Hey Did You Notice the Jets Like to Blitz?
Newflash, the Jets are bringing more pressure this year. Need proof? Well, according to those eggheads over at the ESPN Stats & Information department tell us something that we probably already knew, but they have compiled what the Jets defense is doing in terms of pressuring a quarterback, and by their definition, the Jets are bringing a lot more rushers than well — anyone — in the league … by a staggering margin of almost 15%.
ESPN Stats & Information tracks every snap and has determined the Jets have sent added pressure a whopping 62.6 percent of the time through the first three weeks. They have recorded only four sacks, but anybody who has watched the Jets’ defense can’t deny how their disruptive ways have rattled quarterbacks and short-circuited opposing offenses.
That’s far and away the largest percentage in the league. The Chicago Bears are next when it comes to sending added pressure at 47.5 percent.
The NFL average is 35.6 percent.
The Oakland Raiders are the most conservative team at 11.0 percent.
Stats & Information defines “standard pressure” as four pass-rushers. But if, for example, only three advance and a fourth comes from the secondary, then that would be considered “added pressure.”
The Jets have been rushing a lot of players, to be sure, but I think that they interchange the blitzer, feint lineman, overload one side means that there’s a lot of defensive backs coming into the backfield. I’d be curious to see the breakdown of how many times the jets rushed just three with one DB. I’m not complaining, I think it’s cool how effective the different pressures have been. I’m just saying I think that’s what might be that throws them so high above the curve in terms of their blitz percentages.
Thanks NYEE-ERDS.
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It’s true that the Jets will often send a DB and drop a lineman or LB into coverage. So they may still only send four, which is one of the beauties of having such versatile personnel and schemes.
Also, when they send someone on an overload, that person usually has an assignment. Instead of all competing to get to the QB, one will usually take out the back (which also makes it impossible to throw a RB screen) and one might seal off the lineman, so you never know which guy is the one that should have a free path to the QB.
This isn’t a totally reckless system, as some might imagine. It’s a joy to watch at times. It was only a few years ago that Tom Brady sat in the pocket as if he had taken out a restraining order on the Jets’ pass rushers. Now they get to him 23 times in one game?!?!
This is the most enjoyable part of watching this team right now. When I see the DB’s and LB’s overload a side…. i get fired up. They just cant blocki it before the Qb gets crushed…..
Last year we rushed 3 (way too many times) and had guys wide open all over the field….Now we blitz 2X as much as any else and guys are not getting open. Go figure.
Quote from legend Buddy Ryan:
Every coaching meeting I had ever been in starts with protecting the QB ….When I became a def coach and then a HC…..I thought it would be a good idea to find a way to get that guy!!!
The only thing to worry about is, what happens once teams get used to our blitzing and scheme against it?
Rushing extra guys over 60% of the time just doesn’t seem sustainable. Maybe once we get Calvin Pace back we’ll have better results just sending four.
Again, I’m happy with the D, but it does seem slightly gimmicky.
Bob, my comment above addresses your concerns, I think. It’s flexible enough that you can set a trap with it.
The best way to beat it is with quick drop passing, but when the guys who don’t rush (and note from my comment above, sometimes extra guys drop into coverage when there is a blitz) are expecting that, they can come up tight on the short-to-intermediate routes.
But it’s a pretty damn similar scheme to the one that Rex ran (and id still running) in Baltimore, and it seems to still be working for the Ravens.
Vila, the thing is were not all out blitzing every down like the stats seem to indicate. What’s said above is that they could still be just sending 4 and it registers as ‘additional pressure’ because it’s not the front 4, it’s a DB or a LB coming in while a linemen or LB is dropping back.
That’s also exactly why people won’t get used to the scheme. They don’t know who is blitzing or even how many. There’s a reason the Ravens defense isn’t just good for the first few weeks of the season. They did/do the same exact thing.
Haha, I guess I was beaten to the punch.
I think most of us watch every single snap. I have yet to understand where the blitz is coming from let alone a QbBand OL have a few seconds to see and adjust to it.
We basically have the same players as last year and our defesne looks 1000% better and more aggressive.
I like the pressure but as another poster noted, you do have to wonder if we’re going to get extra banged up in the secondary because when a DB pressures and gets blocked, he’s getting blocked by someone who might have 100lbs on him. Not a reason not to do it, but I do wonder if we’ll be stocking up on extra DBs. The other thing about this defense is that the CB and the NT are probably the most important positions. The CB since they’re often left on an island and the NT to force the runner outside into the pressure. Keep Jenkins healthy for the whole season, please.
Yeah, that was me. It’s worrying for sure. The Ravens managed to get by last year with several backups playing a role and the Jets are thought of as a team with poor depth. So far, they’ve coped, but will the Jets be able to continue to bring the pressure at the end of the season with the same level of success, like the Ravens were able to? Without the pressure, I think they might struggle, as they did when they eased off the throttle a little in the last game, but clearly there are advantages and disadvantages.
