Pettine: Defense's performance was inexcusable.

[SenorGato]

http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/201..._mike_pet.html

Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine calls unit's performance in Houston win 'inexcusable'

Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine called his unit’s performance “inexcusable” and a “perfect storm of things that went wrong.”

He also said the Jets defense planned to give the offense a giant thank you card for bailing them out in the team’s 30-27 win against Houston.

“Hey, the win is great, but at the same time, you look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Did I do my job?’ ” Pettine said. “Did I do my job as coordinator? Did our players do their jobs on their assignments? There were some answers there that you might not necessarily like.”

Pettine, who shares the play-calling duties with coach Rex Ryan, said he felt that he didn’t have a great game, “especially late.” The Jets allowed the Texans to score 20 points in the fourth quarter, turning a comfortable 23-7 Jets lead into a four-point deficit with less than a minute to play. The offense dug them out with an improbable touchdown drive.

Pettine said the system he and Ryan use to call plays, in which Pettine has a greater hand this season, will not be modified -- and the defense won’t make any knee-jerk changes after Sunday’s win.

“There’s no panic,” he said. “We’ve told our guys we’re not flinching. We believe in what we do. We checked the sky today, and it ain’t falling.”

But they have been working to clean up their miscues. There have been communication issues between the players on the field, and Pettine said it’s “hard” mixing in new guys like Brodney Pool, Jason Taylor and Antonio Cromartie, who are in their first year in year two of the system.

“We took a long, hard look at some of the things we were doing,” Pettine said. “I’m not going to get into specifics …We realized there were some scheme issues and some personnel issues, and we’ve addressed those.”

Linebacker Bart Scott was frustrated with the defense’s performance and didn’t speak with reporters for two days after the game.

“Just upset,” he explained yesterday. “You’re happy you won the game, but you also want to play the way you’re capable of playing. When you’re upset like that, sometimes you need a cooling-off period. Out of respect for my teammates and my organization, I walked away.”

Obviously he's just doing this because of his Schotty bias, but all this piling on the D makes me think that a breakout is on the way...

I like how Thursday's starting to shape up...Offense is moving the ball and has carried the team in alot of the recent wins (I know though...never forget...9/13/10 and 10/31/10)...D is getting pissed off...It's Thanksgiving...It's primetime...Jets are at home...only worry is that they can't/won't show too much because the Pats are next and each of us will have 11 days to prepare for each other...this is the kind of week where the Jets as a team can do the whole imposing of will thing I keep hearing they're obligated to do.

Anyway...as far as the article goes:

- Should they simplify assignments for guys like Cromartie/Pool/Taylor or can they catch up?

- How far are they standing from the panic button? I hold mine near and dear.

- While it must be hard to work in the new talent, since it's better talent shouldn't it be easier?

- Just for fun, how would you go about fixing the intermediate pass D? Is there another way besides magicking in a perfect FS (I'm not yet 17 and can't practice magic outside of Hogwarts)?

[T0mShane]

Somebody answer this question: When has Pettine's defense ever underachieved considering he's never had an elite pass rusher?

/Gato'd

[T0mShane]

Kidding. The simple answer is that the Jets can no longer rush the passer, even with the blitz, and that has exposed their lack of athleticism at LB and safety. Having 265 lb. Linebackers is cool against the run, but they're not covering anybody for too long, and neither Leonhard or Pool are here because they can stick a TE. The fix, IMO, is to give Jason Taylor more snaps. He's the only guy on the roster who can line up and beat his man to the quarterback. Ellis used to do it, but he's old. Pace and Thomas only get sacks when they're left unblocked. Gholston gets blocked by a strong wind gust.

[Irish Jet]

We need teh Rhodes. This team sucks without him.

[CTM]

I have no stats to back this up, but anecdotelly I feel like they don't blitz nearly as much anymore cause they got abused in it the first few weeks. I think with Revis playing better, they should have more lattitude to send the house.

[slats]

- Should they simplify assignments for guys like Cromartie/Pool/Taylor or can they catch up?

- How far are they standing from the panic button? I hold mine near and dear.

- While it must be hard to work in the new talent, since it's better talent shouldn't it be easier?

Cromartie's assignment is already pretty easy: "cover this guy." Taylor's assignment should be roughly as simple: "get the QB."

There's no way to really simplify the safety position, though. The man has to know his job.

