~ ~ jets 'D'... # 2 ? ? ?

[kelly]

-- Nineteen months after an 11th-hour rejection, Marcus Williams finally has an confirmed appointment at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Williams, the feel-good story in the New York Jets' season-opening win, will play a prominent role -- perhaps a starting one -- if Antonio Cromartie's sprained knee prevents him from playing Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts. Either way, Williams will play cornerback on the sport's biggest prime-time stage, fittingly in the building whose doors were shut on him in February 2014.

More than 300 players attended the 2014 NFL scouting combine, prospects from Washington to Maine, but that list didn't include Williams. But that's not the full story.

Williams was told he had a golden ticket to the league's most prestigious pre-draft event, and for weeks he operated under the belief that he'd be performing for NFL scouts at Lucas Oil. It made sense. He was a three-time FCS All-American at North Dakota State in Fargo, where he set the school record with 21 interceptions, including seven touchdown returns. Why wouldn't they want him at the combine?A week before the trip, Williams was informed there had been a mistake -- a miscommunication, whatever you want to call it. There was no room for him. It was crushing. It was akin to being in high school and getting invited to a party with the cool kids, only to be turned away at the front door.For Williams, it was the first in a series of disappointments that makes every NFL moment -- such as last week's interception of a Johnny Manziel pass -- even more special."That was tough for me, but all it does it keep me going," Williams said this week, recalling his combine snub. "It wasn't the first time I was overlooked. Coming out of high school, I was overlooked as well. It just adds fuel to the fire. It tells me I have to keep working and keep proving people wrong, keep fighting for where I want to be and for what I want to do."

After a so-so pro day (he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds), Williams wasn't one of the 256 players drafted last year. More rejection. Twenty minutes after the conclusion of the draft, he signed a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans. By most accounts, he was solid in the preseason, but he didn't make the final cut and landed on their practice squad.The low point came last Sept. 23, when Williams was released from the Texans' practice squad. For a young player trying to crack the NFL fraternity, there's nothing more discouraging than getting fired from a practice squad. The Texans told him to stick around town, that maybe they'd have an opening at some point."I guess I didn't fit what they wanted at the time," Williams said. "I don't know what that is. When they released me from the practice squad, it was kind of tough for me at the time, but I knew my ability. I knew what I could do. I didn't let it hold me down. I didn't let it bring my spirit down. When I got that call from the Jets, I knew I had to make the most of it."Former pro personnel director Brendan Prophett had been tracking Williams and called as soon the Texans dropped him. Two days later, Williams was a member of the Jets' practice squad. Their cornerback position was in bad shape last season, and they were on the lookout for developmental players. They never imagined he'd develop so well, so quickly.

Six weeks later, Williams was in the starting lineup, facing the Kansas City Chiefs. He ended up starting the final seven games, making him one of the best acquisitions of the ill-fated John Idzik era. But give some credit to Rex Ryan and his staff; they were willing to take a practice-squad castoff and make him a starter. That took guts and an eye for talent.Ryan, Idzik and Prophett were fired. The new folks in charge have been quite pleased with the gift left behind."He fits right in," coach Todd Bowles said. "You don't look at him as a second-year guy. You look at him as a vet. He goes out there and does his job. He does everything the right way. He gives you the utmost confidence to have in him, so it makes you feel comfortable."

Unlike his predecessor, Bowles isn't known for giving effusive praise, so when he calls Williams "one of my favorite players," it carries the impact of a roadside billboard.Talent evaluators like to say, "Scouting is an inexact science," and Williams is a shining example of that. At 5-foot-11, 196 pounds, he's not the biggest guy in the room. He's not the fastest, either. But they haven't developed a method to measure instinct and heart, which is how a hidden gem like Williams can slip past 32 teams."He was clearly a good football player in college," said Williams' Minneapolis-based agent, Blake Baratz. "Teams are obsessed with size and speed. Marcus isn't a blazer, but he's fast enough when his pads are on."At North Dakota State, Williams played before crowds of 19,000. It's a long way from Fargo to ESPN's Monday Night Football, but what impresses the Jets' coaches is that he never blinks and never gets rattled. That's another quality that can't be measured by a stopwatch."I'm not scared to go out there and compete against anyone," he said. "I'll guard whoever they tell me to. I've pretty much shown I can compete at a high level."

Welcome to Indy, Marcus -- nearly two years past due.

>    http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/54314/jets-marcus-williams-arrives-in-indy-nearly-two-years-after-combine-snub

[kelly]

Harrison Plans on Pushing the Pocket

Jets NT Wants to Get Luck Off His Spot

 

video..

