Link: Much Improvement at the Line
Tim Graham of ESPN writes that the difference of the defense on the Jets is being noticed. Graham notes that for the better part of the last decade, the team hasn’t been able to create much pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but that seems to be changing this year.
The Jets have evolved into an elite NFL club when it comes to controlling the line of scrimmage … their plus-13 sack differential ranks fifth in the NFL.
For opponents, the inability to fend off the Jets’ pass rush should be extra disconcerting because running against them is folly.
The Bills rushed for 30 yards (an average of 1.8 yards a carry) and three measly first downs. Jenkins stuffed Fred Jackson on a crucial fourth-and-inches play at the Jets 8-yard line in the second quarter.
It’s about having a complete team, but stopping the run on early downs to help prevent third down conversions later is key. The more a team can stop the run, the longer they will likely be on second or third down, and the more likely that opponent is to pass the ball. That’s where Shaun Ellis, Calvin Pace, Bryan Thomas and the rest of the gang come in and as a team are second in the league in sacks.
We’ve talked about Kris Jenkins a lot, and Jenkins presence has elevated what his teammates have been able to do. Shaun Ellis is having a hell of a season and leading the team in sacks with Jenkins help taking those doubles that Ellis would get stuck with for the past few seasons.
A Defensive End in the 3-4 does not resemble what you see in a 4-3. The 3-4 DE does more of the grunt work, more like a 4-3 Defensive Tackle. So for Ellis to have 7.0 sacks already is extremely impressive. To give you some perspective, the highly acclaimed New England DE Richard Seymour’s best sack total came in 2003, when he had 8.0. Ellis has one less already with eight games to go.
With all that in mind this brings up a question for me.
With the team in second place in terms of team sacks, do you want this defense to bring more pressure than we’ve seen from it so far this season?
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I wouldn’t say bring MORE pressure,but when we get leads just dont go into that bend but dont break PREVENT/ZONE defense ALL the time.
I think more pressure. If you have a strength you should play to that strength. We should come harder then we have the beginning of the season it will only help strengthen the secondary which is our weakness.
I have said since the PREseason and PREfarve that our defense would come close to OR break our season sack record, and that the team will go as far as ithe defense would carry us. NONE, not one supported that statement. All negative comments have been directed at the CS while praising farve for while having a dysfunctional offense.
90% of the credit for our standings goes to: 1) Jenkins and 2) Defense.
Re: Hey guys, whats going on here?
if i’ve learned one thing from being married, it’s that even if you believe yourself to be right, sweeping generalizations and words like “all” or “never” rarely apply/work/are welcome by whoever you’re addressing … :)
I’ve noticed a few things in the Dline play, especially in the last two games.
Ellis has been playing at an All-Pro level. With Jenkins occupying two blockers, Sean seems to recognize the advantage he can bring to bear with aggressiveness. Even when rushing only three, he now seems to want to lean in and dominate. Everything about his play has upgraded. His stats against the run are #1 in the league, if I read the Football Outsider stats correctly. A team would have to be nuts to try to run right against the Jets now.
As far as the line overall and the play calling, I thought last week struck a superb balance of aggressiveness and patience. They continued to blitz with a lead and continued to get pressure on the Bills’ offense by stuffing the run. Their blitzes weren’t all-or-nothing, either, as they caught Buffalo in draws even while pursuing the passer. At no time in the game did I find myself saying, “don’t sit on the lead.”
Perhaps it is my disposition but the Jimmy Johnson philosophy of defense has always seemed right to me. If they continue to mold this attacking style, we might see a smart, disciplined defense carry us to the playoffs. The Thursday night game and Tennessee the week later will be big tests, although New England has no running game now. If the defense has improved, we’ll know it by Thanksgiving.
It kills me we never put pressure on Russell in Oakland and every time we rush three it’s a completion! Pressure wins games.
Bassett:
I stand corrected.” ‘Most’ negative comments have been directected at the CS while prising farve for a dysfunctional offense”.
