Jets D Makes Statement That They’re For Real In Massive Upset Over Rival Bills
At the approximate halfway point of a season after the Jets’ defense was the NFL’s worst, it can now be called elite.
That’s just the year-to-year oddity of this league, where so many variables can vault or cripple teams in either direction. In this case, the facts say that no longer can anyone disclaim Gang Green’s early defensive successes because they faced backup quarterbacks or, in the case of their shocking win over Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, overrated teams. New York’s D just laid the hammer on the league’s most feared offense, holding Buffalo to a mere 63 net yards in the second half to spur a monumental 20-17 upset at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
It was Buffalo’s lowest scoring output since Week 13 of last season. Bills QB Josh Allen, the league leader in passing yards per game entering the contest, was harassed into an 18-for-34 (53%) day for 205 yards, no touchdown passes, and 2 interceptions while taking five sacks. After a 42-yard bomb to star wide receiver Stefon Diggs on the game’s first play, Allen did way more damage with his legs, rushing for 86 yards and two touchdowns, but even those designed runs/improv scrambles were marginalized after halftime (4 rushes for 25 yards).
Diggs was also shut out in the second half, thanks mostly to a marvelous effort by cornerback D.J. Reed, a relatively unsung contributor to this defense when compared to his marquee rookie sidekick Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner, who had one of the picks and knocked away Allen’s last-gasp, fourth-and-21 heave to Gabe Davis with 24 seconds remaining (cry me a river, Bills Mafia, about the hand fighting between the two of them—when both players look guilty, the refs almost always let it play on). Reed has been outstanding in his own right, owning ProFootballFocus.com’s fifth-best pass coverage grade among CBs with at least 100 coverage snaps. I thought Allen had Diggs deep from near midfield on a third-and-14 play on their penultimate possession but Reed’s remarkable catchup speed and knack for defending without fouling (he has been flagged only one time—a defensive pass interference in Week 5--all season) allowed him to break it up cleanly to force a punt.
Though pinned at their own 4-yard line, the Jets then ran it down Buffalo’s throat. Eight consecutive rushing plays plus a huge third-down conversion on a Zach Wilson-to-Denzel Mims slant pattern put New York in position to take a 20-17 lead on a 28-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal with 1:45 remaining.
Buffalo took over needing just a field goal to extend the game, though without any timeouts. This is where defenses earn their reputations. In years past, you could count on the Jets to play soft and kick away the game.
Not this year. On a second-and-2 from Buffalo’s 33-yard line, Jets reserve edge rusher Bryce Huff may have made the play of the season’s first half when he looped around Bills tackle David Quessenberry to knock the ball out of Allen’s hand. Though Buffalo recovered, the 19-yard loss proved too much to overcome.
Huff, who has averaged just 16 snaps per game after being inactive for the first three weeks, was one of ten Jets defensive linemen to dress for the game, an inordinately high number that even Head Coach Robert Saleh acknowledged after the game. However, as Bill Parcells once said, other than quarterback play, a fourth quarter pass rush is the most important factor in deciding a game.
The Jets, with their oft-ridiculed rotation, will likely improve upon their fourth-place defensive ranking in fourth quarter expected points per dropback, per rbsdm.com. In the final 15 minutes, Allen went 4-for-10 for 40 yards, with one very lucky incompletion that hit Jets safety Jordan Whitehead smack in the chest. He also took three sacks, including a special one where rookie defensive end Jermaine Johnson chased Allen outside the pocket for a four-yard loss.
The Jets (6-3) now go into their bye week as winners of five of their last six games with the opportunity to avenge their sole loss in that stretch to the Patriots in a rematch in Foxboro on November 20. No one thought they’d be here—at best, the consensus had such a record reversed given the expected difficulty of their schedule.
This team, though. has a bit of a Rex Ryan-era feel to it, relying on a run game that can allow their young QB to act as more of a game manager than explosive playmaker and a defense that I’d argue is superior in its ability to turn the screws when games are on the line in fourth quarters.
As Saleh responded when asked afterwards if he thinks his defense was elite, “Ask (Buffalo).”