Leonhard is great for what he is but he is what he is. So slot receivers are going to kill the Jets unless they come up with some type of coverage change or personnel change. We clearly don't have linebackers that fair well in coverage against running backs or tight ends. Harris and Scott are great when the play is in front of them but neither does well running down the field. In week one Todd Heap looked like he was a giant running around our safeties.
What running backs had big days against the Jets? You are just running around with your hair on fire. Do I have to go back and debunk this, like the TE argument as well?
Running Backs catching the ball on the Jets: Game 1: Ray Rice 2 for 19 ( arguably the best pass RB) L Maclean 1 for 5 W Magahee 1 for -6 Game 2: S Morris 1 for 19 K Faulk 2 for 15 Game 3: L Polite 1 for 14 R Brown 2 for -1 Game 4: CJ SPiller 1 for 4 Game 5: A Peterson 1 for 20 Kleinsausser 1 for 5 Game 6: RB's 0 for 0 Game 7: B Jackson 2 for 17 Game 8: J Best 5 for 40 ( the best any RB has done in any game this year) So to total that up : 20 for 151 in 8 games...... To average those whopping #'s: Running Backs average: 2.5 catches and 18.875 yards per game. Well that hardly backs up your argument.
1) Oh yes, I'm sure I expect our 3rd cornerback to be a superstar. Please show me where I wrote that I expect him or anyone in that position to play as a superstar. 2) The middle of the defense is great against the run. Again I never said otherwise. The defense is great against the run because of how big the front 7 is. The four linebackers have great size. 3) Again, I never said we should light ourselves on fire. I said it's a concern that we can't cover opposing teams slot receivers. Your not a little concerned? When the other teams third wide receiver is raping our 3rd cornerback it needs to be addressed. 4) If the max protect is helping to keep tight ends from running routes then that's obviously a good thing. Maybe it explains your earlier post about how tight ends are not putting up big numbers against the jets. All I know is that the Jets do not have a linebacker or safety who matches up well with tight ends in coverage. The four linebackers lack the speed and the 3 safeties lack the size. it forces the Jets to play zone which hurts their blitz packages and ability to help Coleman. This isn't the end of the world but it is something they need to address going forward. 5) Getting the best corner in the NFL healthy obviously will help the third down defense. The issue is that Revis and Cromatie can cover one on one on the outside but that still leaves the jets struggling to cover the middle of the field. Why would you ever throw it at Revis or Cromatie? The Jets have great size on their front 7. It's one of the reasons why the defense is so good against the run. It's also one of the reasons why they don't have great pass coverage in the middle of the field. Bart Scott, David Harris and Bryan Thomas are great against the run but they are not coverage linebackers. Where is the great speed that you speak of? Leonard/Smith/Pool? I don't think any of them are ideal size/speed players. I'm hopeful Rex comes up with a solution but teams are going to continue to attack the middle of the defense. The Jets defense is extremely good, I've never said otherwise. What I said was that the middle of the defense is a concern going forward and that it needs to be addressed.
Nobody is overly concerned because Coleman is still holding his own. The Jets are allowing some yards this year but how often are teams going on long sustained drives against this team? Yeah they get beat for big plays sometimes but getting beat for a big play on this defense is a 15 yard 3rd down completion down to our 25. After that they tend to allow field goals or force turnovers or do something that prevents every team from scoring more than 20 points on them. How can we be that concerned that our scheme has holes in it? Every teams scheme has holes in it, that's what makes the NFL fun to watch.
What is with the Sherry > Pool non-sense? Brodney Pool has been playing very consistent for this team, he has made a couple of impact plays as well. This is also his first year in this system, yet, he is playing pretty good football despite that. I haven't seen a play yet to where I was saying to myself "Wow, he sucks, I can't believe he screwed that up." Coleman, whole different story. Sherry couldn't do jackshit for us on this team, he doesn't have any heart, and he plays like a straight pussy. He is a talented guy, but he doesn't have what it takes to be a top tier safety either. Screw that guy.
Our ILB are fine, we just happen to lack an all world talent like Big Hair Troy in our Safeys. Good thing most other teams in the NFL have the same problem.
I dont get anybody saying the Jets LB's are bad in coverage. Bryan Thomas is pretty good and I think Harris is very good in coverage. He's usually 1 on 1 with RB's so of course he's going to get beat here or there and they stick out on the screen, but for the most part he shuts down opposing RB's.
I think this thread needs to be put to rest for a while, and then bumped after we play the Bengals. Then we can compare our D's performance against them to the Steelers' 11 Usain Bolts.
How many times did I say that it wasn't comparing the Jets defense to the Steelers defense? I was using the Steelers defense as an example. I said the Jets is very good but that they lack speed at the linebacker positions, the safeties do not have great size and that drew coleman sucks. While the defense is very good, these areas need to be addressed for this defense to be truly elite.
They have to have good cameras so they can station their MNF Crew cameras a half mile away from Chris Berman so no spit gets on the camera lens.
I'm not editing my post. I wanted to post about the Jets defense on Sunday but had more time yesterday. My mistake was that I never should have said anything about the Steelers. I can compare the two defenses but it's not what I was looking to do. I used the Steelers defense as an example of how much more speed they have at linebacker and safety. Does that mean that their defense is better then the Jets? No. The defenses are built completely differently even though they both play the 3-4. My point was that the Jets pass defense lacks ideal speed at linebacker and lacks ideal size at safety. They do not have any linebackers that excel dropping into coverage and Leonhard and Pool lack the size to cover tight ends. Does the defense work? Absolutely. Could it be better?
