SB Nation User Blog: joey d

Stick to what works!

joey d — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:37:04 -0000

The pressure we put on the quarterback won the first 3 games for us. Putting Matt Schaub, Tom Brady, and Kerry Collins on the ground made our defense dominant and had people talking us up as Super Bowl contenders and possibly the best team in the NFL. We lost to the Saints, yes, but our pressure on Drew Brees made him look like an average quarterback rather than a man who threw for 5,000 yards last season. The stats don’t reflect our pressure because of our low number of sacks, but that is only because of the ability and intelligence of the opposing quarterbacks to get the ball out quickly. This past Sunday against the Dolphins, our defense got lit up. I didn’t see many plays on defense where we attempted to confuse the quarterback and the offensive coordinator.

Chad Henne isn’t the caliber of the other 4 quarterbacks we have faced, but his 130.4 passer rating made him look like Dan Marino. I saw too many defensive setups with 4 down lineman and zero movement and chaos at the line of scrimmage. I also saw too many plays where they brought a 4-man rush with those same 4 down lineman. It was the most predictable defense I have seen from the Jets since Mangini. We don’t have the talent on defensive line to pressure the quarterback with those kinds of rushes.

Now I love Rex Ryan at head coach and I love this defense, but that was not Rex Ryan’s style of coaching and that was not this defense’s style of play. If we stuck to the game plan we used the past 4 games, we could’ve recorded a huge number of sacks against the Dolphins and probably won the game. A quarterback in his second career start wouldn’t have had the ability to get rid of the ball like Schaub, Brady, Collins, or Brees. Regardless of who we are playing or what quarterback we are facing, the defensive approach should be the same. We need to get to the quarterback.

What is the deal with the running game??

joey d — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:20:11 -0000

Through the first 3 games of the season, there’s little to complain about with how the Jets have played. You couldn’t ask for a better three game start than the one we have. We have been playing dominate football against 3 very worthy opponents and we are looking like a team in contention for the Super Bowl. But as an always pessimistic Jets fan, I have found something to lose sleep over, the completely ineffective running game.

Throughout the offseason and preseason, the motto for the 2009 Jets offense has been “ground-and-pound”. The game plan was to almost exclusively run the football; control the clock, wear out the defense, put up points. We would ride the run and defense for 60 minutes. We would just have to pray that the rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez wouldn’t blow the game on downs where passing was the only option, even though we don’t have a #1 receiver. Sounds legit, right? It worked for the Ravens last year who had a very similar looking team. The Giants live and die on the running game. It should work for us. After all, we have reigning AFC rushing champion, an explosive backup who averaged almost 6 yards a carry last year, and even a promising rookie power runner that we traded up to select in the 3rd round to throw in the mix. We also have one of the league’s best offensive lines; featuring a Pro Bowl left guard and center, and a Pro Bowl alternate at left tackle. We were set to run this offense which by now only seems hypothetical.

Well the Jets came out the gates doing exactly what they planned. Through 3 games the Jets are undefeated, they rank 2nd in the league in rushing attempts, and the offense is averaging a solid 21.3 points per game. Who knew? If you claim you did know, I highly doubt that you also knew it was rookie Mark Sanchez who has been carrying the offense on his back each of those 3 games and the “ground-and-pound” offense has averaged an unimpressive 3.8 yards per carry, 22nd in the league. Thomas Jones is back to his 2007 form. He has shown a mediocre and dull performance in all 3 games. (Yes, even in the week 1 game where he put up 107 yards, with 77 of those yards coming on two defensive breakdowns.) He has averaged 3.8 yards a carry and 2.6 in the last 2 games. Even throughout last season, I have never seen him as a great running back. He simply takes what is given to him by the offensive line and falls to the ground. He doesn’t create yards for himself, neither after contact nor in the open field. Leon Washington, who I (along with 99.9% of Jets fans) thought would have a breakout season rushing, has been a bit disappointing as well. I’ve enjoyed seeing Leon getting just about half of the carries as I hoped he would before the start of the season. I haven’t enjoyed what he has done with them so far. He already has more than half his total carries from last season, but he is averaging almost a full 2 yards less per carry. We haven’t seen him break off any of those long runs yet that we were spoiled with last season. And, umm, where exactly is Shonn Greene?