>   http://www.newyorkjets.com/videos/videos/Harrison-Plans-on-Pushing-the-Pocket/d837148f-ece5-4292-b444-2d44fffb487d

[kelly]

re our " D "  :

~ ~ -- Three stars and three duds from the New York Jets' 20-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts :

THREE STARS

~ ~    2. Darrelle Revis, cornerback: He was involved in three of the five takeaways, with two fumble recoveries and an interception. Afterward, his teammates were buzzing about his performance and what he has meant to the team since re-signing. Calvin Pace said, "This is why we brought him back. It was sad to see him go for a couple of years. He's the best in the game at his position." For his part, Revis was pretty low key after the game, saying, "It's Monday Night Football, so it doesn't get better than this, the magnitude." Has he forgotten about that Super Bowl win already?

3. Buster Skrine, cornerback: Yes, another defensive back. Hey, the Jets' secondary was on fire. Skrine contributed to the first big play of the game, clobbering Andrew Luck on a slot blitz from the blind side. It forced an errant throw, which was deflected and intercepted by safety Calvin Pryor -- his first career interception. That set up the Jets' first touchdown, Fitzpatrick to Decker. Skrine also had a tackle for loss.

THREE DUDS

~ ~   2. Quinton Coples, linebacker: Coples is appearing here for the second straight week, and that's not a good thing. This time, it's because of a lack of discipline. He was flagged for two unnecessary-roughness penalties in the fourth quarter -- one on an extra point, the other a late hit on Luck. That latter call was questionable, but a penalty is a penalty. The Jets regressed in the penalty department, committing eight for 90 yards.

rest of above article :

>   http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/54396/brandon-marshall-eric-decker-rip-apart-colts-secondary

[kelly]

Jets find a winning formula: Darrelle Revis and a killer defense

 -- The New York Jets don't have a franchise quarterback. You know it, they know it, the old lady on the bus knows it. But they still believe they have enough talent around Ryan Fitzpatrick to beat the top teams, the opponents with elite quarterbacks -- and they proved it Monday night with a 20-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.When their defense dominates the way it did against Andrew Luck, the Jets can beat anybody. Their $150 million secondary locked up the Colts' receivers, frustrating Luck (21-for-37, 250 yards) for the entire game. Darrelle Revis delivered a vintage performance, intercepting a pass and recovering two fumbles. The Colts' receivers, namely T.Y. Hilton, disappeared on Revis Island. The Jets made three interceptions, with safeties Marcus Gilchrist and Calvin Pryor also contributing one apiece.The Jets (2-0) recorded five takeaways, bringing their total to 10 in two games -- only three shy of last season's pathetic total. That, folks, is astounding.

"We're about to crush that," nickelback Buster Skrine said.

This is what the new front office had in mind when it took Woody Johnson's checkbook and bought a new secondary, bringing back Revis and Antonio Cromartie and signing Gilchrist and Skrine. Together, they choked the Colts' passing attack, making Luck wish he were someplace else, maybe filming another TV commercial."That's why they're worth the big money," guard Willie Colon said of his teammates in the secondary.This was the Jets' biggest win since 2013 -- their first 2-0 start since 2011 -- and the tone setters were Revis and Skine. It started with Skrine, who caused the first interception by clobbering Luck on a backside blitz from his slot position. It resulted in an errant throw and a deflection, which went to Pryor, who set up the Jets' first touchdown with his interception return. After that, Revis took control of the game, making the splashy plays in addition to his usual brilliant coverage.Up in the owners' suite, Johnson must have been smiling. He doled out $39 million in fully guaranteed money to re-sign Revis, getting busted for tampering in the process, but he did it for nights like this. Revis has given an identity to the defense -- the entire team, for that matter.

"He's one of the best defensive players I've ever seen," linebacker David Harris said. "He's the man."

The Jets have to play this way if they hope to challenge for a playoff spot because, let's face it, the Fitzpatrick-led offense won't put up crazy numbers. On this night, Fitzpatrick & Co.managed only two touchdown drives against a defense that was missing its top three corners for much of the game. Truth be told, the Jets slept through the second and third quarters, finally showing signs of life in the fourth quarter. Putting aside their conservative play calling in a had-to-have-it situation, Fitzpatrick sealed the game with a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall.There will be about a half dozen games in which the Jets will have a distinct disadvantage at the quarterback position, and that can't be dismissed in a quarterback-driven league. Such is life in the Jets' universe. The next Andrew Luck isn't walking through their door anytime soon. The Jets won't beat every elite quarterback, but if they play like they did in the first road game of the Todd Bowles era, they'll win half of them. And half of them just might be good enough to sneak into the playoffs.