- Just for fun, how would you go about fixing the intermediate pass D? Is there another way besides magicking in a perfect FS (I'm not yet 17 and can't practice magic outside of Hogwarts)?

The easiest fix in the intermediate pass game would be to play more zone, but that's where the problem of the new guys comes in. The Jets aren't a zone team to begin with, and to get everyone on the same page playing a tight zone is tough under the best of circumstances. In the interim, playing man-to-man, Jets need to disrupt receivers at the line more. Disrupt their timing. Our CB's can run, so they can get up on these receivers at the line without giving too much down the field.

The problem is also definitely personnel, but a big time safety and pass rusher probably aren't getting thru the waiver wire any time soon. Lowery will help. Hopefully he's back for NE, and can play some safety-like position. Kyle Wilson is getting better. He's been playing a lot, and we're not hearing his name. A very good sign.

Just like to see the Jets get thru a game they should win on Thanksgiving, and maybe have some new blitzes dialed in for the Pats game the following week.

[Barton]

I have no stats to back this up, but anecdotelly I feel like they don't blitz nearly as much anymore cause they got abused in it the first few weeks. I think with Revis playing better, they should have more lattitude to send the house.

Might be a factor. But IMO, the Jets blitz is getting blocked at a far more efficient level by opposing Olines this year. Was Schaub even touched last week?

He had all day in the pocket.

[Jets Voice of Reason]

I have no stats to back this up, but anecdotelly I feel like they don't blitz nearly as much anymore cause they got abused in it the first few weeks. I think with Revis playing better, they should have more lattitude to send the house.

I said the same thing. They've definitely put a hamper on the all-out blitz we used to run a lot.

[ECURB]

The pressure was getting there all day Sunday... the problem was Shaub could get rid of the ball so quickly because the TE and #3 were always running free...

[JiFtheOracle]

First off, I love how disappointed in their overall play this team is at 8-2...its awesome. Bart Scott was so heated he couldnt even speak to the media? Will say, I'd be pissed too if I was Bart, he barely saw the field during the 4th since they kept playing a dime. Either way, its refreshing to know they are not satisfied.

I have no stats to back this up, but anecdotelly I feel like they don't blitz nearly as much anymore cause they got abused in it the first few weeks. I think with Revis playing better, they should have more lattitude to send the house.

Its a combination of a couple different things. Last year, the Jets werent a sack heavy team. They were a pressure team who caused the Qb to make quick decisions and get the ball out early. Thats why Revis had such a great year and the Jets had the best pass D in the league with Lito Shepard, Donald Strickland and Dwight Lowery. They do that to an extent this year as well, but teams are recognizing the packages more frequently and the Jets dont have a proper pass rusher to get after the QB on his own.

Coverage has been fine for the most part when we have corners on receivers with or without Revis, its where we send pressure and not having adequate players to allow us to do so. The Jets blitz ILB's and CB's a lot and forces our safeties to cover, and they cant. They are having a hard time covering the receivers who roam the middle of the field. Its an area where we do miss a Kerry Rhodes type skill set. However, if we had a true pass rusher, it would cover up a lot of those flaws. I also think it would help to have an extra ILB who is smaller, quicker and could cover better than Harris and Scott if you want to continue to blitz one of them.

[bitonti]

The simple answer is that the Jets can no longer rush the passer, even with the blitz

without looking it up where do you think the jets are ranked in sacks?

it's actually 13th. the pass rush is better than everyone thinks it is...

[JoeWillie]

I agree with what many have said here already.

The problem is two fold.

1. The lack of even a servicable pass rusher is clearly an issue right now. Jason Taylor has been a waste of money. Calvin Pace is almost non-existent.

2. Safety is a huge issue for the Jets. I like Leonhard. He was a necessity last year because the Jets needed someone back there who knew Rex's system and he fit. That said, while he's a good athlete, he is limited in his ability to cover big, fast receivers, thus our difficulty covering opposing TE's this year. Brodney Poole has been a huge disappointment. I thought he'd be a much better player in this system because of his physicality, but he always seeks to be a step late for everything, whether it's with coverage responsibility, or coming up to make a tackle. And Eric Smith has just been plain brutal. I cringe whenever he's in the game on defense.

Couple these two things with the fact that, for whatever reason, our blitz packages don't seem to be having the success they did last year putting pressure on the QB, and you have what you have, which is basically an above average defense that is good stopping the run, but gets sliced and diced by good quaterbacks in the passing game.

