I don't know if people are seeing the D the same way as me or not, but the way we are playing defense is not being talked about as much as I think it should, and I believe a lot of that has to do witht he fact that we didn't lose in Denver or Detroit. I was in Detroit Sunday and was extremely frustrated in the first half with the way the D played in third and long. This is not something that I have just noticed, it's been an issue for the last number of weeks. People are blaming Coleman/Lowery/Wilson/Leonhard for the completions over the middle to slots and TEs but I think the issue is on the sideline. We are becoming predictable in certain situations, we don't have the players to run the D Rex wants to run, and he is being stubborn instead of acknowledging this. Twice in the first half on Sunday, we had the Lions in 3rd and 15 and got there playing solid D from pretty standard sets. On the opening drive, Coleman gave up the completion to Burleson for the first down, later I believe it was Pettigrew who converted. On both conversions, we sent blitzes...not just a guy or two, we sent Rex Ryan blitzes. People have been complaining for some time that we do not have a true pass rusher. On the D-line, that is true. Some of our LBs can get after the QB, but when they vacate their space to blitz, that's exactly where the ball goes. It is easy to blame the nickel, but look at it this way: Revis and Cromartie have the sideline to help, the nickel guys are dealing with a 2-way go almost every time. When you don't get to the QB and you've left a guy manned up in the middle of the field, where it is easiest for the QB to complete a pass, you're going to get burned eventually. And burned isn't just a big play or a score in my book, it also includes the continuance of a drive that should have been ended. There is too much of this. I love a well-executed blitz. We saw a bunch of them from the Steelers last night. What I do not love is the "send everyone and hope someone gets there before he throws it" type of blitz....well not all the time at least. There's a time and place for that, just like there is a time and place for playing man under on 3rd down, or dialing up some kind of a zone blitz, or maybe putting another safety in to spy. I feel like it is already exposed, and we are benefitting from lack of execution. You could argue that the lack of execution is a result of the pressure, but in the next few weeks we have some tough games, so I really hope someone sees what's happening and we change it up a little. The QBs we're facing in the coming weeks will make the throws.
I can't argue with the defense. They play aggressive at all times and for the most part they dictate to the offense what they can and cannot do. I'll take having a slot guy beat Coleman for a first down on 3rd and 12 every now and then because as frustrating as those conversions can be the defense creates too much mayhem for teams to drive down the field converting 3rd and long after 3rd and long. I really don't see how you could have been frustrated for the entire first half unless you hate seeing the defense force the other team to punt. Congrats to Detroit for managing to take the ball the length of the field 2 times for TD's (the other one was half the field) that's a lot better than most teams do.
I understand exactly what your saying, great defenses force three & outs our supposedly vaunted defense has not been playing up to its reputation. I thought maybe it was a timing issue due to the new players on the D this year & would have worked itself out by now, but we're entering the second half of the season & we're still allowing the same completions, if this continues we're not going to be able to attain our goal this year (SB CHAMPS) let alone lead the league in wins.
If you nitpick every great defense in this league you'll come away with a few things that suck. We have yet to lose a game BECAUSE of the defense this season, and I expect that to continue.
The blitzing hasn't been as effective since Peyton Manning figured out how to neutralize it in the playoffs last year (and giving every other team in the league a blueprint in the process.) That is why we drafted Wilson in the first (which has not worked out just yet.) That being said, this is still a great defense (best corners in the NFL and great run-stoppers.) Our kryptonite is defending slot receivers and tight ends, but I would rather have that weakness than having problems defending running backs and wideouts.
I guess it's more accurate to say I was frustrated by the predictability. You're right, we forced punts, but if we had coach's film I bet we'd see a lot of guys open on 3rd downs. it looked that way from where I was sitting. Eventually we're going to play a guy who can hit those players. We have good football players on the defensive side of the ball. I would like to see some variety, and see those guys play fundamental football as opposed to crashing the pocket all the time. When all you do is rush, doesn't it make you look like a one trick pony? A one trick pony is fine if the trick is so good that nobody can figure it out, but I believe our trick can be figured out. I also believe we have the player to play D in many variations. I'd just like to see them mix it up more. Can't argue with that.
Remember this is just year 2 of Rex's defense. When he starts drafting the players he wants for a few years and acquiring who he wants via FA we will see what kind of great D he can put together.
It is pretty fucked how it all just stopped working after Strickland went down. The achilles' heel just popped out at Manning like a fuckin light bulb.
Don't Lito Sheppard...... People keep saying that the TE's are killing the Jets....Let me see the evidence. The first 3 weeks the oppositions top WR's were making plays. Since that time it has been slot or 3rd wr's........
I can see wanting to mix it up but I don't think it's necessary unless an opposing QB is playing out his mind. I believe we just watched the 27th Jets game under Rex and I would argue we have only seen the defense beaten by an opposing QB two times. Those two times would be the AFCCG and the second Pats game last year. Other QB's have had good games against the Jets but those are the only two that I can think of the defense truly getting beaten by another QB. This year we are seeing the Jets get blitzes picked up more but we are also seeing teams run a shitload of max protect. Even with Coleman being less than ideal I will take the matchup of any team's 3 wr's going against 4 of our db's. Rex takes a ton of route combinations and overall creativity away from opposing offense by automatically forcing 7 guys to stay into to protect leaving the QB and 3 receivers to attempt to work something out. I think that matchup is about as favorable a matchup as you could ever ask for.
Yup. The beauty of Rex's defense, at its absolute worst, is two fold: 1) Like is said above, it forces the offense to react to the defense, which is the opposite of what offenses want and are designed to do. 2) Unless he's Peyton Manning, the QB is thrown off by the constant threat of pressure. It's a fact. Look it up, I believe almost every QB we've played against has had a lower completion percentage than their season average, and probably many by a significant margin. They're going to find holes, because thats what NFL QBs do, but at some point most drives are going to stall. At the defense's best (execution-wise) they're very difficult to beat. At their worst, they're still really tough. We're just spoiled now, I think.
The defense suck against slot WR's and TE's under Mangini/Sutton as well, but overall this aggressive defense is a lot better than the passive former one.
For as much as I get mad at the D when we give away big 3rd downs at the end of the day they've never given up many points... so all in all our D is a rock we can rely on, no matter how mad we get during games.
Depends on your stat of choice, but 12 other defenses are better than the Jets (37%) at preventing 3rd down conversions, but only 2 defenses are allowing fewer points than the Jets (16.2). All in all, I will take a team that blows some long 3rd downs but keeps teams under 17 points. That's the thing about a blitzing defense, it's all about taking chances and occasionally you get burnt. Look at Pittsburgh, they got torched a couple of times by TO last night on blitzes, but got the job done. The blitz is also effective at getting in a QB's head even if he doesn't get hit, so that's something no stat can track.
Yes, you take the points scored stat all day and 6 ways to Sunday. For all the complaining here look at all the trends of the Jets D. The Jets were 31 in the league in 3rd down conversions after the Miami game (3rd), in the mid 20's in pass defense. So really the trend of the D is up big time. It will only get better with a healthy Revis. The complaints of the D are basically the price you pay for having the scheme the Jets play.
