It turns out that not even a play-calling change can save the New York Jets’ defense in 2025.

Chris Harris, the Jets’ interim play-caller after replacing Steve Wilks going into Week 16, showed bright spots throughout the team’s contest against the New Orleans. The issue? A second-half breakdown turned their road contest in the Bayou into a 29-6 blowout.

Many things went right for Harris in his first NFL game as a play-caller. The Jets forced an early turnover and played with an injection of effort that was lost over the previous two weeks.

The end result, though, highlights the main issue facing New York all season: They simply aren’t talented enough on that side of the ball.

Jets’ defense breaks down vs. Saints

Over the previous two weeks under former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, the Jets had an effort problem. Players were going against the play-call, there were others jogging, and it seemed like many of the leaders had checked out.

That’s when Glenn challenged his roster.

In some ways, the defense rose to the occasion. Despite giving up 29 points, the team played with better effort on Sunday, which Glenn appreciated.

“[What] I asked our players to do was to play with effort. I thought that our guys did that,” Glenn said. “I thought that they went out there, they fought hard, and did everything they could to keep us in this game. There were a couple of things from an overall perspective that we got to get better at.”

New York held the Saints offense to nine first-half points. In the second half, the dam broke, as they gave up 171 yards and 20 points without forcing a takeaway.

Despite another week of lackluster results, Glenn at least appreciated that the players seemed to improve their effort. While Glenn should take credit for that, Harris’ first game as play-caller was a highlight as well.

It’s why the Jets’ head coach came away pleased with the coaching swap.

Glenn impressed

Glenn was confident in how his defense and Harris looked in the first half of action on the road.

“That first half, I thought our guys did a really good job of understanding exactly what (Chris) Harris was trying to do,” he said. “There were some calls that we just put in that our guys executed really well.”

The Jets allowed the Saints to move the ball in the first half (231 yards), but they came up with stops when they needed to, allowing no touchdowns and forcing four field goal attempts. Their coverage mirrored the pass rush, and the tackling looked improved compared to recent weeks.

All of that can be attributed to Harris coming into the week prepared to show he belonged as the full-time Jets defensive coordinator, not just on an interim basis.

“I’m proud of the way he operated,” Glenn said. “I felt he did a really great job going into this week to be able to call a game against an operation like they had with so much tempo.”

Harris’ obstacle, like many of New York’s coaches, is that he simply doesn’t have the players. New York had to play several undrafted free agents in the secondary on Sunday, and many of the veterans are mired in down years.

It’s hard to build a winning game plan when the other team is flat-out more talented.

The Jets won’t be able to fix their talent issue until the offseason. In the meantime, the coaches will have to play a rough hand. But the early returns from Harris were strong despite a 23-point loss.