Lets not even talk about Favre and the Jets offense in this thread, I'm excited about our O-Line, Thomas Jones/Leon Washington, Coles-Cotchery and #4, but lets just take the time to talk about this Jets defense! And can we give credit where credit is due? Sutton and Mangini have done one hell of a job with this Jets defense... This is the 1st year that we actually have a 3-4 Defense instead of a 4-3 Defense TRYING to play the role of a 3-4 Defense... And look @ the results, this Defense is playing tough football and as a fan of Defense, I honestly believe that DefenseWinsChampionships: And I'm loving it. We were ranked like 4th against the run this year before the Bills game, only allowing about 3.2 yards per carry...Thats really, really good. Did you all see what this Jets front 7 just did against Marshawn Lynch and the Bills in Buffalo? They stuffed the run without David Harris who has been our leader and we actually forced Trent Edwards into throwing mistakes. We were ranked what? #3 in Defensive sacks on the year? Like 24 in 7 games or something like that? How many did we have today against the Bills? 4 or 5? Not only are the Jets flying to the ball, getting after the QB with sack after sack, but our front 7 is dominating just about any O-Line that opposing teams throw @ us. It's exciting. Say what you want about this Jets secondary, you cant deny the talent that we have with players such as Kerry Rhodes and Revis! Rhodes is a top 5 safety and flys to the ball with the best of em. Revis is becoming one of the best overall corners in the game today. Shut Down? Maybe not... Lock Down? You bet your ass he is, he's a lock down Corner if I've ever seen one. What about our rookie CB in Dwight Lowery? I'm actually catching myself saying the same types of things about Lowery during games here in 2008 that I was saying about Revis last year in 07. Before the season started, we all knew we needed a #2 CB opposite Revis, we now know that we have one. Revis, Rhodes and Lowery will continue to make plays, it's only a matter of time before this group is known as one of the best. How about Calvin Pace? Wow... I guess Bill Parcells and the Dolphins were going after Pace with guns blazing for a reason, he's the perfect fit for just about any 3-4 Defensive team. Not only can he pressure the QB and drop into coverage, but the man can tackle in the open field! I believe he had something like 80+ solo tackles last year with Arizona. Great pickup and you know what? I think it's safe to say that Pace has been worth the $$$ so far. David Harris: Cant wait for this man to get back onto the field because he's a beast, the leader of this Jets 3-4 Defense and can rack up 20+ tackles any given Sunday. I love ya Vilma, but Vilma who? I guess Mangini and company knew what they were doing when they drafted Harris last year and traded Vilma to the Saints this past offseason. Bryan Thomas? Hell yeah! This dude is playing like the Thomas of 2006 when the Jets made the playoffs, I guess he was just playing out of position last year Kris Jenkins: What can I say? This dude is playing like an animal on this D-Line! A Beast and a monster for any O-Line! I wonder how Peppers is doing with the Panthers without Jenkins on the D-Line? My guess would be not as good for the simple fact, this man makes everyone around him that much better. If I had to pick a team MVP as of right now, I would pick Jenkins because this man has changed the face of this Jets defense. We are now a 3-4 Defense and if you were to ask me...He's the best DT/NT in the game today. Thats actually 7 play-makers for this Jets defense...7 athletes who can make impact plays with each and every snap of the ball...These guys are serious. And what about Ellis? He's actually the perfect fit next to Jenkins on this D-Line, he's a bull thats tough against the run, thats what we need. I believe we could upgrade over Barton, Coleman and Smith/Elam but you know what? You dont need 11 superstars on Defense when you have 7 impact players like Pace, Harris, Thomas, Revis, Rhodes, Lowery and Jenkins. Just think about the future of this defense...Once Gholston starts to make an impact, watch out because this unit can lead this Jets team deep into the playoffs. Defense Wins Championships and I feel that this is the best overall Jets defense that I've ever seen
I think we have already matched our sack total from a year ago. Run defense and not enough pressure on the qb has been the Jets weakness for a while. Now its our strength. Only concern is we need to force more turnovers, but we did that today with 3.
I'm still not thrilled with the pass rush, although it was much improved today (playing against a back-up center surely helped). But the secondary is coming together very well. We have a rookie and 2nd year as our CBs and they are already playing better than a good number of CB tandems in the NFL. And there's still room for them to get better.
Its like the RaiderJoe of the Jets... its all good. It was nice to see the defense play aggressive and not passive. The playmakers were allowed to make plays. If this is consistent - this is a SB caliber team, because there is no elite team in the AFC. This kind of play can get you far due to the absolute parity in this conference. Bowens did have 2 blown assignments that allowed their only offensive TD. That was the only problem.
Yeah, we only had 27 sacks last year I think. I guess this is what happens when you have a 2nd year player in David Harris as the leader of your D, Jenkins as our NT over Robertson, Calvin Pace from the outside and Bryan Thomas back to his position of 2006 in replace of Hobson. Amazing offseason for the Defense and man oh man is Mangini and company building a Defense here with the Jets! These guys can be good for a long time and I'm going to enjoy every second of it as a fan. My screen name on JetNation was "DefenseWinsChampionships" before I was banned :beer:
You keep on calling me the RaiderJoe of the Jets...Why? BEcause I call it how I see it? Because I understand a top notch Defense when I see one? It's not my fault that I'm not crying about a defense that has shown the ability to stuff the run, get after the QB and force turnovers... I'm not upset or anything like that but it's annoying how you keep on saying my name with his because I'm pumped up and not crying over some ugly wins like some other negative fans around here.
