Going into the debut season of head coach Aaron Glenn, the popular belief surrounding the New York Jets was that they would field a solid defense and struggle offensively.

Naturally, after a week of football, the opposite appears to be true.

New York’s offense scored early and often in the Jets’ 34-32 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. While Justin Fields and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand excelled in their debut together, the results were less so for defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and the other side of the ball.

Despite the struggles against their former quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, New York’s top captain on defense made it clear that it wasn’t all terrible, and there are certainly things to build off of.

Taking stock in Jets’ defense

Jets linebacker and captain Jamien Sherwood didn’t have the elite performance expected for a high-priced player. In coverage, he gave up four receptions on four targets for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Rodgers went 22-of-30 for 244 yards, four touchdowns, and no picks in his Steelers debut. Pittsburgh erased two separate two-score leads from the Jets in the second half en route to a vintage comeback performance for the future Hall-of-Famer.

Despite the lofty total of points allowed, Sherwood believes the tape tells a different story… sort of.

“I feel like we played a good game,” Sherwood said. “Obviously we want to limit points, but a lot of good things to take away from the game.”

One of the main points of emphasis from Sherwood’s defense of his unit was their run defense. Pittsburgh averaged under three yards per carry and totaled just 53 rushing yards.

NY Jets’ DL displays its greatest strength and weakness

Sherwood specifically credited New York’s front four as the big reason why their previous struggles against the run were squashed on Sunday.

“Quinnen Williams, Harry (Harrison Phillips) had a heck of a game,” Sherwood said. “We showed up as a defense when it came to the run, and that’s something we harp on in our room, and I feel like we did that yesterday.”

Miscommunications in the secondary were New York’s main concern against the pass. Those issues will happen as the new unit learns how to play with each other.

So long as Sherwood and the Jets defense continues to play well against the run, the Jets expect to be in plenty of games moving forward.