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Can the Jets take advantage of this?
The Jets’ opponent on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles, are devasted in the secondary.
The Philadephia Eagles will be without their top cornerback Darius Slay, nickel back Avonte Maddox and safety Justin Evans, essentially three starters, because nickelbacks play almost full-time in the modern NFL.
Can the Jets’ passing offense take advantage of this ravaged secondary?
It’s hard to say, because when the Jets played New England, they were without three corners, and the Jets scored 10 points, and had 60 yards of offense through three quarters.
The key will be Nathaniel Hackett dialing up great first reads, like he did the last two weeks.
If Hackett can do that again, the Jets should be able to take advantage of the Eagles on the back end . . .
Speaking of secondary injuries, the Jets will be without corners D.J. Reed (concussion) and Brandon Echols (hamstring), and Sauce Gardner (illness) is questionable. Generally, guys who are questionable with “illness” play. But if Gardner doesn’t, the Jets could be in a heap of trouble.
But if Gardner plays, how might they hold up without Reed and Echols?
Well Bryce Hall will start opposite Gardner. He generally does a solid job if they don’t ask him to guard speed merchants. So matchups will be the key here.
What should help the Jets cause holding up in coverage with their cornerback room so banged up, is the Eagles will be without starting receiver Quez Watkins, who is injured.
Also, what could help the Jets thin cornerback room this week is their pass rush, which has really come in in recent weeks.
However, the Eagles have an outstanding offensive line, so getting a lot of pressure on QB Jalen Hurts will be a challenge.
And Hurts present a much bigger challenge than Russell Wilson last week, because Hurts is better at keeping his eye level downfield.
A big problem with Wilson, and you saw it last week and then Thursday night against Kansas City, is his eye level is really bad. In other words, he’s looking at the rush too much and not keeping his eyes downfield. Perhaps after taking so many hits over the years, Wilson’s body isn’t feeling great and he’s tired of taking so many hits.
A key matchup for the Jets in this game is defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who is a very good interior pass rusher, facing a backup guard, Sua Opeta, falling in for the injured Cam Jurgens.
This is the kind of matchup Williams needs to dominate . . .
As I wrote about the other day, you wonder if there is going to be a mixed crowd at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The Eagles have a strong fanbase, and many of those fans from South Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania, are based pretty close to the Jets home field.
“As Coach Saleh said, MetLife has been lit. Let’s keep it that way this Sunday,” tweeted Jets owner Woody Johnson on Friday.
You can understand the Jets owner wanting to keep it that way, but the secondary ticket market might have a say in that.
