Not Even Bengals’ Previous Protection Issues Could Awaken Jets’ Disappointing Pass Rush
The Jets committed enough self-inflicted wounds on Sunday that they could have lost to just about any opponent. However, unlike his reaction following New York’s 24-9 loss to Baltimore in the season opener, Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh couldn’t avoid giving defending AFC Champion Cincinnati credit for manhandling his team in a 27-12 rout at MetLife Stadium.
The desperate Bengals, who started the season 0-2, won the lion’s share of the one-on-one matchups all over the field. Their much-maligned offensive line, which surrendered an ungodly 13 sacks in two games, stepped up to keep quarterback Joe Burrow relatively clean in building a 20-9 halftime lead and the defense abused the George Fant/Conor McDermott left tackle combination like they were pylons. In addition, Cincinnati’s cornerbacks stuck to the Jets receivers on the most crucial plays, with only Jets rookie Garrett Wilson seemingly able to gain much separation on routes against man coverage (until he was forced from the game in the first half with injured ribs—he was held to 2 receptions for 14 yards after he returned in the third quarter).
But it has to be the defensive line’s miniscule pass rush production that has to concern Saleh and General Manager Joe Douglas the most, considering the heavy investment the organization put into it. Of the Jets’ top eight salary cap numbers this season, four are defensive linemen. There was supposed to be depth too, with Douglas trading up to select Jermaine Johnson late in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and signing free agents Jacob Martin and Solomon Thomas, both of whom were fairly effective as situational pass rushers last season, according to ProFootballFocus.com’s grading system Most people expected the Jets’ front to be the strength of the team, so much so that promising edge rusher Bryce Huff has yet to be activated in the first three games.
It just hasn’t worked out that way. Going into Sunday, the Jets ranked 27th in pressure percentage, per ProFootballReference.com. and registered two sacks by defensive linemen. Even when they generated “hurries”, too often the Jets have allowed the opposing QB to escape out of the pocket on plays that had “sack” written all over it. New York interior lineman Sheldon Rankins made a comment during the prep week that the Bengals’ pass protection issues were just what the doctor ordered.
Instead, Burrow came out and threw for 163 yards and two touchdowns—in the first quarter. I don’t believe the Jets hit him once until the final snap of the quarter, when safety Lamarcus Joyner came on a seven-man blitz on a third-and-7. Unfortunately, Burrow beat it by finding receiver Tyler Boyd over the middle, and when Joyner’s safety partner Jordan Whitehead whiffed on the tackle, Boyd chugged the rest of the way for a 56-yard touchdown to put Cincinnati up, 14-6.
The play seemed to infuriate Jets interior lineman Quinnen Williams, who got into it with his defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton on the sidelines. Williams said afterwards that he was just lobbying to eliminate the blitzes, believing four-man rushes were sufficient. Again, Williams was as culpable as anyone for not providing much of a push up the middle to that point.
Of course, that play wouldn’t have occurred had Jets lineman John Franklin-Myers kept his hands to himself after Burrow scrambled to his right and misfired on a third-down pass to Boyd earlier on that Bengals possession. Feel free to bemoan the NFL’s “softness” when it comes to late hits, but Franklin-Myers had to know that if you push down and land on top of a QB after his release, it’s going to be flagged like 90% of the time.
The Jets gave Franklin-Myers a 4-year, $55 million contract extension on October 7 after he started last season on fire, with three sacks in four games. He hasn’t had a sack since the Week 12 contest in Houston last season and has now gone two straight games without even registering a tackle. Former Bengal Carl Lawson, the Jets’ highest paid player at $15 million per year who was out all last season with a ruptured Achilles, was also fairly quiet on Sunday.
You can’t blame the line getting worn down from the ineptitude of the offense for such severe underachievement—Saleh has kept to his preseason promise of rotating personnel, for better or worse. He dresses nine linemen every week and all of them had received between 41 (Johnson) and 74 (Williams) defensive snaps out of 123 total over the first two games (Sunday’s snap counts weren’t available as of this writing, but it seemed like the rotation plan wasn’t altered).
To be fair, the Jets did a better job at creating pressure with their front four after the first quarter (8 pressures and 2 sacks on 18 Burrow dropbacks, per SNY’s Connor Hughes), but between four Jets turnovers and a couple of explosive plays allowed, the Bengals were able to build on their early advantage.
Lost in the euphoria of Gang Green’s 31-30 fluke victory in Cleveland last week was how their defense, including the line, rolled over at the end. If Browns running back Nick Chubb took to the turf instead of scoring before the two-minute warning, the Jets never would have gotten the ball back and quarterback Joe Flacco wouldn’t have been a (short-lived) folk hero for leading the miraculous comeback from a two-touchdown deficit.
Once again, the Jets allowed the Bengals to chew up nearly eight minutes of Sunday’s fourth quarter clock during a 13-play drive (all on the ground when the Jets had to know they were running). Only this time, Flacco was all out of miracles.
As Saleh prepares for next week’s tilt at Pittsburgh with starting quarterback Zach Wilson expected to be back under center after recovering from knee surgery, it isn’t enough that he repeats the refrain from last week that his defensive line simply needs to do better. Whether it’s the erratic Mitch Trubisky or rookie Kenny Picket at QB for the Steelers, the Jets need to win their matchups on the line more decisively to even have a chance to win the game.