Basically, they will try to defy conventional wisdom, riding their talented defense. We know what they have up front; now the entire nation has seen what they have in the secondary."That's a mean group back there," nose tackle Damon Harrison said. "You have Revis on one side and Cromartie on the other side. It's tough. Pick your poison. And you have Buster in the slot. It would be tough for any quarterback, not just Luck."There you have it, the Jets' formula. If they can't have a franchise quarterback, they can try to make it miserable for the teams that do.

>     http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/54361/jets-find-a-winning-formula-darrelle-revis-and-a-killer-defense

[kelly]

— This is how it had to look in Mike Maccagnan's best coffee-fueled daydreams this spring. 

This is how he had to imagine the Jets would play in his best-case scenario when the new general manager settled into his Florham Park office, opened up Woody Johnson's checkbook, and got to work.Darrelle Revis, the great cornerback he brought back to the team with a massive free-agent deal, creating turnovers again.

Leonard Williams, the stud defensive end he scooped up when he slipped to the fifth overall pick, chasing a Pro Bowl quarterback all over the field with his fellow defensive linemen.Brandon Marshall, the elite wide receiver he stole from Chicago for a fifth-round pick, bullying his way into the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown that let everyone breath again.And maybe most of all: Todd Bowles, the first-time head coach with the bright defensive mind, drawing up blitz after blitz against one of the league's best offenses from a season ago with a game plan that'll make everyone forget about ...

Wait. What was the last coach's name again? Big guy? Talked a lot? I'm coming up empty. 

The Jets beat the Colts, 20-7, on Monday Night Football, dominating a team many expected to reach the Super Bowl. This is their first 2-0 start since 2011, and yes, they promptly dropped their next three that season.Nobody should book their flights for San Francisco in February just yet. Still, for a team that went 4-12 a season ago, it would be hard to envision a much better start than this — especially on defense. And remember, the Jets roughed up Andrew Luck and Co. without defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who is serving his four-game suspension. 

This defense, which has now forced 10 turnovers in two games, could actually get better. So could this team, which has to be among the biggest surprises in the league so far.The was the first national television moment for Bowles as an NFL head coach, and from the beginning, it was clear that his Jets defense was going to make an impression.Shutting down Johnny Manziel and the Clevleand Browns in the opener was one thing. Luck was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL against the blitz last season. He threw for 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions when opposing defenses tried to get him rattled.It was a different story on Monday night. In the first quarter, the Jets sent cornerback Buster Skrine barreling at Luck from his blindside. Luck threw a high pass that deflected off Andre Johnson's hands and directly to safety Calvin Pryor, who returned to the Colts 9-yard line.

This is the type of scoring drive that Bowles has to love: four plays, nine yards, 1:44 off the clock, culminating with a six-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to a wide-open Eric Decker.It quickly became clear that, a few big plays from Fitzpatrick aside, that this defense was going to need every tackle, every sack, every lucky break (Adam Vinatieri missing a field goal from inside 30 yards for the first time since 2007 counts, and veteran running back Frank Gore dropping the football a foot from the goal line certainly does).The Jets offense is, to be kind, still a work in progress. The defense looks like something else entirely. When Luck tried to scramble for a first down to extend a drive late in the first half, it was linebacker David Harris who ripped the football out of his hands. Revis scooped it up, giving him a career-high three fumble recoveries after just two games. 

Luck completed just five of 14 passes before intermission for a 55 yards with those two turnovers, a 17.6 passer rating. He would cause Jets fans some agita before it was over, zipping down the field for a 91-yard scoring drive that cut the visitors' lead to 10-7.Then, finally, Fitzpatrick and the offense woke up, with the quarterback connecting with Marshall for a 15-yard pass. Marshall bullied his way into the end zone, taking a couple of overmatched Colts defensive backs with him, and the Jets had a 10-point lead again.

The 20-7 score is just four points off the score from another Jets victory, in another era of pro football history, and no, nobody is rushing to put this team back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 1969.But what the Jets did in Week 2 is certainly promising, as good a start as they could have imagined. As Lucas Oil Stadium cleared out in the final minutes, you wondered if the GM who rebuilt this team thought he was living in one of those offseason daydreams.  

>      http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/09/jets_colts_column_politi.html#incart_river

[kelly]

— Woody Johnson was standing outside the Jets locker room, greeting every player with a handshake. When Darrelle Revis walked by, the two former adversaries shared a hug.