Thanks
Well to me this is how it looks. One team’s season is going to end this Sunday (yes the Bills or the Pats) most likely the Bills though since we single handedly dominated their offense last sunday. Then we will have chance to end the patriots season if they are still alive there next Thursday. This is huge because depending on Miami and how far Chad leads them will determine if we will get hot and make a breakthrough. It all depends if we beat New England. If we beat New England then we will capture the division. This is huge in one way. We will finally be respected in the nfl and the last time that happened was in 2002 when we had Chad.
WAIT FOR IT, WAIT FOR IT ………….
J..
E..
T..
S..
JETS JET S JETS!!!
You have to bring more pressure. I want to see Pace and Thomas come in more. The sack total is alittle inflated. What I mean is, against the Bills where they racked up 5 sacks, many of them, probably three, came from Trent Edwards holding the ball too long, and not necessarily from bringing alot of pressure. So the Jets should definetly bring more pressure, All the best defenses do it, Giants, Titans, Steelers, and those are arguably the top three teams in the league, so what does that tell you?
i just want to see the pressure translate into better pass defense than what we have seen sofar
It is so good to hear sports writers describing our defense as “elite” and make statements like “it folly to try to run against them”. I have been dreaming, hoping and wishing for this type of defense since the Parcells days, and to finally have it is almost better than sex! (almost), let’s hope they keep it up.
I would like to see more disguised blitzing. Teams will start using 2 back sets to fend off the D-Line. We have great athletes in Revis, Rhodes and Gholsten. The Jets should start bringing the heat from different areas.
I would like to see more pressure. Rushing three is not going to get it done.
For me it’s less about quantity than quality. The number of blitzes vs. drops into coverage has been pretty good as far as I’m concerned. The whole concept of the 3-4 D is the ability mix the two liberally and the Jets are doing that. I’d just like to see them do it better. A lot of the big passing yards against the Jets this year have come on blitzes and some of the sacks, at least two of Ellis’s I believe, have come on three-man rushes. Sometimes the delayed blitzes seem too slow or the disguises not tricky enough and the coverage behind them not as effective as it could be.
Anyone who watched Pittsburgh the other night saw the system working at the top of its form. The blitzes were getting into the backfield at lightning speed at difficult to diagnose angles and the back end of the D was quickly swarming to contain the hot read if the QB got the ball out.
Of course, Pittsburgh has more players that have been in the system together longer, being coached by an absolute guru of pressure D. But with the talent the Jets now have, if they can make gradual improvement in the quality of their pressure they’ll be awfully difficult to contend with.
Also, look how easy it is to compose a whole post without mentioning the name of even one current or former QB.
good question. I think it depends on the team and thats teams offense.
I think the Jets have been excellent in sacking the Qb but dont generate pressure everytime the Qb drops back.
They have laps sometimes.. They are inconsistent at times because they tend to let a Qb sit back and get comfortable in the pocket at times.
I think they need to be much more consistent in generating pressure and forcing bad passes then just getting sacks… ie Jenkins forcing a bad pass that was intercepted by A. Elam.
I think that will really help the team get off the field on 3rd down. The ability to generate pressure and force the Qb to make a quick dicision which can ultimaltey lead to a bad pass
We need to continue pressure through the second half of the game. Don’t let teams get back into the game especially during the 3rd quarter. This puts less pressure on Brett to pass and allows us to lay down the hammer with Thomas Jones and crew.
more pressure, but more of the unexpected kind…blitzes from different players, different formations….whatever we can to protect lowery who I think, needs a bit of help right now…
The D seems to be progressing very well in play and playcalling. I’m content to let the CS decide on when and where to bring pressure.
Fonzie, only you could mention Chad and the Dolphins twice answering a question about the defense. And what possibly could Chad or Miami do to affect how “hot” the Jets can get? Really reaching for straws there.
I think the pressure thus far has been pretty consistent, my only worry with rushing more is leaving Lowery all by himself, he makes me a little nervous. Where as i have no problems with Revis being left on the island, I just can’t see Lowery being able to handle that thus far.
