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The Miracle by the Lake . . .
For the first time in 21 years, an NFL won a game when trailing by at least 13 points in the final two minutes. That is what the Jets did in their 31-30 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Everything broke right for them – a missed extra point, Nick Chubb scoring a touchdown and not going down to let Cleveland run out the clock, a quick touchdown down to Corey Davis on a blown coverage down 30-17, and then a recovered on-side kick leading to the game-winning drive.
An amazing confluence of circumstances that might not ever happen again.
Hat-tip to the Jets for pulling this off.
However, if they don’t fix this defense, it’s going to be a long year.
They gave up almost 200 yards rushing, they allowed a journeyman QB to go 22-27 for 229 yards and a touchdown. Cleveland was 66 percent on third down, including 4-5 in the red zone and the Jets allowed five explosive plays.
Remember the big theme coming out of their loss to Baltimore in the opener, a game they gave up three explosive passing plays, was that they needed to cut down on “explosives.”
Didn’t happen.
Last week, the Jets’ defensive coordinator was asked how they can cut down on “explosives.”
“We have to coach better, and we got to execute it better, those are things that we work on daily,” said Jeff Ulbrich.
But when is it going to happen?
Look, you are always going to give up some explosive plays in the NFL, but the Jets defense gives up too many. They did last year, and they did in the first two games.
If this continues, it’s going to be hard for them to win consistently.
They just give up too many easy completions, like on Amari Cooper’s wide-open second-quarter TD catch. Blown coverage.
They also continue to not get enough plays in pass coverage from their linebackers.
In the fourth quarter, Quincy Williams was called for pass interference covering running back Kareem Hunt. As a linebacker, you should be able to cover a running back on a short route over the middle without grabbing him.
They continue to struggle to set the edge against the run. Maybe their two rookie defensive ends are playing a little too much. Maybe they need to pull back a little with those guys.
I know with Bill Belichick, if you don’t set the edge as an end, you’re not going to play.
Defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, when he comes in for a starter, continues to struggle against the run, getting twisted by offensive linemen up front, opening holes up the middle, and this isn’t a new thing, but he seems to be beyond reproach.
Like I wrote yesterday, they better get their act together on defense or the Cincinnati Bengals offense, loaded with weapons, is going to light them up on Sunday.
The Jets head coach made his bones as a defensive coach, so they need to start playing better on that side of the ball.
Look, they play very hard and have tough shelf-toughness as a defensive unit. This isn’t an effort or toughness issue.
But they need to play more disciplined, smarter football as a unit.
You have to give the Jets a ton of credit for pulling off a minor miracle in Cleveland.
But obviously, you can’t expect this kind of stuff to happen very often, and they better figure out a way to fix this defense, which continues to be too leaky.
September 19, 2022
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