Jets New Looks On Both Sides Yield New Result Versus Hated Rival
The Jets did some things a little differently on Thursday night and it got them a different result than the last eight times they hosted the Patriots at MetLife Stadium.
Gang Green’s 24-3 whipping over their old AFC East dominatrix was about as much fun as Jets fans have had since that 2015 campaign when Ryan Fitzpatrick, of all people, set the franchise record for touchdown passes. Ever since, fans suffered through their team’s predictability, particularly on offense, and the first two games this season offered little that would seem to buck that rut, even with a future Hall-of-Famer in Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
But give credit to both of New York’s coordinators, Nathaniel Hackett and Jeff Ulbrich, for composing game plans for Thursday that had New England mystified. Before the Patriots could figure out what hit them, they were down by two scores at halftime—and pretty fortunate it wasn’t worse.
Of course, Jets fans have seen a different version of this initial sequence of events a bunch of times over the years, where their team dominates a half only to leave the door slightly ajar so the opponent can come back and steal it in the end. But not this time, as New York, despite its third game in 11 days (the Patriots had a whopping one extra day of rest in that period, so its’s not like either club had an excuse), kept the foot on New England’s throat and were never seriously threatened after the intermission to the delight of a tortured fan base desperate to celebrate a home opener that wasn’t a Pyrrhic victory..
The Jets had it all going on both sides, with Rodgers spinning it on and off schedule to the tune of 281 yards passing. Rodgers, for those who need reminding, lasted four plays before suffering a season-ending Achilles rupture the last time he stepped on the MetLife turf.
Meanwhile, the defense, still stung by Sunday’s season-ending Achilles injury to edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, came up with pressure on enough third downs to halt Patriots drives. Will McDonald IV was credited with two of New York’s seven sacks.
The execution was fantastic, but good football requires good coaching. And Hackett, whom I doubt read my preview from Wednesday ( Jets Offense Can Take Off With Better Early Diversification (substack.com)) that bemoaned his script’s force-feeding of Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson during the first two weeks, spread the ball around early, with seven different Jets getting touches on the first two possessions, the latter of which culminated in a 10-yard Rodgers-to-Allen Lazard touchdown pass.
Tight ends Ty Conklin and Jeremy Ruckert, who came into the contest with a combined 2 catches on 6 targets for 16 yards, were significantly more involved on Thursday. Conklin finished with 5 receptions for a team-high 93 yards.
With all that diversity, Hall and Wilson weren’t needed to put up big numbers, though each had a touchdown. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, Hackett was giving carries to third-string rookie running back Isaiah Davis.
The defense also adjusted their previous tendencies. Under Head Coach Robert Salah and Ulbrich, the foundation of the team has always been front four pressure, dropping seven into mostly zone coverages. The Jets have often been among the teams that dial up the fewest blitzes, with pro-football-reference.com counting a 16.3% blitz rate last season, the second fewest rate behind the Colts.
Though that rate ticked up a bit to 19% over the first two games, Ulbrich called on a wider array of blitzes on Thursday to take advantage of a banged-up New England line. Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett had to deal with pressure from every angle, and he didn’t handle it well. Though the ProFootballFocus.com stats won’t come out until later, I gather that nearly every Jets defender was credited with at least one pressure. Yeah, even little-used defensive back Isaiah Oliver had a QB hit.
Safety Chuck Clark, who missed all last season with an ACL injury and struggled a bit the first two weeks of his return, had a monster game with a sack and a forced fumble in the fourth quarter where he ripped the ball out of the hands of Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson and fell on it. The sack was Clark’s first in about three years, as he was rarely called on to blitz while in Baltimore and pass rushed just once previously this season.
My guess is that Saleh and Ulbrich figured that this Jets four-man pass rush isn’t quite what it’s been like the past few years, even with McDonald producing at a torrid clip. Just about any NFL QB can pick you apart if given the time to sit back in the pocket—good for the Jets to not let Brissett get into that kind of rhythm.
New looks on both sides of the ball. It paved the way for a new result over an old rival.