With out question Jenkins has solidified that line and doing one hell’uva job.
MOUNT CODY!!!! MOUNT CODY!!!!
We need to draft him so he can play next to Jenkins. He is an unstoppable force!!!! With him on the line we will have the best run stoppers in the nfl for years to come!!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=3610296
Mike Tannanebaum if you are listening.
I WANT YOU TO DRAFT MR. TERRENCE CODY (aka “Mount Cody”) IN THE 2009 NFL DRAFT.
Here are some more videos of the “man mountain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUE3Ys-qf6M&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMy2×7yY2q8&feature=related
Fonzie:
Great find on your part and great article. Kudos to y0u Fonzie.
Since every guy you bring for pressure is one less guy for pass coverage, you really have to be judicious about just bring guys. Mixing them into three, four and five comming keeps the offense guessing as to how many to keep back for blocking. It’s just as effective to have three rushing if there are five blocking because now you outnumber them in pass defense. Now that still has to work, you can’t fail to defend, but a good mixture is the best formula.
Fonzie, that clip of Terrence Cody is awesome.
I agree with subwayfare, we need to blitz better not more. For instance, Kerry Rhodes shouldn’t blitz from the parking lot. This would improve our defense.
18andOne:
Did you read the article? It’s even better than the clip !!
Fonzie and Hank are the same person.
More pressure…pressuring the QB is what wins championships…see Giants, NY: 2007.
Seriously, their rush has been good, but not always consistent. I dont’ know if that’s effort or game plan, but I’d like to see more consistency in their pressure. It seems like now, the pressure (and consequently, sacks) come in bunches.
The question about Cody is will he be available at #32? ; )
Mount Cody looks great. After seeing the effect Jenkins has had, I wouldn’t mind if we drafted him. Good find Fonzie.
R, like your thinking. But, then wouldn’t Grenn Bay have that pick?
ramble914:
Why? Are you afraid to give Fonzie any credit for that find?
R in CT:
Even @ 32 we should have enough to Buy our way into position. Now that will give us a Pass Rush !!!
Fonzie:
Can you imagine Big Cat, Big Jenk and Mount Cody. We would have our own “Mount Rush More.”
Cody is a beast, goes to show that technique can only take you so far, haha.
As for the Jets pressure, I would like to keep the same amount of pressure on. It appears that the speed we have on the outside with Pace and thomas is enough with the brute force we maintain inside.
Can we say the Jets finally are one of the best RUN STOPPING TEAMS IN THE NFL? I think so!!!
Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble, but your gonna half to wait another year for a chance to draft Cody. He has said already that he wants to play his 2 YEARS OF COLLEGE BALL.
Yeah the Jets have a great track record of doing well with 1st round draft pics…
Moss, Brick, Vilma, Ghostboy (Gholston), Thomas, Heath Miller (I meant Doug Jolley) and Mangold who seems to be okay.
Every time I see Bryan Thomas and his ALMOST sacks I think man this guy better have a nice grill after missing most of his rookie season due to braces. That and how the Jets really needed a safety that year and could’ve had Ed Reed.
I’d rather have them to trade every high first round draft pick they get and simply get the hell out of their own way.
Guys, this is why a coach with his own philosophy (Mangini) spends a few years jamming square pegs into round holes with the wrong personnel … over time, players who can swing the new philosophy (Ellis, Harris, Rhodes, Thomas, et al) will remain on hand, and eventually Mangini got “his” guys for the defense.
Those other guys spent those lean years learning.
The argument that blitzing people then you have less cover people is valid in terms of math… simple plus/minus… The argument I make is that when 2 of the 8! people you drop into coverage are David Bowens and Calivin pace what are you covering? Not a lot! 270lb people covering is like having statues covering leon. Rush 3 and you suck is my point. Of course a sack will happen here or there but not enough to warrant not pressuring a NFL QB.
Reprocity:
I guess what you’re saying is that 29 sacks don’t mean too much, are you?