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The Jets defense actually started very strong in Oakland, but came apart at the seams in the second quarter . . .
I do agree with Joe Namath when it comes to the Jets defense – they think they are better than they are.
They are a good, solid unit, but not great. This game was a perfect example.
One problem is they have no backup nose tackle. Kenrick Ellis has been inactive all year, and Sione Pouha isn’t healthy, and is forced to play most of the game. That isn’t a great scenario in a 3-4.
Also, they are starting Mo Wilkerson, when he’s not ready, and playing with a bad shoulder. Wilkerson beat the Lehigh rookie guard for a safety in the Jacksonville game, but other than that, not much going on over there.
I think Wilkerson is going to be very good, but he wasn’t ready to start, but the Jets seem big on justifying their draft picks.
Let’s get into some of the issues from the Oakland game.
On the Raiders first drive, after the Jets deferred, the Raiders went five plays and 76-yard on a TD drive that was aided by two common occurances with the defense – Cro had a 25-yard pass interference penalty on Denarious Moore, and they were beat for a long gain by a tight end, Kevin Boss, for a gain of 28. Those two plays accounted for most of the drive. Boss was wide open on this play. There seemed to be some confusion between Bryan Thomas and David Harris as to who was supposed to cover him.
The Jets did a nice job on the Raiders next three possessions, forcing them three-and-out all three times.
One of the Raiders second possession, there were terrific plays on first and second down by Jets defenders.
On first down, Sione Pouha knifed into the backfield and stopped Darren McFadden for a loss of one.
On second down, Eric Smith did a wonderful job reading a screen, and stopped McFadden for a loss of two. The Raiders loves screens, and the highly-intelligent Smith was very prepared for this play thanks to some quality film study.
On the Raiders third possession, Brodney Pool shot off the left edge, and stopped McFadden for no gain. And then this drive ended with a group of Jets defenders stopping RB Mike Bush for a loss of one, on third-and-one.
On the Raiders fourth possession, Calvin Pace read a pass on the short right side to McFadden perfectly, and stopped the runner for a loss of three.
So when you really look at it, aside from two bad plays, the Jets defense was excellent in the first quarter. It looked like the plan was sound at this point.
But then in the second quarter, things started to unravel.
On first down of the first possession of the second quarter, Jason Campbell (who looked lost up to this point), was called for intentional grounding.
But also on this play, Wilkerson was called for roughing the passer. Granted it wasn’t a great call, but there was no reason for Wilkerson to push Campbell after he threw. There was no strategic advantage to it.
But then on the next play, it looked like the Jets defense was picking up where they left off, when Bryan Thomas stopped speedster Taiwan Jones, for a loss of five, on a pass in the left flat.
The Jets defensive coaches clearly did a great job of preparing their guys for the Raiders screen game.
But then the Jets run defense started to come apart.
On this next two carriers, Run DMC (that is Darren’s nickname), ran for 17 and 15 yards, both off right tackle. These were two examples of the poor job the Jets did sealing the edge.
But aside from these two runs, the Jets defense didn’t allow anything else on this drive, but Sea-Bass nailed a 56-yard field goal.
We will have Part II of this important defensive review later. There is so much to talk about, we are breaking it into two parts.
