. I’m going to try and see both games here in LA. Go Jets.
Thank you Max. One thing that struck me as I read your summary is how many teams are going back to strong running games. Perhaps the lack of QBs that can go throw for throw with someone like Mahomes is the reason, I don't know. Controlling the game and keeping top QBs on the bench may be the strategy going forward. It's worked very well for the Jets in the past. Spotlight will be put back on team's run defenses. D-lines, box safeties, middle linebackers, etc. Stuffing/stopping the run will be paramount going forward. With that being said, how do you see the Jets' run D? We were #1 against short yardage last year thanks to Q and Jamal. Now we have CJ back. How do you think our D will stack up against what seems to be a resurfacing of teams trying to dominate by running the ball? edit: IF it's true that teams are reverting back to running the ball, then games tend to be a battle of field positions. JD drafting the nations top punter that will add 10 yards of net field position per series my have been a genius move!
I somehow forgot to include Kyle Dugger, the Patriots top pick in the breakdown. Dugger is an athletic strong safety type from a small school, who is likely the heir apparent to 32 year old Patrick Chung. Dugger will likely see limited playing time considering how vital the secondary is to the Patriots, and young secondary players generally take time to get a strong grasp of NFL offenses and their assignments.
Well I don’t think it’s teams across the league per se, more that many of the teams the Jets happen to face this season are run heavy operations. Shanahan has had excellent rushing offenses many times, in particular I remember watching his Washington run game, even without star RB’s. I remember people kept thinking every breakout RB in that system was a future star, but guys like Alfred Morris and Roy Helu never did much outside of his scheme. The Patriots and the Chargers will likely run heavy because of their QB situations. Many franchises run heavy with young and inexperienced QB’s because it limits potential for mistakes, and takes a lot off of their plates. Even QB’s who develop well benefit from this early on, with the likes of Dak Prescott and (maybe) Jared Goff. The Bills did it for a similar reason, however I believe they now are looking to move forward with that style because of the success of the Ravens, and Josh Allen’s running prowess fits it very well. More so than just making the QB’s life easier, it suits Allen and he can contribute to it with his legs. The Seahawks have been a run first offense for years, while aiming to play tough defense. Their offensive coordinator is currently Brian Schottenheimer, who ran the Jets run first offense in those 2009 and 2010 years.
Ha well it depends, how much does NYDN pay? Because right now I’m furloughed and I’ll take that check, I ain’t to good for that!
Again, thanks. Even last year with Brady under center, Pats ran a run heavy offense. Kind of caught ppl off guard. Even the Chiefs used their 1st round pick on a RB our of LSU. Now back to my question, how do you thing Gregg Williams' run D will stack up?