Everyones concerns about the CBs blitzing is another reason why our best pass rusher in Pace will be welcomed back big time.
Would have been nice to have him this week….
I didn’t mean to say that we’re totally screwed, or the team won’t adjust, or isn’t versatile. All I’m saying is, with us blitzing so much more than anyone else, why don’t other teams do it? Do just just not have the personnel?
And the whole “The Ravens run the exact same scheme” argument seems flawed. If that were the case, why are we so far ahead of every other team, including The Ravens, in frequency of blitz?
howdy drew …….so……….how was last night? just kidding. hope your having a good day
theres my girl….. were you thinking of me while I was out last night??
Dont worry its a normal feeling for woman to have about me… especially you sothern folk.
Day is going pretty well…. blogging instead of working…as usual
just wait till we get Calvin Pace back! Really wish it was THIS week but soon enough! J-E-T-S JETS! JETS!! JETS!!!
The Jets blitz is complicated and directional. I’ve noticed that the Jets blitz to one side and because of the pressure, the QB is forced to look at the other, where Revis is usually covering the WR. I think that Revis’ cover skills allow Rex to be more inventive and frequent with his blitzes.
Also, I wonder whether Rex has keyed on the fact that NFL offenses aren’t really geared for the quick passing, West Coast style that matched up well against Buddy’s 46. Most QBs because of better blocking schemes and the fact that the rules protect them so well, tend to be 6-4+ straight drop back passers and have ample time to throw or expect the pressure just to come from their blind side. The pressure is making them be something they’re not, hurry up quick passers. I think Brady is terrific, but he was in the hurry up the whole game and he didn’t look comfortable.
Brees and Peyton are the biggest challenges out there for this defense. Brees is mobile, throws well on the run and has good defensive recognition skills and Peyton has probably the best defensive recognition skills of any QB in this era and he has a quick release and powerful arm. If Rex’s defense can bottle up Brees and Peyton, then we’ll start seeing the entire league start dialing up blitzes…luckily, the Jets have Sanchez, who would’ve been tailor-made for Bill Walsh’s old 49er offense.
“NFL offenses aren’t really geared for the quick passing, West Coast style that matched up well against Buddy’s 46. Most QBs because of better blocking schemes and the fact that the rules protect them so well, tend to be 6-4+ straight drop back passers and have ample time to throw or expect the pressure just to come from their blind side. The pressure is making them be something they’re not, hurry up quick passers.”
Yeah, thank goodness we don’t have one of those 6-4 pocket passers, Sack. Wait…what?!?!
Bob – As for why the Ravens haven’t blitzed as much as the Jets, maybe it has something to do with the fact that they won 34-3 on Sunday and therefore had no need to blitz.
It may also have something to do with the personnel, as you suggest. First off, they have confidence in Revis to cover anyone one-on-one, which not every aggressive team can boast. Also, with Pace out, they’ve been forced to (a) give more reps to Murrell and Gholston, who are better rushing the passer than in coverage and (b) go to a 5 DB set, out of which their tendency is more aggressive. We did see them settle back into a less aggressive 4-3/3-4 base in the middle portion of Sunday’s game and it was not quite as effective as when they were blitzing. If a team finds a way to move the ball despite the pressure and it forces the Jets to be less aggressive, I think you’re right that we should be concerned. Nobody has yet, though – although the Saints will test them.
The best thing about this defense, in my mind, is that, played well, it dictates the offensive scheme. Where a team has a mediocre O-line, they are forced to keep tight ends and running backs in blocking roles limiting their effectiveness. Draws and screens are much less likely since it isn’t clear where the overload will be (NE, which throws a lot of screens, hardly threw a single one against this defense). Routes must be cut short and double moves are less likely since they take too much time to develop. It puts a premium on recognition, and that falls on more than just the QB. WRs have to pick up the coverage, too.
Also, the mental struggle of playing against a relentless attacker has a cumulative effect and really wears down an offense (1 TD, 0 FGs allowed in seventeen second half possessions over three games).
Additionally, unless we play a team that is perfectly suited to quick-strike football, opponents are at an immediate disadvantage walking into the building. There’s a limit to how far a team can play against its own tendencies.
I wanted to point out how last week’s defensive play should really open the league’s eyes. It wasn’t perfect obviously, but at one point in that game Kerry Collins was tossing some of the most perfect, gunned, spirals the league has seen all season (this was during the middle portion of the game when the Jets didn’t blitz as much to focus on Johnson). Nevertheless, when it came to 3rd down, the Jets made the important stops. Once they decided to bring the heat, it all fell apart quickly for Kerry. Without the threat of a Chris Johnson type player this week, Brees is in for a full game of heat (like Schaub was). That will certainly shake things up for their offense because Kerry was throwing it as well as you can throw the ball and they were having OK success, nothing that our Special Teams and Offense couldnt hang with over 4 quarters. A worse line and shorter QB smells like a defensive win for us… even if it is Drew Brees. Like I said, Kerry Collins was throwing the ball as well as you can in this league during the middle portion of that game and the Jets D wasn’t in attack mode but hung around.
