The New York Jets have finally put together one side of the defense that can hold up its end of the bargain. The problem is the other side still isn’t cashing in.
Through four games, the Jets’ coverage has been one of the bright spots on the roster. Their secondary has done its job, staying attached downfield and giving the pass rush a real chance to finish plays. Instead, the defensive line has largely let that work go to waste.
That split shows up clearly in the numbers. New York ranks fourth in Pro Football Focus’ coverage grade at 72.8, behind only the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore Ravens. The pass rush, though, sits 29th in PFF’s pass-rushing grade at 58.3.
The Jets spent the offseason trying to rebuild the backbone of their secondary, and they added useful pieces, especially at safety with Dane Belton and Minkah Fizatprick. So far, that overhaul has paid off. The coverage group has held up; the rush has not.
Sunday’s 23-12 loss to the Chicago Bears was a clean example of the problem. The Jets’ edge group barely showed up, finishing with no sacks, no hits, and just four pressures on 36 dropbacks from Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent. Demario Davis was the only Jet to record a sack.
That is the kind of performance that makes it impossible to beat a backup quarterback. Clean pockets give any offense a chance, and when that quarterback is working with an offensive mind like Ben Johnson, the margin gets even thinner.
When the Jets did manage to get to Bagent, the results changed fast. On eight dropbacks under pressure, he completed only two passes, hit 25%, and finished with 17 yards, 2.1 yards per attempt, plus his lone interception.
The same story popped up in Week 3 against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions, only with a more experienced quarterback at the controls. When pressured, Goff completed four of seven passes for 32 yards. When he was kept clean, he was sharp: 21 completions on 25 attempts for 237 yards, 9.5 yards per attempt, and two touchdowns.
That’s what makes this so maddening. Even a little pressure clearly changes what opposing quarterbacks can do.
It doesn’t take a dominant rush to affect the play. Sometimes it’s enough to force a throwaway or keep a veteran passer from fully working through the progression.
Now the pressure shifts to Glenn’s self-proclaimed “superpower,” play-calling, to manufacture more chances for the front. He has shown flashes of creativity, but not enough of it. At some point, though, the responsibility falls on the players up front to win their matchups.
Will McDonald is a glaring example. He opened the season with five pressures and a sack on 18 pass-rushing snaps in Week 1, but over the next three games he has only four pressures and no sacks on 51 pass-rushing snaps. For a starting EDGE who totaled 18.5 combined sacks over the previous two seasons, that production simply hasn’t been there.
The Jets’ defense is showing how tightly the secondary and pass rush are tied together. When the coverage breaks down, the line has no chance. When the coverage holds up, as it has for Gang Green, the rush gets its window.
Now it has to take advantage of it.
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