The reunion, so far, is worth celebrating. Revis got his big contract and the Jets got their money player back.

It felt like old times for the Jets, lifted by their superstar cornerback to a big victory Monday night on the road.

Revis produced three takeaways — two fumbles and his first interception of the season — in the Jets’ eye-opening 20-7 win over the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, spearheading a dominant defensive performance that has Gang Green 2-0 for the first time since 2011.“It was really fun,” he said, flashing a smile. “It’s Monday Night Football. It doesn’t get better than this.

“There’s no better place to be than 2-0. This is where we want to be.”

In two weeks, Revis now has come up with four turnovers. The Jets, as a whole, had 13 all of last season. The three takeaways on Monday by Revis were all important, none bigger than his second fumble recovery.

After a dominant first half, the Jets held a 10-0 lead, but the Colts marched right down the field, going 89 yards in 18 plays to open the third quarter. On third-and-goal from the 1, Frank Gore had the edge, but he bobbled the ball, and Revis hit him before he could gather it again. Revis also secured the ball, returning the momentum to the Jets.

“You never know how the ball is going to bounce, how you’re going to create turnovers,” he said. “You got to do your job.”

This wasn’t just classic shutdown Revis — it was also opportunistic Revis. He spent time on all the Colts receivers, and though Andrew Luck thew for 250 yards, Donte Moncrief had 122 of those, few of them against Revis. He held T.Y. Hilton to four catches for 45 yards.

“He’s the best in the game at the corner position and he shows it every week,” Jets linebacker Calvin Pace. “It was sad to see him go for those couple years, but, man, that’s why we brought him back.”

Revis spent most of his postgame press briefing with reporters praising his teammates, talking up the talent on both sides of the ball, the help he has in the secondary with fellow cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine, the pass rush the Jets employ.

But everyone else on his side of the ball was focusing on him in the giddy Jets locker room. For all the offseason defensive changes the Jets made, from Cromartie to Skrine to safety Marcus Gilchrist, bringing back Revis has had the most profound effect.

“It changes a lot,” linebacker David Harris said. “He’s that guy. He’s Revis Island for a reason. He’s been doing it for a long time.

“Put him on the opposition’s best receiver and he’s always up to the challenge.”

>     http://nypost.com/2015/09/22/best-in-the-game-revis-shows-jets-hes-worth-every-penny/

[kelly]

How the ‘best LB in the NFL’ wisely flies under radar for Jets

David Harris did not, has not and will not ever stand on a stool in the middle of the locker room and urge on his Jets teammates with a crazed, raised voice.

The Jets’ veteran linebacker is not that kind of player nor is he that kind of leader — which is not to say he isn’t one of the team’s most important players and leaders.In the wake of Sunday’s lackluster 24-17 home loss to the Eagles that soiled the Jets’ 2-0 start, Harris’ teammates would serve themselves well to follow his lead. Follow what he does on the field, which consists of making play after play quietly and efficiently — think Bill Belichick’s mantra: “Do your job’’ — and his demeanor off of it, which is heavy on even-keel and light on overreaction.

“It’s just as important not to overreact to a win as it is not to overreact to a loss,’’ coach Todd Bowles said Monday. “We didn’t overreact to our two wins and we’re not going to overreact to a loss.’’Equal doses of calm and perspective are the proper prescription for what ails the Jets after Sunday’s loss, in which they fell behind 24-0 in the first half thanks to their inability to match the Eagles’ urgency. And no player on the Jets exudes calm and perspective better than Harris, who has spent all of his nine NFL seasons with the team and has seen every high and low imaginable along the way.Yet when the Jets arrive in London on Friday morning in advance of their game Sunday against the Dolphins at Wembley Stadium, there will not be a lot of British NFL fans donning green No. 52 Harris jerseys roaming about the airport, streets or pubs.

Appropriately, Harris’ locker in the team’s Florham Park, NJ, training facility is tucked in a far corner of the room. There is not a lot of reporter traffic there, because Harris is not what we in the business call “a good quote.’’ The next flashy, bold, controversial thing Harris says will be the first.After Sunday’s loss, even though it was Harris’ forced fumble on Eagles running back Ryan Mathews in the fourth quarter that gave the Jets a chance to get back into the game, there was not a single Harris quote in a story written after the game. Nor was there after he forced a key Andrew Luck fumble the previous week in Indianapolis.Given his low-key demeanor and the way he quietly goes about his business, Harris is the model Bowles player, because that is exactly the way the Jets coach carries himself.

