Robert Saleh declared that the New York Jets’ defense is a force to be reckoned with for elite QBs
“We’ve [the New York Jets] embarrassed all of them.”
That’s what Robert Saleh had to say about the elite quarterbacks the Jets have faced this season.
Going up against Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts, three of the NFL’s best and perennial MVP contenders, the Jets have held firm. They’ve forced a whopping nine turnovers against the trio, including eight interceptions, and none of the three have exceeded a 65.0 quarterback rating in those games.
As Saleh said, although the Jets didn’t always escape with a win, they made those passers look human.
Wow: #Jets HC Robert Saleh says they’ve played a “gauntlet” of quarterbacks and have “embarrassed” all of them
QBs they have faced: Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott and Mac Jones.
They’ve done very well.
pic.twitter.com/RK2ZLvynQI— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 16, 2023
This week’s effort tops them all when considering the decimated cornerback room. Not only were two of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, both out with concussions, but Brandin Echols was also out. That meant that in addition to starting Bryce Hall, the Jets had practice squad cornerbacks Craig James and Tae Hayes going up against A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith for large swaths of the game.
This is a Jets defense that can be maddening as it allows third down conversion after third down conversion, but it finds a way to do its job. Bryce Huff continues to terrorize opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks, while Jermaine Johnson‘s maximal effort showed itself on multiple plays in the game. Quincy Williams made his presence felt once more, and Tony Adams made a key play at the end.
Saleh was there for all of it.
Robert Saleh is the most electric coach in the league pic.twitter.com/sPeKwharR6
— Will Sommers (@WillSommers2) October 16, 2023
You can’t tell me Xerxes and Robert Saleh aren’t the same person pic.twitter.com/1QVYmn5IvD
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) October 16, 2023
Saleh isn’t wrong about what he said. It was expected that the Eagles would run all over the Jets. Instead, his team came out on top, heading into the bye week at 3-3 after a brutal six-game slate.
Beating the reigning NFC champions is a confidence builder. Making great quarterbacks look human is the icing on the cake.
It’s great that the Jets have won some tough games with their defense, but I have an uneasy feeling that this will encourage them to lean too much on it going forward. They have to be a balanced team. For example, a key, overlooked stat in the Eagles game is that time of possession was almost exactly equal. This means that even though the Jets didn’t score very much, they got enough first downs to let the D rest and be in top form. Saleh is a defense fanatic, which is OK, but the hope is that Hackett will have his own domain with the offense and have some say in the overall direction of the team. The offense has tremendous potential and should be given its chance to carry the team sometimes.
I do agree with Saleh and Zach, I think the offense is close. There is clear improvement if you look at some of the signs. Zach gets sacked on the boot to the left, but later in the game instead of going left they go right, he swings his head and makes a nice completion. The long pass up the sideline to Garrett, at the goal line, great job by Zach to get the D to jump, then he extended the play, if it hadn’t been for a dumb play a big gain. The shovel up to Hall while stepping up in pressure.
Your point is perfect. The need to get some first downs and eat some clock at min. It would also help if the D didn’t take an entire half to get going. I’m sure it’s no fun for the offense to be down on the scoreboard, by the time the get the ball 2 times.
It would also help if the OL could stay together.