Hopefully Rex can fix it soon, because it will catch up with them when they have to play a good team with a good quarterback every week in the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we're 8-2 and to be honest, you don't want to be playing your best football until Week 16 or 17 anyway. Get wins anyway you can get them in November and December so maybe you get some home games in the playoffs. Then hopefully you're clicking on all cylinders by January.

Rex has time to fix it.

[bitonti]

let me also add, every team in the entire league can use a 10 sack a year player. finding that player is the tricky part. can't go to the sackmaster warehouse and pick one up.

[Bleedin Green]

without looking it up where do you think the jets are ranked in sacks?

it's actually 13th. the pass rush is better than everyone thinks it is...

I think even worse than the pass rush issues is the lack of plays being made on the ball by the secondary DB options. At this point, neither Revis nor Cromratie are being thrown at a whole lot, meanwhile the safeties, backup CBs and even LBs dropping into coverage even when having good coverage, aren't making plays on the ball. The Jets are second to last in the entire league in interceptions, and that's a problem. Even Revis and Cromartie have had way too many instances where the put themselves in position to make the play then fail to bring it in. The Jets defense needs to take some pressure off themselves by getting some more turnovers, because the longer you let the offense stay out on the field the more chances you're giving them to pull something off.

That said, while the Jets sack ranking isn't horrible, there are definitely too many instances of the Jets getting absolutely no pressure whatsoever on some plays or having their blitzes completely picked up far too easily. An elite pass rusher is still something this team sorely needs, and it could only help to increase the opportunity for interceptions. That and a safety, any safety, who can cover worth a damn.

[Bleedin Green]

The lack of even a servicable pass rusher is clearly an issue right now. Jason Taylor has been a waste of money.

Couldn't disagree more on Taylor. The guy may not be as good as he once was, but he's easily the best pass-rusher on the Jets right now. If it's not for the fact that he's Jason Taylor, we'd all be happy to have him here. It's not like he's cost the Jets a ton of money or any other particularly exciting player. The Jets need a better pass-rusher than him for sure, but he's the best they've got right now.

[JoeWillie]

let me also add, every team in the entire league can use a 10 sack a year player. finding that player is the tricky part. can't go to the sackmaster warehouse and pick one up.

True, but not every team is talking Super Bowl like the Jets. And it's not about sacks ... it's about pressures. Tough to win a championship without a pass rush these days.

[Lupz27]

Cromartie's assignment is already pretty easy: "cover this guy." Taylor's assignment should be roughly as simple: "get the QB."

There's no way to really simplify the safety position, though. The man has to know his job.

The easiest fix in the intermediate pass game would be to play more zone, but that's where the problem of the new guys comes in. The Jets aren't a zone team to begin with, and to get everyone on the same page playing a tight zone is tough under the best of circumstances. In the interim, playing man-to-man, Jets need to disrupt receivers at the line more. Disrupt their timing. Our CB's can run, so they can get up on these receivers at the line without giving too much down the field.

The problem is also definitely personnel, but a big time safety and pass rusher probably aren't getting thru the waiver wire any time soon. Lowery will help. Hopefully he's back for NE, and can play some safety-like position. Kyle Wilson is getting better. He's been playing a lot, and we're not hearing his name. A very good sign.

Just like to see the Jets get thru a game they should win on Thanksgiving, and maybe have some new blitzes dialed in for the Pats game the following week.

The Cro problem in the few instances when they ask him to play zone is he gets lost, see long TD pass in 4th quarter.

[Klecko73isGod]

Kidding. The simple answer is that the Jets can no longer rush the passer, even with the blitz, and that has exposed their lack of athleticism at LB and safety. Having 265 lb. Linebackers is cool against the run, but they're not covering anybody for too long, and neither Leonhard or Pool are here because they can stick a TE. The fix, IMO, is to give Jason Taylor more snaps. He's the only guy on the roster who can line up and beat his man to the quarterback. Ellis used to do it, but he's old. Pace and Thomas only get sacks when they're left unblocked. Gholston gets blocked by a strong wind gust.

That's pure BS right there.

Gholston's the only D-Lineman on this team who has been able to generate any kind of pressure on his own without a blitz package the last 2-3 games. Dude needs to be on the field more, especially late because Taylor ain't doing sh*t lately and can't beat a double team to save his life anymore.

[ECURB]

That's pure BS right there.

