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The Jets and Indianapolis Colts essentially play the same defense.
On Sunday, the Jets lost 40-14 to Buffalo and the offensively-challenged Giants beat the Colts 45-33.
It’s an outdated scheme, too predictable and static, and if you don’t generate a pass rush in this front-driven defense, it’s hard for it to work.
And I’m not going to blame Jeff Ulbrich for this.
Yes, he’s the defensive coordinator, but he’s not the one who installed this scheme. It was the former head coach.
It’s a bad scheme, and belongs in the rearview mirror in Florham Park.
Another problem is related to the defensive line.
The former GM made some mistakes up there, perhaps influenced by the former head coach.
I see three or four defensive linemen on the Jets’ active roster, who would likely not be on any other team’s active roster. Maybe a couple on a practice squad, but not on active rosters.
Some really bad decisions were made by the team’s former brass on the D-Line.
Now Haason Reddick doesn’t fall into the category of not being on any other team’s active roster, but what a mistake it was to beg him to come back after his misguided holdout.
It wasn’t just bad for the locker room because this player blew off his teammates for the first half of the season, but he’s also not producing
In eight games, he has half a sack.
Aside from a couple of pressures by Will McDonald, the Jets pass rusher was nonexistent today. When you give Josh Allen the kind of time he had today, you have little chance of beating the Bills.
Bad scheme/bad personnel decisions/bad defense . . .
Javon Kinlaw, who Robert Saleh pounded the table for after coaching him in San Francisco, had no stats in the game . . .
In the second quarter, the Jets gave up a safety, when Aaron Rodgers was sacked in the end zone by end A.J. Epenesa.
Rodgers is usually pretty good at making quick decisions and getting rid of the ball in precarious situations, but he had no shot on this play because nobody blocked Epenesa who was on Rodgers right off the snap.
How on earth could nobody be assigned to block the right defensive end?
Where is that in the playbook?
I asked Rodgers about it, and he talked over my head, with a very complicated answer, that was above my pay grade.
Perhaps he was protecting his linemen.
Since I don’t have access to the playbook, I don’t know who to blame here, but the left tackle who Epenesa went by was Max Mitchell.
So it looks like it might have been his fault, but I’m not going to go there since I don’t have access to the game plan.
But this kind of play points to a big problem the Jets have had after getting off to a 2-3 start, when they demoted Nathaniel Hackett and made Todd Downing the offensive play-caller.
Nobody wants to hear this, because Hackett, like most offensive coordinators in Jets history, including his father, became a war criminal in Jets nation.
But having Downing run Hackett’s offense is Kabuki Theater. This is not Downing’s offense.
So while nobody wants to hear this because they are blinded by hatred for Hackett, they should not have demoted him and have somebody else call his plays.
This offense is dysfunctional now, and this is one reason why . . .
I did not see Woody Johnson at the game today in Buffalo.
If he was there, he did not go into the locker room after the game, which he always does.
But nonetheless, he has some big decisions coming up.
Whoever he hires as head coach and GM, he better hire a couple of alpha dog leaders, not afraid to hurt people’s feelings, and who will hold players accountable.
The Jets had 16 penalties in Buffalo.
One reason for this, and there are many, is the fact that players have no fear of repercussions.
After Michael Clemons was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for jumping on a pile after the tackle was made, I did not see any coach talk to him on the sidelines after the play.
Woody needs to hire a no-nonsense candidate like Mike Vrabel, throw him the car keys, and let him do his thing without meddling. It’s simple. This isn’t the time for amateur hour where they hire some young hotshot coordinator who buries his head in his playsheet. Can’t happen.
December 29, 2024
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