Content available exclusively for subscribers
The Jets secondary, led by Darrelle Revis and Kyle Wilson, did a lot of good things. They did get one personnel break, but you can only play who is out there. Here is Part II of Dan’s look at the secondary.
The play of the Jets secondary, and the defense overall, improved a great deal in the second half.
On the Chargers first possession of the second half, Antonio Cromartie had a terrific PD on a pass to the short left side to Malcom Floyd.
The Chargers ran five plays on this possession, and then punted, and on the punt, Donald Strickland was called for an illegal block.
So much was made about Kyle Wilson’s pick late in the game, and rightfully so, but also had some other good plays. In the middle of the third quarter, with the Chargers backed up deep in their own territory, on a 3rd-and-10, Wilson blitzed and hit Rivers as he threw, forcing an incompletion and a punt. Also on the drive, Wilson was credited with a PD on Vincent Jackson, on a pass to the short right side.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Wilson picked off a pass intended for Jackson over the deep middle. This was a great example of Wilson’s extensive film study paying off. He knew Rivers tendencies, and jumped this route. He wasn’t even covering Jackson, so when he cut in front of the pass underneath, Rivers didn’t even see him.
On the Chargers last drive, on the Chargers second play, Rivers threw a short pass in the left flat to Patrick Crayton, and Wilson, with some solid tackling, stopped him in his tracks, and the play gained just three, not ideal in a two-minute hurry-up scenario.
Darrelle Revis did a great job on the Chargers franchise player (he got the tag this year), WR Vincent Jackson, in this game, holding him to one catch. Keep in mind, he was targeted eight times.
We aren’t going to go over every Revis-Jackson play, but a couple stand out.
Late in the third quarter, on the first play of a drive, Revis had a nice PD on an out to the right side to Jackson.
On the Pick Six, Revis was in the right place at the right time (which is often the case with great players). On this particular play, Cromartie was covering Jackson on a square in from the left hash going in, and the Rivers pass was low, hit the 6-5 Jackson in the hip, and bounced right into the hands of Revis, who returned it 64 yards.
The Jets secondary had a very good second half, but there was just one glaring bad play they would want back. Early in the fourth quarter, a few plays before the Revis pick, Randy McMichael scorched the Jets for a 30-yard gain down the deep right side. The Jets blitzed on this play, so they were short a linebacker in coverage. David Harris, the blitzer, hit Rivers as he threw, but he still was able to deliver the football, and McMichael got behind Eric Smith.
One other play of note – one of the better PD’s of the game was late in the third quarter, when Strickland broke up a pass to Antonio Gates over the middle to end a possession.
The Chargers losing Malcom Floyd to an injury, certainly helped the Jets cause in the fourth quarter, but overall, the Jets secondary did a solid job.