I so want to hate on him but i cant, hes such a nice guy in person. Lives right across the st from my boy about 1-2 miles from my house.
Jenkins is a freaking beast and since I work in Charlotte NC I thank the Panther fans I know for their FO being so stupid and not resigning him. The way he made those sacks today were GREAT!!! The one sack he did a swim move past the center and just threw the gaurd out of his way like a rag doll!!!! This will easily be a top 3 D at the end of the season if not the #1 D!!!!
How are the Panthers doing this year on defense? In terms of rush defense and sacks? And hell yeah, I'm not sure about #1 but this is a top 5 defense for sure with the talent we have
They are giving up 100 yards a game on the ground which ranks them 14th compared to the Jets being ranked 4th with 76 yards a game. They are ranked 25th with 13 sacks compared the the Jets being ranked 2nd with 29.
This defense hasn't pumped me up yet. The run defense, yeah. But the pass rush seems to disappear at critical times during the game. And there seems to be someone wide open every time we're facing a 3rd down. The defense, while still good, could still be better. Hopefully we can learn to defend the pass on critical downs from now on. I guess we can just hope that they pass towards Revis at the end of the game though :smile:
I feel the exact same way. Every third down teams convert always seems to be a crossing route with Drew Coleman getting burnt. I was happy to see Kerry Rhodes get involved today saving a td, because he has not been at his best this season.
The defense has certainly impressed. Jenkins and Pace are the reason for this team completely turning around. The only time I wasn't impressed today with the D is the horrible pass coverage of Bowens and Barton. Additionally, Pouha has really turned things around after getting manhandled during the Chargers game.
The D is making a statement, however can we cover someone on third down??? What is our opponents third down conversion percentage??? It must be high because i feel at times we can't get off the field.
I would want to start this ina a new thread but my post is not high enough if someone thinks its worthy please move thanks Jets' first-round pick Vernon Gholston has hardly contributed this year the way team brass was hoping when they tagged him with the sixth pick in April's NFL Draft. Boasting a build from a Gladiator movie and showing off athleticism and a size/speed ratio rarely seen, Gholston's upside was too enticing to pass up. But after seven games Gholston has struggled terribly, amassing a mere six tackles and zero sacks. Rather than sit idly by as his rookie season was littered with labels of "bust" and "disappointment" the former Ohio State Buckeye this week made what could be the smartest contact he'll ever make. If you're going to pick a mentor, a Hall of Famer like Lawrence Taylor's a good choice. Gholston met with the greatest tutor a 3-4 linebacker could ever hope to have ? Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor. Taylor told FOX Sports that Gholston reached out to him through his marketing agent Mark Lepselter and actually met with Gholston on Monday ? the first step in what Taylor thinks will be a long-term relationship. "He reached out to me and I've never really had the time to do anything like this but after I met him, I really like the kid," Taylor said Sunday morning from, of course, a golf course in Florida. "He's a good kid and he wants to bust his butt and really understand this defense. After I met him I decided I'd help him." Great and mature move by Gholston, a move that other youngsters should consider doing more in their early struggles. If there's one guy who knows the nuances of pass rushing in the 3-4 scheme, is there any better teacher than Taylor? Taylor revolutionized the outside backer rush position and is pretty much credited with the reason the sack became an official statistic after Taylor's rookie season. Gholston will now have the luxury of learning from a 10-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year and 1986 NFL MVP. Not a bad guy for Gholston to spend his Monday with. The two spent about an hour and a half talking football, philosophies, pass rushing and defense and his tutoring won't stop there. "I really need to watch him on film to see what he's doing out there and I plan to do that," said Taylor, who also plans to go as far as physically working with his new protege in Florida after the season. "You can see he has all the physical tools, that's obvious. There are other things I'll help him out with." This is the first time since Taylor retired has agreed to get so involved in the career of a young pass rusher. He was lukewarm on the idea at best, that is until he met Gholston. Once the two starting talking shop, Taylor decided to give the tutoring biz a shot this one time. As far as how their initial lesson progressed, Taylor drove home several points but two in particular stood out. "One of the things I told him is If you are going to mess up, mess up going full speed 100 percent," said the living legend. "We all mess up but just making sure when you do you are going all out." Lesson No. 2? "I told him in that scheme you need to know what everyone else around you is doing as well or even better than what you have to do," he said. "That's one thing I really tried to emphasize. When I played I knew exactly where Harry (Carson) and Carl (Banks), the linemen, the DB's ? I knew what everyone was doing. When you get that down and you know where everyone around you is going to be on each play that puts you in a better position. "If you know exactly what everyone is doing, it takes a lot of the thinking out of it and you can use your physical tools a lot better." With Taylor now helping Jets fans can probably rest assured that their first-round pick is in good hands. "It was interesting to see because Lawrence doesn't do this," said Lepselter, who was also present at the meeting. "Lawrence came in, sized him up and took an immediate liking to the kid. And Lawrence, you know him, he was classic. At one point Gholston asked LT how long it took him to really pick up the 3-4 his rookie year. In classic LT fashion he said, 'about two or three hours.' "They hit it off great."
