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With the focus turning to Atlanta now, I don’t want to belabor the point too much about Aaron Glenn’s decision to go for it on fourth and two from his own 42 against Baltimore, down just 10-7 in a third, which failed, and the Ravens proceeded to score on a six-play, 42-yard drive to go up 17-7.
“That decision kind of flipped this game,” said Jason McCourty.
“Understand it based on their record, but now how the game is being played today,” said Charles Davis.
“There is a fine line between being aggressive and dumb, and that was just dumb,” said Willie Colon on SNY, a Jets media partner.
So, before we move on, I want to show you what Coach Glenn said in his only question about the topic on Sunday, after the game.
“At that point, just thinking about the defense and how I thought the defense was playing really, really well at that point,” Glenn said. “The reason that they scored was because they got that third-and-15 on that. I thought our offense was doing a solid job. I thought Tyrod [Taylor] was doing a solid job. I wanted to be aggressive; I wanted to be able to go on that, and we didn’t make it. That’s just what it was. I trust our guys to go make those. That was a situation where I wanted our guys to not blink and get ready to go, and we didn’t make it.”
There were no follow-up questions. Probably would have been 10-15 years ago around here. Not now.
With all due respect to the coach, not sure that answer really gets to the heart of the matter.
“Those are the decisions and the plays after them that bring your opponents alive,” Davis said.
Time to move on . . .
I don’t like criticizing this player because he has a great motor, gives you everything he’s got on and is playing in the wrong system, but considering how much Michael Clemons plays, his stats are a tad alarming. In 11 games, playing extensively, he has six solo tackles and no sacks.
Clemons is a 3-4 end playing in a 4-3 system. He should be two-gapping, not trying to set the edge against backs because he doesn’t have the speed to chase them down if they take the corner, and he doesn’t have the flexibility to bend the edge against offensive tackles.
He is absolutely miscast as a 4-3 end, but the bottom line, in a bottom line business, is the production has been a little underwhelming.
And one of the reasons for the Jets’ alarming turnover stats (just one forced turnover in 11 games), and there are several, is the lack of a consistent pass rush.
We all know that there is a symbiotic relationship between cover guys and pass rushers. Teams with consistent pass rushers will often force quarterbacks into hurried, poor throws that lead to interceptions or sacks that lead to QB fumbles.
In their loss to Baltimore, the Jets had one sack, by defensive tackle Jowon Briggs. Their defensive end rotation had none, Will McDonald had no stats listed on the official stat sheet distributed in the press box after the game.
In the Jets’ loss to New England, they also only had one sack, and that was Jermaine Johnson beating a tight end, not a tackle. In the game, the Jets got very little pass rush from pillar to post, and it often looked like Patriots QB Drake Maye was conducting a 7-on-7 drill in practice.
On the season, McDonald has seven sacks, but four came against Cleveland, playing a backup left tackle, and two more against Pittsburgh, playing a developmental tackle, Broderick Jones, who is not having a good year.
It just seems like McDonald too often beats up on overmatched tackles, but when facing a bona fide answer at tackle, he has issues getting off blocks.
With his slender build, it’s a challenging matchup for him against many of these tackles, who sometimes outweigh him by 100 pounds.
Johnson has three sacks on the season in eight games.
As we mentioned before, the top backup at end, Clemons, who plays a lot, has no sacks in 11 games.
The Jets are going have decisions to make on the contracts of their three main defensive ends. Some would argue they should move on from Clemons and let him go to a 3-4 teams, and as for Johnson/McDonald, they should probably not spend like drunken sailors.
They are good, but perhaps not great defensive ends.
With all the premium draft capital they have moving forward, a game-wrecking pass rusher should probably be on the checklist.
November 26, 2025
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