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The Jets’ run defense up the middle wasn’t very good in the Jets’ win over Tennessee.
He was not making excuses, but defensive tackle Harrison Phillips offered some insight on a Jets strategy on Sunday that might have impacted their run defense, which gave up 181 yards.
“Our game plan to take out those two studs at receiver (Ja’mar Chase and Tee Higgins) left us with a five-man box or a six-man box sometimes,” Phillips said.
That is understandable, but what happened in the Carolina game where they gave up 125 yards? Or the 180 against Dallas without CeeDee Lamb, so you theoretically didn’t have to empty the box in that game to deal with Lamb and George Pickens.
So the Jets’ run defense issues go beyond their light box in Cincinnati.
Once again, Phillips is not an excuse maker; he was just trying to explain the strategy to stop Higgins and Chase.
And it did add: “I think there is a ton of stuff to clean up from, especially defensively.”
Aaron Glenn also brought up the strategy.
“At the end of the day, our focus was to make sure the two receivers aren’t the ones that beat us like what happened in the Pittsburgh game, so I thought that was really good by (Steve) Wilks making sure our guys understood that,” Glenn said.
Chase did have 12 catches, but for only 91 yards, and 17 of those came on one play, and Higgins had one catch, the 44-yard TD, where Higgins beat AZ Thomas for a 44-yard TD. Thomas was left on an island because a safety failed to come over and help him.
But, while that strategy was somewhat effective in containing Chase Higgins, the Jets still gave up 38 points on defense, the most they’ve given up this season.
Look I’m not looking to take anything away from the Jets’ gutsy 39-38 win in Cincinnati, but is giving up 38 points good defense?
“I don’t think it was our best effort of the season, and giving up that many points was not what we wanted to do,’ Phillips said. “Thankfully, our offense was firing on all cylinders.”
This defensive performance, and a few others, like Dallas, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, are a big reason the Jets should be sellers on defense with the trade deadline coming up.
Aside from Sauce Gardner and Brandon Stephens (who is playing really well), I’d probably listen to offers for anybody else.
You can’t let hype, or media cluelessness in how certain players are portrayed, get in the way of the film. The well-run football operations don’t do that. The film don’t lie. Film, film, film . . .
Speaking of the Jets’ defense, and I’m not looking to pick on this player, because he flat-out gives you everything he’s got, but there was a play in the game that wasn’t an ideal optic for Michael Clemons.
Clemons has an unbelievable motor, is powerful as hell, and he gives you everything he’s got, but he his lack of speed, quickness and flexibility puts him a little behind the eight ball on the NFL level sometimes, especially with as much as Glenn plays him.
In the third quarter, on third-and-six, Joe Flacco escaped the pocket and ran 13 yards, escaping Clemons who was chasing from behind.
This is not a great look against a 40-year-old QB.
It certainly wasn’t a lack of effort. He dove a Flacco’s legs as he took over running.
It’s not Clemon’s fault – he’s not blessed with great mobility . . .
The Jets won their first game of the year without the two players they backed up the Brink’s truck for in the off-season – Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson.
Recently, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was critical of the Jets’ new regime for these two monster contracts.
“They paid the perimeter before they paid the front,” Orlovsky said. “They paid Sauce and they paid Garrett. They are two really good player, but I don’t know if that is the best way to go about rebuilding.”
It’s an interesting point if you are a believer that the game is won in the trenches, but in defense of the new regime, they did make their first, first-round pick, Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou.
Look, Gardner and Wilson are big-time talents, and the Jets are a better team with them, but the bottom line is they won their first game of the year without them, and didn’t really have big issues at receiver or cornerback in the game.
So some might agree with Orlovsky’s point.
But it’s unclear who pushed for the Jets to sign those two players in the first year of a new regime
Maybe it came from the top, because Wilson and Gardner are extremely popular with the Jets fans, and a lot of fans were pushing the team on social media to lock up these guys long-term. So on some level, these signings might have been a mea culpa to the fans, not a decision by the new regime to invest in perimeter players right out of the gate . . .
Olu Fashanu (pictured above) was so good against Cincinnati, if offensive linemen were ever considered for the AFC Offensive Player of the Week Award, he should be a candidate.
October 27, 2025
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