The Jets' new playoff defense goes to Pittsburgh

Much of the focus in the aftermath of the Jets playoff victories has been on the Jets defense. They've succeeded by playing out of character. Their typical gameplan, a heavy box to stuff the run, overload blitzes, and tight man coverage with limited safety help, was more or less thrown to the wayside against two of the league's top quarterbacks. Instead, the Jets used a light box, basically daring the offense to take the ball out of their QB's hands and run.

That won't work against the Steelers, to put it mildly. Roethlisberger is almost on a level with Brady and Manning as a passer, but the Steelers running game is a different beast entirely than what the Patriots and Colts bring. If the Jets dare the Steelers to run it, they'll run straight to the bank. Under no circumstances would Brady or Manning have handed the ball off forty times. The Steelers will, and they have the backs and the blockers to make it worth their while.

We probably won't see the Jets revert entirely to their regular season defense. They've done too many things well the last two weeks to throw those gameplans out the window, especially in the secondary. But if the Jets don't bring more weight into the tackle box, Rashard Mendenhall might be able to do what two of the game's best quarterbacks couldn't: send the Jets home with a loss.