The Jets could have a sneaky answer for whatever the Packers try to cook up in Week 2, and it starts in the middle of the defensive line. T’Vondre Sweat may not be the first name that jumps out on Sunday, but against a Green Bay front still trying to clean up its pass-protection problems, he has a chance to matter in a big way.
Green Bay comes into this one after a Week 1 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and the issues were hard to miss. Jordan Love threw for 387 yards, but that production came with plenty of noise around it. He was sacked four times, the Packers allowed 25 pressures, and Love completed just 50% of his passes.
A big reason for that mess was Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who attacked relentlessly. The Vikings finished with an 82.1% blitz rate, the highest in the league, and kept Love uncomfortable all game long. That’s the kind of pressure Matt LaFleur will be looking to solve this week.
The Jets present a different kind of challenge, even if the idea is similar. Aaron Glenn’s defense ranked third with a 44.9% blitz rate, so Green Bay is going to have to be ready for heat again.
Expect the Packers to lean on the run early, then use play action and heavier personnel to try to keep the defense off balance. That likely means plenty of 12 personnel and other big sets.
That’s where Sweat enters the picture. At 6-foot-4 and 362 pounds, the nose tackle has the size to clog run lanes and make life difficult for Green Bay if it tries to lean on the ground game. He played only 15 snaps in Week 1, largely because the Titans were trailing and didn’t stay committed to the run, but this matchup should give him a much larger workload.
The Jets also have reasons to need more from the interior rush. Joseph Ossai is still out, and Will McDonald IV, who was disruptive against Tennessee, is dealing with an ankle injury. If McDonald is limited or unavailable, the edge group gets thinner, and New York may have to create pressure from the inside to keep Love from settling in.
Glenn could still send plenty of blitzes, but there’s also a case for dialing that back a bit against Green Bay. Love wasn’t helpless against the blitz last week; he posted a 66.1 passing grade against it. The bigger damage came when Minnesota got pressure with four, and that’s the sort of formula the Jets will want to think about too.
Sweat gives them a piece that can help in both phases. He’s obviously built to wreck run plays, but he’s also more than just a space-eater. Last Sunday, 11 of his 15 snaps came against the pass, and he produced a pressure by breaking through quickly and forcing Cam Ward outside, which ended in a throwaway.
That wasn’t a fluke. Sweat has shown real juice as a pass rusher for a nose tackle.
Last season, he posted a 74.1 pass-rushing grade, good for 16th out of 97 qualified defensive tackles. He also generated pressure at a 9% rate and finished with a 9.4% pass-rush win rate.
He may not be the obvious choice on third-and-long, but if the Packers try to catch the Jets napping on early downs or out of heavy formations, Sweat has the kind of skill set that can make them pay. Against a Green Bay offense still sorting through its interior protection, number 99 could be a problem the Packers don’t fully see coming.
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