Harris is the antithesis of former Jets linebacker Bart Scott: all substance, no self-promotion.“If he was on social media, he’d probably have been to like five Pro Bowls by now, but Dave’s a quiet guy; he just comes in and does his job,’’ defensive end Leger Douzable said.“He’s probably the best linebacker in the NFL,’’ fellow linebacker Demario Davis said. “He’s just under the radar because he chooses to be under the radar. This is a guy who has 1,000 tackles in his career. He can get all the media attention and all the marketing he wants. But that’s not his style, not his character.’’

Harris’ style and character come directly from his blue-collar upbringing in Michigan.

“That’s how I’ve always been since I was little,’’ Harris said. “In pee-wee football, my coach always preached, ‘Act like you’ve been there before.’ I just try to be the ultimate team player. I guess they say I’m my father’s child. He was the same way — go about his business, do what he’s got to do to get the job done without any recognition or fanfare.’’Harris’ father, Timothy, worked as a die-cast technician in a Michigan automobile plant.When the Jets signed Harris to a three-year, $21.5 million contract extension in March with $15 million guaranteed, there was instant criticism from some around the league about how they overpaid a 31-year-old linebacker entering his ninth season without ever having been voted to a Pro Bowl.

Harris heard the chatter, but refused to let it rattle him.“Every year, people say you can’t do something — whether it’s as an individual or a team,’’ he said. “But you have to put that out of your mind and go out and do your job.’’That’s exactly the path, in the bigger picture, that the Jets need to take on their way to London this week.

>      http://nypost.com/2015/09/28/how-the-best-lb-in-the-nfl-wisely-flies-under-radar-for-jets/

[kelly]

If there's a consolation to find in the Jets' loss to the Eagles on Sunday—and it was just one defeat, so it's not the end of the world, or the season, or anything, really—it was that the defense completely locked down after halftime.The Eagles totaled 231 yards, but they got 129 of them on two first-half possessions. The biggest difference between the Jets' defense from Weeks 1 and 2 vs. Week 3 was 10 combined takeaways vs. one takeaway. And the Jets aren't going to get five turnovers in every game.

In the first half, the Jets missed tackles and had trouble stopping Eagles running backs Darren Sproles and Ryan Mathews with inside linebackers Demario Davis and David Harris in coverage. In the second half, they mostly didn't."We feel we could have won from a defensive standpoint," said safety Calvin Pryor. "We just have to do more. The expectations are high."

Some observations from a review of the game film:

• In the first half, this was a problem:

That's Davis—who finished with a game-high 13 tackles, including two for a loss, plus a fumble recovery—with the missed tackle in space. Davis later lost tight end Zach Ertz on a 21-yard catch, and Mathews on a 23-yard wheel route for a touchdown. "He got beat," head coach Todd Bowles said. "He knew it was coming and he got beat."

• They didn't blitz much. The Jets only brought extra pass rushers on 11 of Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford's 29 dropbacks, and they only pressured him nine times, according to Pro Football Focus. That was fine, though: Bradford completed just 50 percent of his passes for only 118 yards. The Eagles had just two drives longer than 50 yards, which accounted for 10 of their points. And while wideout Jordan Matthews managed six catches for 49 yards—mostly with slot corner Buster Skrine in coverage—two of their other wideouts, Miles Austin and first-round pick Nelson Agholor, didn't catch a pass. Neither Darrelle Revis nor Antonio Cromartie, both cornerbacks, allowed a reception, per PFF. Remember: The Jets gave up one touchdown on an 89-yard punt return, and another after wideout Brandon Marshall's dumb lateral-fumble set the Eagles up on their 36.

• Making tackles. After Mathews gashed the Jets for 67 yards rushing on 10 carries in the first half, he was held to 41 yards on 15 carries after halftime, mostly because Harris was able to shed blocks like this and wrap him up. That's Mathews with the ball just two Harris' left here:

And when the Eagles tried to get Sproles in space by splitting him out wide, Pryor didn't miss him:Pryor also shot the gap to stop Mathews for a loss on third-and-three on the next play.

"We played better," Bowles said of the second half vs. the first half. "We got out of our gaps a little in the first half. We ran pretty much the same things in the second half. We just paid more attention to detail."

>    http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/09/jets_cleaned_it_up_in_second_half_vs_eagles_defens.html#incart_river

[kelly]

THE MEAN GREEN DEFENSIVE MACHINE

The New York Jets' defense has only allowed four touchdowns through three games this season, tied for best in the league. See which offensive position they are shutting down completely.