A lot of the blame can be placed on the offensive line. Last year we saw holes that you could drive a Chevy through. So far this season, we have seen Jones and Washington get stuffed at and behind the line far too many times. They haven’t been getting a push on any of the defensive lines we have faced. There’s too much talent on that offensive line for us not to dominate in the trenches. I should add that the pass protection has been very nice. The way the pocket forms around Sanchez play after play is nothing short of beautiful, which is the main reason he has had the success he has. Still, I’m getting the feeling that something’s wrong upfront. Whatever it is, it has to be fixed by Sunday. We can’t beat the Saints when we are both relying on our passing games to win it for us. They would have us beat. The defense is going to hold their own as they have but as long as Drew Brees is on the field, we are in trouble. The key for us will be controlling the clock and keeping our offense on the field. How do we do that? With the “ground-and-pound” running game we expected all offseason. The Saints defense has surprisingly shut down the run in their first 3 games, holding opponents to 67 yards a game, 5th in the league. We need to break through their rush defense and make some noise on the ground if we want to improve to 4-0.

Forget about WR! What about DE?

joey d — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:43:41 -0000

Is everyone completely ignoring the other potentially destructive weakness on the Jets roster other than the lack of depth at wide receiver? It seems to me that the lack of depth and elderliness of our defensive ends has gone unnoticed by fans, writers, analysts, and most unfortunately the Jets front office. If not mended, I feel this problem could lead to yet another year of average football by a seemingly promising 2009 Jets football team.

Every great 3-4 defense in the league in exceptionally strong up front at the end position. Patriots have Richard Seymour and Ty Warren. Ravens have Haloti Ngata and Trevor Pryce. Steelers have Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel. It's no coincidence that the three best 3-4 defenses in the league are so stacked with some of the best 3-4 ends in the league. Yes, we have Shaun Ellis. I believe he was at least top 10 best 3-4 defensive ends last season. But he's 32 years old and entering his 10th season. To think he's not going to see a decline in his play this season and to think that he has low risk of injury is stupid. It is also true that we brought in Marques Douglas, someone familiar with Rex Ryan's style of defense. With Kenyon Coleman still on the roster at the time of his signing, it's hard to believe that the plan was to start him opposite Ellis. Douglas had an extremely down year as Baltimore's 4th best end. Douglas is also 32 years old entering his 10th year, so in addition to the fact that he was never as good as Ellis, you can expect his performance to decline, especially in an every-down role.

The three aforementioned 3-4 defenses have another thing in common with their defensive end core that makes them great. They have outstanding depth with backups possessing starter talent. Jarvis Green is to the Patriots what Dwan Edwards and Justin Bannan are to the Ravens and what Travis Kirschke is to the Steelers. They spell those 300 pound starters some downs while also causing havoc in the backfield. After Douglas and Ellis, I don't feel the need to convince anyone that talent isn't exactly radiant at defensive end. Perhaps 3rd year man Mike Devito or even an undrafted free agent can step up and add to the mix, but is that something we are willing to wait and see? It's imperative we bring in someone. Remember Dewayne Robertson fellow Jets fans? Recently cut by the 4-3 Broncos and a failure at the nose for Mangini, it’s time the Jets allow him to prove his 4th overall pick worth and implement him into Rex Ryan’s defense where he will thrive. Even if I am wrong and he doesn’t become a star end, I can at least guarantee he will give quality performance when he’s giving the injury time bombs Ellis and Douglas a breather.

The Jets claim that even with a rookie quarterback and unproven receivers, their great running game and defense will carry them through games and then everything else will fall into place. And while I do think the defense should be better this year than last (and last year the defense was quite impressive) we need a truly GREAT defense to take us over the top. The Patriots, Ravens, and Steelers, easily the best three 3-4 defenses in the game today, have five significant pieces that truly make them great. Beast of a nose tackle, playmaker in the secondary, vocal field general, dangerous outside pass rusher, and great and balanced ends on both sides. With Kris Jenkins, Kerry Rhodes, Bart Scott, and Calvin Pace, the Jets have the 1st four qualities. Just one piece of the puzzle missing.

Poll

What is your biggest concern with the Jets' 2009 roster?

Wide Receiver

111 votes

Defensive Line

70 votes

Quarterback

58 votes

Other

7 votes

246 votes | Poll has closed