I suspect the Jets defense will have a difficult time with the Saints this Sunday. I’ve only watched one game so far this year, I was on vacation until last Sunday, but the Jets were not impressive to me. What I took out of there “impressive” victory against an 0-3 team is that if the Titans had played well, they would’ve toasted the Jets. The Titans dropped a number of key passes, and their special teams unit basically handed the game over on a silver platter.
Not only that, but the Jets are going to go from a home crowd to an opposing crowd at the Super Dome, where they will play a significantly more potent offense in Drew Brees’ offense.
Don’t get me wrong, the Jets look like a solid team this year, and they’ve got playoff potential, but there is still a lot of work to do and I wouldn’t count our chickens until the eggs have hatched.
Sorry about the typo, I meant “their
Misery
It doesn’t impress you that a desperate and talented Tennessee team that was 13-3 last year scored once in eight second half possessions? Kerry Collins, who was pin-point accurate in the first half, throwing 13 straight incompletions in the last twenty minutes didn’t strike you as a small change for the Jets? Who’s your source of comparsion, the ‘85 Bears?
Bent,
LOL, the game is still geared to letting a QB stand back there for 3-4 seconds and throw deep downfield as the pocket begins to collapse. Taller QBs are just better as straight, drop back QBs. NFL coaches are a conservative bunch and the potential for the big play because of the blitz will prevent most teams from even attempting to blitz over 30% of the time. So, I don’t think you’ll see the NFL turn away from the tall, power-armed QBs to the smaller, more mobile QBs just yet.
Yeah, although the jets are the flavor of the month and it’s a copy cat league.
Jets=Misery,
You also missed the Jets destroy the Houston Texans’ offense, on the road, in a dome. A team that boasts one of the NFL’s elite WRs, Andre Johnson, saw him completely shut down and Schaub looked like a rookie. Plus, the Jets were missing Ellis, who has been terrific so far this season, and are still missing Pace.
Then, you missed the Pats take a lead on the Jets, only to see our rookie QB come out at halftime and shred the Pats D. You missed Belichick have Tom Brady play the whole game in a hurry up offense to defeat the blitz, but not score an offensive TD. You missed Randy Moss completely shut down. So, if you missed the first 2 games, you’ve missed quite a lot.
I think Brees has a skill set to defeat the blitz, but you can’t tell me that his weapons were much better than Schaub’s or Brady’s. And, the Jets beat Brady, who had won his last 20 regular season games in a row and had never lost at the Meadowlands, and Schaub, who had never lost in Houston, including wins over the Dolphins, Titans and Bears last year. In short, the Jets D has been pretty darn good and, for another fun fact, Schaub’s 55.9 QBR is the highest the Jets have allowed an opposing QB, yet. Just remember that Sunday is a test for Brees and the Saints, too.
I maintain its not a blitz, or “added pressure” until you rush a fifth player.
A 3-4 standard set is rushing three D linemen and a fourth player, sending a corner instead of a linebacker is not a blitz.
I agree with wise. There’s plenty of firezone type blitzes in this system.
I love American Splendor and that clip form the film, but what does that have to do with the Jets blitzing schemes?
Weiss
I suppose that to be fair they did look good at the end of the game, though it’s also fair to recall that the Titans receivers dropped a number of passes as well. My main issue is how unnerving it was to watch the Titans march up and down the field during th middle of the game.
This Titans team was excellent last year, no doubt, but so far this year they have not shown anything. Heck, I didn’t even think the Titans offense was great last year, though I’ve always had respect for Collins and Fisher.
Also, SackDance, that is a perfectly fair point, I was in North Carolina when the Jets beat both the Texans and the Patriots so I can’t really offer an opinion on either of those contests. However, the Texans and the Titans have not faired to well against theire other opponents thus far this season yet either, have they? Perhaps they’ve been better offensively, but they’re a combined 1-5 at this point, so I think it’s equally fair to point that out. Additionally, I will be a lot more impressed to see the Jets beat a Patriots team that is completely health/with Brady playing at his best.
Jets=Misery,
Well, isn’t it a chicken or egg argument about Brady? Maybe he didn’t play well because the Jets D was really that good? Also, Schaub threw 7 TDs against the Jags and Titans, but was dominated by the Jets D. And, while I get your point about this year, which is only 3 games old, the combined record of the Pats, Titans and Texans last year was 32-16. I think Jeff Fisher and Belichick are good coaches, but they could not muster a game plan to defeat the Jets. My point is whatever you can say about the offense, the Jets D and special teams are good enough to win most NFL games. So, I don’t think the Jets haven’t been tested, I think the Jets are good..how good will be partially answered this weekend.