In 2025, the New York Jets’ defense was abysmal overall, but their secondary was the biggest issue. Opposing quarterbacks often hit their first reads and got the ball out quickly, which rarely gave the Jets’ defensive line a fair chance to generate pressure.

However, this year, it has been the other way around. The Jets’ secondary has fared beautifully through four games while the defensive line is wasting their excellent start to the season.

Jets’ coverage has been great; the push has been awful

This offseason, the Jets worked to revamp the core of their secondary, and they did a strong job landing valuable pieces, particularly in the safety room with Dane Belton and Minkah Fizatprick.

So far, New York ranks fourth in Pro Football Focus’ coverage grade this season (72.8), trailing just the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile, they rank 29th in PFF’s pass-rushing grade (58.3).

The Jets’ secondary and coverage group have been doing their job. As evidenced by their high grade, they have held onto their assignments downfield and given the defensive line the chance to wreak havoc, which they haven’t taken advantage of.

During the Jets’ rough 23-12 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, the Jets’ edge unit was almost silent, generating no sacks, no hits, and four pressures across 36 dropbacks by Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent. Demario Davis, meanwhile, was the only Jet to get a sack.

That is the perfect blueprint for how to lose to a backup quarterback. No matter who is under center, especially when paired with an offensive genius like Ben Johnson, they will take advantage of clean pockets.

When the Jets actually generated pressure, Bagent struggled mightily. On eight attempts when under pressure, Bagent completed just two passes (25%) for 17 yards (2.1 yards per attempt) and threw his lone interception.

A similar trend appeared in Week 3 when the Jets faced Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, a much more seasoned QB. Under pressure, he completed four of his seven passes (57.1%) for 32 yards. When kept clean, though, he completed 21 of 25 passes (84%) for 237 yards (9.5 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns.

That is what makes the Jets’ pass-rush so frustrating for fans to watch. Against both quarterbacks, it was clear how much even minimal pressure can change the game.

Of course, nobody should expect Goff or Bagent to maintain those numbers over a larger sample of pressured dropbacks, but it still shows their impact when the Jets were able to get in their face. Even forcing a throwaway or preventing an experienced pocket passer like Goff from fully progressing is valuable.

It’s on Glenn’s self-proclaimed “superpower,” play-calling, to find unique ways to get more out of the defensive front. He has shown flashes this year of finding creative ways to generate pressure, but he needs to be far more consistent. Ultimately, though, the guys up front need to win their matchups.

New York’s edge rushers simply haven’t provided enough consistent production. Will McDonald is a prime culprit.

After generating five pressures and a sack on 18 pass-rushing snaps in Week 1, he has produced just four pressures and no sacks across 51 pass-rushing snaps over the past three weeks. That is inexcusable from a starting EDGE who logged 18.5 combined sacks over the previous two seasons.

The Jets’ secondary and the pass rush are directly correlated. If the secondary is failing, the DL won’t have a chance. When the secondary is thriving, though, like it is for Gang Green, the pass rush has a perfect opportunity.

It’s about time that they start taking advantage of it.