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On the Kansas City Chiefs pregame radio show, host Mitch Holthus said to Andy Reid in a game preview segment, “this doesn’t look like a 2-6 defense on film” about the Jets.
Reid agreed. Aside from being a very nice guy, he certainly won’t say anything negative about his upcoming opponent. Same with Holthus. Both class acts.
But yes, they looked like a 2-6 defense on film.
And now they look like a 2-7 defense on film.
That isn’t meant to be flippant, but more the reality of the situation.
Going back over the Jets-Chiefs game, the Jets’ run defense up the middle was an enormous problem once again.
The problem is they are playing a bunch of D-Linemen built for a 4-3 defense, about four of them to be exact, and the guy who is actually built for this scheme, 6-5, 315-pound Darrell Jackson, often plays with a pad level that is too high, which was a problem again in Kansas City.
Somebody asked Jets DC Brian Duker today, “Where have you seen the most progress from Darrell Jackson?”
“Continue to be really happy with how Darrell (Jackson) is controlling the middle of the line,” Duker said. “He does a really good job. Obviously a very strong, large person, so he does a really good job striking his block and kind of winning his matchup on those run plays.”
To be blunt, he wasn’t “winning his matchups on those run plays” last week.
Like on Kenneth Walker’s 2-yard TD run up the middle, and Emmett Johnson’s 6-yard scamper up the gut.
Jackson, or any of the Jets’ defensive tackles, played well against the run last week in a game the Chiefs ran for 163 yards.
He was not good at “controlling the middle of the field” in Kansas City…
The Bills, an excellent running team, have got to be licking their chops entering this game.
The Jets are allowing 128 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry.
Duker wasn’t asked any questions about the run defense in his press conference today…
Speaking of Duker, this was his first press conference since he was called out on a podcast by an SNY reporter, who has since apologized.
“I want to apologize for the comments I made yesterday,” Connor Hughes tweeted. “It was inappropriate for me to speak about Brian Duker’s standing within the Jets organization. It had nothing to do with football, and it was not something I should have commented on.”
Hughes asked him a couple of questions today about the defense in the presser.
I’m not going to repeat what Hughes said on the podcast because he apologized and it’s not fair to Duker, but I just want to add something somebody in the industry said about why the reporter might have gone after Duker.
“He didn’t want to go after Glenn, so he went after Duker,” the person said to me.
Of course, this can’t be proven, but it’s an interesting theory.
When it comes to the Jets beat, the head coach is rarely criticized or asked tough questions. The tough coverage of this coach has come from local sports talk radio, fan bloggers, and podcasts.
With the Jets playing some pretty bad defense right now, if you are trying to throw the head coach, who you like, a lifeline about his work lording over the defense, perhaps go after the defensive coordinator (even though he doesn’t call the plays) publicly.
Leave the coach alone and go after the low-hanging fruit…
Jets wide receivers Omar Cooper (ankle) and Garrett Wilson (concussion) looked good running routes at practice today, and you get the sense there is a good chance they both play…
Much has been made about Armand Membou losing his cool late in the Chiefs’ game after giving up a sack to Chris Jones. He spiked his helmet, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and then threw his helmet and a tablet on the sideline.
Obviously, you don’t want players drawing penalties.
But as for the play, Membou probably deserves a little slack for giving up the sack, aside from Jones being a great player.
The Jets offense stalled in the second half, and were too often in third-and-long, which plays right into the hands of a defense with a lead, inviting them to send extra rushers. On a 3rd-and-10, the Chiefs super-creative defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo dialed up a scheme where both Jones and linebacker Drue Tranquill were rushing over Membou. With his blocking attention divided, he gave up a sack.
Considering the down, distance, and deficit, the sack should not be considered a huge indictment of the player. Like a lot of young players, there are things that he can improve, but he does a lot more good than bad for the Jets. He’s not high on the Jets’ list of issues. He doesn’t play run defense.
Of course, he needs to keep his cool, but this was not the worst sack ever…
November 12, 2026
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