These stats are sort of misleading. Alot of those compromise from the great effort against the Jaguars, Dolphins, Broncos, these teams had so many possesions...How was our effort against the Patriots, Raiders, etc...Yes, our offense is not very good but I think people made a good point when they said that there is alot of film on Rex's schemes. People have caught on and he needs to get better in the coverage schemes. Talent is also needed on defense. Someone mentioned Kerry Rhodes, damn, who knew there would be a time where I'd want Kerry instead of Eric Smith.
I agree, but I hope that didn't come from your brother. If it did that would mean what alot of us were afraid of. The D is finally getting tired of carrying our underachieving offense. And that is not a good sign.
What happened to our identity as a great D is simple: Kris Jenkins couldn't stay on the field and he retired. This defense has never been great outside of having Jenkins in the middle clogging things up and pushing the pocket heavily. Everything else has been smoke and mirrors and that stuff only works for so long until people begin to figure it out. Ryan doesn't blitz half as much as he used to because he knows he'll get burned heavily now and then because people have enough film on the blitzes to manage them.
The defense sucked in 2008 when Jenkins was here. They've always been solid against the run with our without Jenkins....Pouha is nearly as good. In terms of overall defense, in this era of football....its hard to really ask for much more...except for an upgrade at safety obviously.
I think people are starting to realize Shaun Ellis was a bigger part of this team than many were lead to believe. Nothing on Mo, but Shaun Ellis got the job done. The Bryan Thomas excuse doesn't fly because we sucked this season even when he was playing OLB. Another you gotta look at is Bart Scott. All bark, no bite at this point in his career. And Devito and Pouha, nothing special. They'd be backing up everyone on the Steelers, Ravens, 49ers and Bills 3-4 defensive lines.
Have to disagree. PFF did an article a few weeks back and outlined much Scott does for this team. Tons of dirty work that causes disruption that lets guys like Harris et al make plays and pad stat lines. Harris & Scott were never good cover LBs but they weren't touted as such either.
How does Kyle feel about playing safety? /graspingatstraws This team def needs a cover safety but we need an offense more than anything else right now. I really hope Plax is back for next year. I really believe Mark needs that continuity with his top WRs. If the D wasn't playing from behind all the time, they would probably have better stats as well.
I don't know if you were trying to be funny, but ftr Pool sucked against Buffalo. I do think Leonhard is not playing as well as he did, but remember he got injured badly last year. Still, you can't lay it all on him. Or Smith, either. THe DL seems to be playing better between the tackles in the running game, especially Pouha, Pace has played well (particularly since he's been injury free, unlike last year), Wilson on the whole has played better than last year and Maybin is looking better the more we see of him. But the DL was not good against the run earlier in the season, there is no consistent pass rush other than Maybin, and the D can't cover pass catching tight ends. I think the league saw that last year the Jets were vulnerable to TE's, and this year game plan by using more of them. I also have to wonder if this is purely a matter of personnel. Why can't the CS come up with some way to defend that vulnerability? Beyond that the LB's are on the whole slow, while I have basically liked Pace's game. But perhaps most of all, it seems like opponents have figured out what the Jets have been trying to do under Ryan, watching game film and coming up with ways to defeat the Jets D. It happens.
we haven't developed/drafted a legit pass rusher on our line, the LB crew is slow, our safety play is awful. teams tend to be catching on to the all out blitzes and when they do it they don't seem to be getting to the QB as quickly as they used to. I think falling in love with existing players and not upgrading has been a factor - Eric Smith anyone?
Agreed. This D definitely needs to make some upgrades but Devito has been solid, Wilkerson has played very well, especially considering that he's a rookie, and Pouha has been very good, beastly at times. As has been pointed out ad nauseum, our safties and LBs have been the main liability - when RBs/TEs get to the second level those guys just don't have the speed to keep up and make the stop. I really believe this D is one or two above average players (safety, LB) away from being in top form again. My guess is that the lack of enthusiasm, which I agree is noticeable, is due to how much they've been struggling.
That is pretty much reality. I mean if you insert a good passrusher who can get to the QB, now Im not asking for Mario Williams or Demarcus Ware, but someone like Cliff Avril who's a FA next year, and you add a safety who can cover and is athletic, this Defense will be #1 again. If Tanny wants to win now, he's gotta make some changes on both sides of the ball. Only a few are needed on each side but man could they turn this team from good to great.
yup and the fact that the team overvalued/undervalued certain players the past 2 years didn't help. we should have kept Kerry Rhodes, Woody, Lowry and Braylon
Maybin has came on strong as a pass rusher, but hopefully the Jets finally land a strong 3-4 OLB during either the 1st or 2nd round of the draft. You can never have enough solid LB's when running a 3-4 defensive scheme. We should all be thankful we missed out on an overrated Aso during the offseason, which means, if an elite pass rusher such as Mario Williams hits the open market as a free agent this season (pipe dream), our front office could go all in. Rex and Tanny also need to upgrade over both Leonhard and especially Smith at the safety positions. This is where Rex and the Jets miss a talented FS such as Rhodes, due to the fact that both of our safetys lack range, speed and ball hawking ability. Continue to build our OLB positions and upgrade at both safety positions and we'll have a much improved defense next season.