Gholston's the only D-Lineman on this team who has been able to generate any kind of pressure on his own without a blitz package the last 2-3 games. Dude needs to be on the field more, especially late because Taylor ain't doing sh*t lately and can't beat a double team to save his life anymore.

It will take 2-3 years before people stop blindly bashing him, with reason.

[#27TheDominator]

Couldn't disagree more on Taylor. The guy may not be as good as he once was, but he's easily the best pass-rusher on the Jets right now. If it's not for the fact that he's Jason Taylor, we'd all be happy to have him here. It's not like he's cost the Jets a ton of money or any other particularly exciting player. The Jets need a better pass-rusher than him for sure, but he's the best they've got right now.

Jay Feely isn't exciting?!?! Bite your tongue. He wore gloves!

The Cro problem in the few instances when they ask him to play zone is he gets lost, see long TD pass in 4th quarter.

According to them Taylor was supposed to cover the TE and didn't. Cro didn't really blow the coverage, he was just late in realizing somebody else did.

[bitonti]

Gholston's the only D-Lineman on this team who has been able to generate any kind of pressure on his own without a blitz package the last 2-3 games.

Bryan Thomas got a key sack last week, and Trevor Pryce has some hurries but generally what you are saying is true. He's playing very well but only getting like 6 snaps on defense a week.

[JoeWillie]

Couldn't disagree more on Taylor. The guy may not be as good as he once was, but he's easily the best pass-rusher on the Jets right now. If it's not for the fact that he's Jason Taylor, we'd all be happy to have him here. It's not like he's cost the Jets a ton of money or any other particularly exciting player. The Jets need a better pass-rusher than him for sure, but he's the best they've got right now.

Maybe a "waste of money" is a little strong. He has 4 sacks which leads the team. But for a guy who is a situational player, he just doesn't seem to have the impact I expected. Maybe I expected too much to begin with.

[Klecko73isGod]

It will take 2-3 years before people stop blindly bashing him, with reason.

That's fine and good but the reality of the situation is the guy is playing considerably better.

It seems as though the coaches don't trust Vern yet to let him play in crunch time but I think he's earned the opportunity. Next time Taylor's getting thrown around like a rag doll by an LT bring that big son of a bitch in and let him bull rush a tired tackle. I got a good feeling it would pay off.

[visajets]

Imagine this defense with a legit every down pass rusher.

[bitonti]

Imagine this defense with a legit every down pass rusher.

outside of a Julius Peppers or Mario Williams type of draft pick (1 or 2 overall), how will they get this player? the great ones never hit the free agent market.

[Jetsfan80]

outside of a Julius Peppers or Mario Williams type of draft pick (1 or 2 overall), how will they get this player? the great ones never hit the free agent market.

We used a # 6 overall pick on a guy you said would be a formidable pass-rusher in this league. How's that whole "we have the # 1 D, Gholston is not a problem" argument you trumpeted all of last season working for you now?

[#27TheDominator]

Maybe a "waste of money" is a little strong. He has 4 sacks which leads the team. But for a guy who is a situational player, he just doesn't seem to have the impact I expected. Maybe I expected too much to begin with.

I think part of the problem is he hasn't been as situational as we'd hoped. Pace got hurt and he had to play real minutes. He hurt his elbow pretty good too. Now that everybody is working in together maybe he'll start to do some more. I think the way they pressure it is designed to spring a guy free and/or force the QB to look to one side and throw. It doesn't really help a true pass rusher that will overtake his man. If a DE were dominating they might be able to funnel the play towards him, but Taylor hasn't been that good.

That's fine and good but the reality of the situation is the guy is playing considerably better.

It seems as though the coaches don't trust Vern yet to let him play in crunch time but I think he's earned the opportunity. Next time Taylor's getting thrown around like a rag doll by an LT bring that big son of a bitch in and let him bull rush a tired tackle. I got a good feeling it would pay off.

The one time he got any significant pressure was as a tackle.

outside of a Julius Peppers or Mario Williams type of draft pick (1 or 2 overall), how will they get this player? the great ones never hit the free agent market.

I don't agree that those are the only guys that can generate a pass rush. There are tweener guys that can't play every down (Marques Murrell types) that are often able to generate pass rush, but they don't seem to help this team. We have enough - Pryce, Taylor, Gholston, Westerman, but none can do it.

[ECURB]

outside of a Julius Peppers or Mario Williams type of draft pick (1 or 2 overall), how will they get this player? the great ones never hit the free agent market.

huh?