>   http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/_/name/nyj/newyork-jets

[kelly]

How the Jets D Is Taking the Offense

The return of Darrelle Revis has been huge for the 3-1 Jets, who had their way with the Dolphins in London. But it’s Todd Bowles’ unique pressure concepts that have allowed Gang Green to dominate as the NFL’s best defense in 2015,

After Sunday’s 27-14 shellacking of the Dolphins in London, the Jets have now unofficially been the NFL’s best defense of 2015 on two different continents. In four games, first-year head coach Todd Bowles’ pressure-packed scheme has generated a league-high 13 turnovers, held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 62.3 and, most importantly, keyed three victories.

The Jets look like a bona fide playoff contender at the quarter point. To fully appreciate their success, one must understand how exactly they are coming by it.

For starters, the Revis Factor cannot be overstated. The league’s best corner since Deion Sanders, Revis has continued to stifle opposing receivers snap in and snap out. The significance of this lies not just in the fact that Revis can win one-on-one (something many corners in today’s pass-happy NFL can’t do consistently) or even that he can do it against true No. 1 receivers (something that, with Cleveland’s Joe Haden struggling so far, no other corner is currently doing). The significance lies in the fact that the Jets know Revis can play this way, and can therefore build game plans around it. With Revis trusted to remove the opponent’s top receiver, 10 other Jets defenders can put their focus elsewhere. That’s more energy to devote to fewer offensive players and to less area of field.On Sunday, Revis proved his mettle by taking Jarvis Landry. The second-year Dolphins receiver often lines up in the slot, where defenders must contest with a wideout having a two-way go. The bulk of Miami’s offense runs through Landry; he’s not only their best receiver but also the key to their misdirection concepts, both through the air and on the ground. Revis capped off a sensational day with a fourth-quarter end zone interception, undercutting Landry’s short seam route. Landry, in the way that defeated players sometimes do, lost his temper in the aftermath.

When Revis wasn’t in the slot, fellow free-agent pickup Buster Skrine was. Skrine was brought in specifically to play this role. On Sunday, it seemed like on every snap from the slot the ex-Brown blitzed. Which brings us to the meat of New York’s defensive approach. Bowles’ players and assistants marvel at his willingness to blitz anytime, anywhere. Unlike the majority of defensive play-callers, Bowles does not limit his pressure concepts to inside the 20-yard-lines or to certain third-down situations. The unpredictability and aggressiveness of his blitzes puts his unit in command, forcing the offense to play as the reactor.Bowles has a deep appreciation for the nuances of blitzing, understanding that sacks are not an outcome of blitzes, but rather, one of the byproducts. Blitzes are supposed to make a quarterback play fast and without clarity. Hence, many of Bowles blitzes attack right up the middle, through the A-gaps. Not only is this the quickest path to the quarterback, it’s also the best way to obscure a quarterback’s vision. Most passes leave the quarterback’s hand and initially travel between the guards and center. By putting bodies in those lanes (and often lanky bodies, if available), you put attackers immediately in a QB’s line of vision, stoking any tendencies he has for speeding up while also obscuring his downfield informational processing. (On Sunday, Bowles’ game plan centered less around the A-gaps and more around the edges, taking away Ryan Tannehill’s comfort blanket in the flats. At one point in the second half the Jets brought three straight edge blitzes, and Tannehill had three consecutive passes batted down at the line of scrimmage.)

Forcing QBs to play off schedule like this often leads to interceptions. Just ask Andrew Luck, whose Colts fell victim to this multiple times in his team’s Week 2 Monday night loss to the Jets. In that game, the Jets strived for turnovers by playing matchup zone concepts behind the blitzes. That approach allowed their defensive backs to keep their eyes not just on their receiver (as they would in man-to-man) but also in the backfield. This is how you jump routes. Bowles loves matchup zones, especially in his base 3-4 packages, and he understands that they’re often only effective if a secondary’s members can transition smoothly from zone into man coverage. If you’re going to blitz—and especially if you’re going to send safeties or corners, which usually means an overload blitz featuring six or even seven rushers—then you must be sturdy in coverage across the board.

