In-depth analysis - Jets "at" Giants (Defense)
We're reviewing last night's Jets/Giants preseason game in-depth. Earlier today, we took a detailed look at the offense, but now we're moving on to the defense:
Defensive Line - I smell the blood of a Richardson
The Jets reverted back to using four man fronts with Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson as the ends early on in this game, but without much success. Clearly the coaching staff is mixing things around to try and find the most effective way of ensuring all the top guys get plenty of reps, but they still haven't found that magic formula.
One thing's for sure though, when Richardson gets a chance to play inside, he is responding. Richardson has probably been the Jets' most outstanding defensive starter in preseason and he stood out again last night, with some good pressure, highlighted by this play to set up an interception:
Richardson didn't do much against the run but he did help blow up a screen pass.
The problem with trying to find more reps for all of their stars on the line is that there will be fewer reps with a nose tackle on the field and the Giants exploited that on this run as both Wilkerson and Leonard Williams were carved out of the middle to create a big running lane:
Both Williams and Wilkerson made a couple of good plays against the run, but were also blocked out of a few plays each. Wilkerson did at least contribute as a pass rusher by driving his man back into Eli Manning twice. Williams' wrist injury, even if not serious, is a concern, especially when you think back to how much a wrist injury apparently impacted Darrelle Revis in terms of getting his hands on people.
In limited action, Steve McLendon stuffed one run and also applied pressure on one play.
Lawrence Thomas was once again the next man up and he produced well, with five tackles in the running game. He also drew two holding penalties. Thomas was blocked out of a few plays, but held up well against the run overall.
Claude Pelon impressed once again too. He shed his blocker to stuff a run and generated some good pressures, including one on a powerful bull rush.
Rookie Patrick Gamble almost got to the quarterback off the edge and penetrated the pocket to help flush the quarterback on another play, but he didn't hold up as well against the run as he was blocked out of a few plays.
Veteran Devon Still made his return, contributing a half-sack and getting in on a couple of run stuffs. He was driven off the line once though.
Finally, at nose tackle Mike Pennel outperformed Deon Simon this week as he bottled up two runs and generated a pressure with a good bull rush. Simon was flagged for holding on one play.
Linebackers - Connor Harrassed
The inside linebacker rotation seems pretty settled as Connor Harris was limited to just three snaps off the bench. He'll likely get extended playing time next week, but seems unlikely to make a push for a roster spot.
Starters Demario Davis and Darron Lee each got in on a couple of stops near the line but their impact was limited. Lee got caught inside a couple of times and over-committed on this third down conversion:
Reserve Julian Stanford continued his productive preseason by leading the team in tackles, including one for loss and one on third down. However, he gave up a couple of first downs in coverage, once by overpursuing badly in space and once by being out of position on a dump-off to the back.
Bruce Carter didn't play much, although he was unblocked off the edge to create pressure on one play, possibly deflecting the pass, and blitzed up the middle for a pressure on another play, drawing a hold.
Spencer Paysinger got the rest of the reps alongside Stanford, although he hurt his leg late and was replaced by Harris. Paysinger was in on a couple of stops but also missed a tackle and was blocked out of a play at the second level.
At outside linebacker, there were fewer reps available in the first half with the Jets operating out of four-man fronts. Josh Martin had a pretty good game for the third week in a row, though. We'll be writing in more detail on him later.
Jordan Jenkins had a pretty quiet game. He almost got to Manning as he came up the middle unblocked.
Dylan Donahue's contributions were interesting to watch. The Jets employed him as a pass rushing middle linebacker, much like how the Packers use Clay Matthews, on one first-unit pressure package. He had a quarterback hit and a half-sack and showed his quickness to beat his blocker on the outside on a running play, although he didn't make the stop. Donahue was also driven off the line on two running plays though and is probably going to struggle if used in those situations as a rookie.
Freddie Bishop got a lot of second half work and was in on one run stop. He had a couple of pressures, including one on a good inside move.
Corey Lemonier and Frank Beltre also saw action but didn't make much of an impact. Lemonier lost his man in coverage to give up a completion on one play.
Defensive Backs - Maye Withered
While he's quickly becoming a fan favorite, Marcus Maye showed last night that he still needs to work on a few things. Maye came up too fast on three separate plays, surrendering valuable yardage downfield. The first of these saw the ball carrier able to fall forward to get to the marker, the second was the run up the middle shown above and the last one was this play:
Maye doesn't have any real competition for a starting role, but when he's playing deeper this is one of the main things he needs to get right to avoid the Jets being a team that gives up a lot of big plays again.
Jamal Adams fared slightly better this week, with a good pass break-up in the end zone and a couple of stops near the line. He had one negative play though - beaten for a first down while covering Evan Engram in the slot and then missing the tackle downfield.
In the second half, Ronald Martin played every snap and Shamarko Thomas and Robenson Therezie shared the reps at the other safety spot, athough Thomas didn't really have any impact. Martin was dragged for a few extra yards on a tackle in the hole and fell down in coverage to give up a first down. Therezie had a nice third down hit to stall a drive, but was lucky to get away with a late hit on the sideline later on.
The Jets' traded for Terrence Brooks earlier today, but I wouldn't assume he'll immediately be the number three. He primarily had a special teams role over the past two years.
With Morris Claiborne out, Darryl Roberts found his way into the starting line-up this week, but was outmuscled at the point of the catch for the above play that went for big yardage. He gave up one other first down because he was too far off, but was also unsuccessfully targeted three times. On one of those, he broke the pass up, although he was perhaps half-beaten if the throw had been better and could easily have been flagged for being over-physical.
Buster Skrine had a couple of similar plays where he broke up a pass while perhaps being half-beaten. He was beaten for two first downs and blocked out of a play down the field. However, his most worrying play was when he appeared to completely blow a coverage out of a bunch set, leaving a receiver completely unattended down the seam. Luckily, the pass rush got to Manning before he could get the throw off.
Juston Burris made some noise with an interception, although again he might have been half-beaten on that play with the pressure affecting the throw.
Burris gave up a couple of first downs including a fourth down conversion to set up the Giants' only offensive touchdown. That was a perfect throw as he was in pretty good position there. Burris made a good tackle in the flat and a touchdown saving tackle down the field on that big play.
If we assume that Roberts is currently pencilled in as the number four, that meant that there was an interesting battle shaping up between Marcus Williams and Dexter McDougle to be the number five. Of course we now know that McDougle has been traded.
McDougle had been outstanding in the first few games with Williams less impressive, but that changed this week.
McDougle gave up a couple of first downs and was blocked off on a screen pass. He also had two missed tackles, including this one:
Williams' day began with an awful play where the ball was floated to the outside on third and long and he easily could have made the tackle, but gambled for the interception and missed, extending the drive. However, the Giants went after him five times unsuccessfully with him in good position, breaking up two of them. He also made a stop in the flat, although it took him two attempts to complete the tackle.
Williams perhaps got away with pass interference on one of his pass break-ups and dropped what should have been an interception on the other.
Xavier Coleman was the only other cornerback to get any defensive reps. He was credited with one tackle and unsuccessfully targeted once.
Don't go away because we'll have our special teams review later this afternoon.