[sirlancemehlot]

without looking it up where do you think the jets are ranked in sacks?

it's actually 13th. the pass rush is better than everyone thinks it is...

13th is horrendous for a team with Revis and Cromartie. There should be coverage sacks galore with those two taking away WR-1 and WR-2. A better stat, if there was such a thing--is time allowed a QB between snap and release. I guarantee you we'd be bottom five at best in that category.

[#27TheDominator]

13th is horrendous for a team with Revis and Cromartie. There should be coverage sacks galore with those two taking away WR-1 and WR-2. A better stat, if there was such a thing--is time allowed a QB between snap and release. I guarantee you we'd be bottom five at best in that category.

I guarantee we wouldn't. We'd probably be top 5 or better. I think you NY market guys may get spoiled because the Giants can generate some sick pass rush. Like Mets fans always complaining about their closer, you guys may be confused about what the rest of the leagues pass rush looks like.

[bitonti]

We used a # 6 overall pick on a guy you said would be a formidable pass-rusher in this league. How's that whole "we have the # 1 D, Gholston is not a problem" argument you trumpeted all of last season working for you now?

I dont know what people imagine I said about Gholston pre-draft but I never said he'd be amazing. My position was it was a weak draft, but he was the best pick at that point. I still don't know a better pick, even with 3 years of hindsight. Now that he's here I think his athletic ability is good, his improvement is good and the light could flip on... Rex knows more about D than everyone here combined and he's been saying good things about him.

and considering they are a top 5 D and 8-2 i still dont think he's a problem. he had a great play last week against Schaub, who should have been called for grounding.

[SenorGato]

I have no stats to back this up, but anecdotelly I feel like they don't blitz nearly as much anymore cause they got abused in it the first few weeks. I think with Revis playing better, they should have more lattitude to send the house.

Funnily enough on my morning dump I was reading the sports section before I wiped my a$$ with it and Rex said just that. They haven't blitzed as much as last year, which is probably true since the secondary has been inconsistent so far.

I'm still fingers crossed on the Rex Ryan D doing it's second half thing. The secondary is just rounding into shape...Pool had his most active game last week (led team with 7 tackles)...I'm just not sure if we'll see it in NJ or if it'll have to wait until NE...who has much more ability to burst that bubble if they can.

Also, Vernon Gholston could do alot for himself and this team if he keeps improving these next few games. He's one of those X factor guys.

[CTM]

Its a combination of a couple different things. Last year, the Jets werent a sack heavy team. They were a pressure team who caused the Qb to make quick decisions and get the ball out early. Thats why Revis had such a great year and the Jets had the best pass D in the league with Lito Shepard, Donald Strickland and Dwight Lowery. They do that to an extent this year as well, but teams are recognizing the packages more frequently and the Jets dont have a proper pass rusher to get after the QB on his own.

Coverage has been fine for the most part when we have corners on receivers with or without Revis, its where we send pressure and not having adequate players to allow us to do so. The Jets blitz ILB's and CB's a lot and forces our safeties to cover, and they cant. They are having a hard time covering the receivers who roam the middle of the field. Its an area where we do miss a Kerry Rhodes type skill set. However, if we had a true pass rusher, it would cover up a lot of those flaws. I also think it would help to have an extra ILB who is smaller, quicker and could cover better than Harris and Scott if you want to continue to blitz one of them.

They didn't have a proper pass rusher last year either. Last year they funnelled balls to revis with thier blitzes, i haven't yet seen that same confidence this season. Of course, they aren't finding a lot of open gaps like they did last year, and truthfully, I haven't invested as much energy as I could into figuring out why, although anecdotately i think teams are keeping more blockers in and tajking advantage of poor covering LB's and safeties..

[JiFtheOracle]

They didn't have a proper pass rusher last year either. Last year they funnelled balls to revis with thier blitzes, i haven't yet seen that same confidence this season. Of course, they aren't finding a lot of open gaps like they did last year, and truthfully, I haven't invested as much energy as I could into figuring out why, although anecdotately i think teams are keeping more blockers in and tajking advantage of poor covering LB's and safeties..

Thank you for summarizing what I just said...noodlequeer

[Barton]

without looking it up where do you think the jets are ranked in sacks?

it's actually 13th. the pass rush is better than everyone thinks it is...

13th? So about average in sacks. Probably the lowest among playoff contenders too. Thanks bit