That’s why The Revis Factor isn’t the only thing driving New York’s defense. No. 2 corner Antonio Cromartie, though inconsistent in his technique, is one of the league’s better matchup-to-man transition players. Skrine is sturdy here, as well, and the team’s fourth—and far less heralded—free-agent DB, safety Marcus Gilchrist, was a corner early in his career with the Chargers and has the versatility and coverage aptitude to defend tight ends on an island. Bowles also believes in playing a lot of defensive backs, which is why, on Sunday, No. 4 corner Marcus Williams saw significant snaps, often lined up across from Jordan Cameron whenever the tight end was split wide. Cameron, whom Miami was hoping would be an X-factor, wound up being soundly defeated by a dime corner in several one-on-one scenarios.With two reliable, if not remarkable, inside linebackers (David Harris and Demario Davis) operating behind a dynamic three-man front line against which many teams, including the Dolphins on Sunday, cannot consistently run the ball, the Jets are all but assured off seeing a sizable helping of third-and-long situations each week. Not that Bowles has to wait around for them in order to put his D on the offensive.

>     http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/10/05/new-york-jets-todd-bowles-darrelle-revis-2015-nfl-week-4

[kelly]

It's safe to say that, through four games, general manager Mike Maccagnan's upgrades to the Jets' defense have been perfectly suited to head coach Todd Bowles' aggressive style.

The addition of cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, and Buster Skrine, plus free safety Marcus Gilchrist and rookie defensive end Leonard Williams, have transformed the Jets' D from a unit that was flinging crud against the wall last year to one that's no longer handcuffing the offense, but also winning games.Even in the Jets' only loss—a 24-17 setback against the Eagles in Week 3—the defense still did a fantastic job. And in Sunday's thrashing of the Dolphins in London, the two touchdowns the Jets allowed were helped along by 58 yards in pass-interference penalties and a short field after a long punt return.And they've done all this without defensive end Sheldon Richardson, arguably their most talented defender after Revis. Oh, and hey, Richardson is now eligible to return from his four-game suspension. Gulp.

The Jets have a bye this weekend, which gives them a chance to rest and to heal before their 12-game haul through what's left of the regular season. Click here for a statistical look at where their defense stood at the end of last year. Below is a glimpse at where they are through four games. In nearly every category, the Jets are ranked in the league's top five.If there's any real caveat in these numbers, it's that Football Outsiders has ranked the Jets' schedule through four weeks at 28th, based on the offensive DVOA (Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average) of their opponents.

So: Long way to go. And Bowles knows it.

"All we did was get off to a good start," Bowles said. "We haven't accomplished anything, and we know we have a lot of work to do, and our mindset is such."

Jets' Defense Statistical Rankings Through Week 4

DVOA (via Football Outsiders): minus-25.5 percent (2nd)

Pass defense DVOA (via Football Outsiders): minus-21.3 percent (4th)

Rush defense DVOA (via Football Outsiders): minus-31.2 percent (3rd)

Total defense (yards per game): 280.3 (3rd)

Points per game: 13.8 (1st)

Passing yards per game: 185.5 (2nd)

Rushing yards per game: 94.8 (12th)

First downs per game: 16.8 (5th)

 

Jets and Dolphins take the field in London The Jets and the Dolphins take the field before a crowd of 83,986 at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015. The Jets won. 27-14, to improve to 3-1. (Video by Dom Cosentino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Third down efficiency: 32.14 percent (5th)

Red zone efficiency: 33.33 percent (1st)

Sacks: 7 (tied for 19th)

Sack rate: 4.26 percent (22nd)

Takeaways: 13 (1st)

Interceptions: 6 (tied for 3rd)

Interception rate: 4.26 percent (5th)

Forced fumbles: 7 (tied for 2nd)

Fumbles recovered: 7 (1st)

>     http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2015/10/jets_defense_dominating_the_ridiculous_numbers_thr.html#incart_river

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Mike Maccagnan went big and bold right from the start.

After taking over the Jets front office in January, Maccagnan went all in on using the leftover cash that John Idzik refused to spend and focused on the defense. Todd Bowles' scheme, like Rex Ryan, required a talented secondary and Maccagnan doled out about $150 million in free agent contracts to load up on defensive backs.The moves were greeted with much fanfare in the offseason, but no one knew exactly how the new defense would look until the season began.

So far it's been paying off. In a big way.

Gang Green's defense is the No. 1 reason the team is 3-1 and, a quarter of the way through the season, a playoff contender.Just how good has the Jets' defense been? According to the advanced statistics, pretty darn good.Football Outsiders ranked the Gang Green as the second-best defense in the league after Denver, heading into this week's games, in their defense-adjusted efficiency statistic, DVOA. NumberFire.com also ranked the Jets as the second-best defense in the league in their defense-adjusted net expected points metric.That's not much of a surprise. The Jets ranked third in the more traditional total defense heading into Week 5 and clearly that has led the way to their early-season success.But the Jets have had good defenses in the team's recent past, leading to varying stages of success for the organization. So through four games under Bowles, how does this compare to some of the Ryan-led units?

Both Football Outsiders and NumberFire ranked Gang Green's 2009 defense as its best year under Ryan. In fact, that unit was so good that Football Outsiders had it is one of the top 10 defenses since 1989. And, so far, this year's defense has produced at a similar level to that squad."The Jets run defense has been better than any year under Rex Ryan," NumberFire spokesman Zach Kempner said.That's all good, but it comes with a caveat: the Jets are unlikely to keep it up."By our numbers, the 2009 Jets, that was the best defense the Jets have had in the last 25 years," Football Outsiders editor in chief Aaron Schatz said. "This has been about that good, but that's really unlikely to last. It's one thing to play that good for four games, it's another to play that good for 16 games."

"The reason why this is not quite sustainable is because it's so heavily driven by turnovers," he added.

The Jets were particularly unlucky when it came to turnovers a year ago. Last season, they ended only 5.6% of opponent drives in a takeaway, the lowest rate in the league since 1997, per Schatz. Now, the pendulum has swung in the other direction, as the Jets have ended 25% of their opponent drives in a takeaway this year, which would be the highest rate since 1997 if it kept up.Since takeaways tend to be somewhat flukey, the Jets are unlikely to maintain that pace. But all of the other strong indicators -- like yardage allowed and performance on third down -- are more sustainable, Schatz said, a good sign for the Jets. And, of course, they're getting Sheldon Richardson back.If the Jets are able to make the postseason, it will be on the back of their defense. And at this moment, that's looking fairly likely.Football Outsiders gave the Jets a 62.9% chance of making the playoffs heading into Week 5 action. NumberFire was a little more optimistic, even, giving Gang Green a 66.7% chance of reaching the postseason.

"They're much better than people expected, but still not as good as the Patriots," Schatz said. "So it is all set up for this team to win the wild card."

>   http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/defense-carrying-jets-statistically-team-best-2009-article-1.2393213

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Pepper Johnson is a Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick disciple, which means he's old school. He's a demanding coach, hard to please, not one of those Mr. Nice Guy coaches who speaks in superlatives. If a player gets a compliment from Johnson, it was earned. He believes in tough love, and if you don't like it, tough.Johnson is "the perfect coach" for the New York Jets' defensive line, according to Todd Bowles.So it came as no surprise Monday that Johnson refused to buy into the hype surrounding his unit. Sheldon Richardson is back from his four-game suspension, raising expectations to a new level. You get the feeling that some folks outside the organization are ready for the Steel Curtain 2.0.

Johnson won't go there, not even close.

"I want them to prove it," said Johnson, who added, "I hope and I pray for that day to come where we become that team, (where) people are preparing for us a lot different and not just looking at us as somebody who had a good run in September."In Johnson's mind, the defensive line isn't close to realizing its potential. It's off to a fast start, especially Muhammad Wilkerson. But not even Wilkerson, who has a team-high 3.5 sacks, garnered effusive praise from his position coach.

"The stat sheet says a lot," Johnson acknowledged. "But in our room, it says a little bit more. I expect so much out of all of my guys. I’m not satisfied. I don’t want to (say), ‘Let’s go on camera and go on record and go and tell him the next time you see him that his coach said he hasn’t been playing good so he can play harder.’ We have a long road in front of us and to assess Muhammad right now, good or bad, it’s not fair to him. It’s definitely not fair to myself. I expect a lot from him just like the rest of my players. What he has shown is really what we expected from him."

Not surprisingly, Johnson was guarded in his evaluation of Leonard Williams, only a rookie. Johnson wasn't about to fill the kid's head with glowing compliments."Pretty much the same thing you saw," said Johnson, describing Williams' first four games. "I saw a guy, young at times. I saw a guy with a lot of energy. I saw a guy with a lot of energy trying to play hard, trying to do all the right things. It’s up and down. I would say September was on the upside for him. I expect a lot more, and he expected a lot more from himself."

Johnson always tells his players not to dwell on past accomplishments. They tease him because he likes to talk about his playing days with the New York Giants. The chatty Damon Harrison, in particular, likes to razz Johnson.Johnson's retort: "The difference is, I've been to championships and he hasn't."

>   http://espn.go.com/blog/newyork-jets/post/_/id/54936/perfect-coach-pepper-johnson-not-ready-to-anoint-jets-imperfect-d-line