The New York Jets defense gets run over by LeSean McCoy in NFL Week 1
Imagine being in the path of an avalanche as it comes tumbling down towards you. You know it’s coming but you can not stop it. In NFL Week 1, this is the exact same feeling the New York Jets had when they went on the road to face the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field.http://
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Jets defense downright dreadful in season-opening loss to Bills | Takeaways and observations | NJ.com The Jets lost their season opener to the Buffalo Bills. Here are a few takeaways, including the alarming performance of the defense. |
| Source: www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2017/09/jets_bills_jamal_adams_darron_lee_observations_tak.html | |
The Jets only had one job and that was to stop the running back LeSean McCoy. The Bills have no weapons that scare anybody. Jordan Matthews is a possession receiver with no deep threat speed; there is a reason why the Philadelphia Eagles gave up on this former 2nd round draft pick being a playmaker after 3 years and traded him away to Buffalo. After trading WR Sammy Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams, the Bills have no dangerous receivers that the Jets should focus on. Todd Bowles should have schemed so that his defense was set to stop the running game. Even though it meant bringing 8 men in the box and putting safeties Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye closer to the line of scrimmage, the Jets cornerbacks were going to be left alone one on one with the receivers. This was worth the risk since Buffalo had no speedy WRs that could go over the top deep; New York had nothing to be afraid of.
Instead Buffalo’s runner sliced and diced his way through New York’s defense as if it were swiss cheese. Muhammad Wilkerson, Leonard Williams and the defensive line were unable to beat the offensive line in order to tackle McCoy. Linebackers were pushed around like a rag of dolls by the Bills, leaving wide open lanes for the RB to get through. By the time safeties Adams and Maye were able to tackle LeSean, the back had already gained more than 4 yards and had broken through the second level of the defense. The defensive line and linebackers were no match for the offensive line of Buffalo. Even when the Jets had the scheme set for the run, they still were overpowered by the OL. The Bills were ramming the ball down the Jets throats so much that it set in the mind of the defense. Buffalo used this to their advantage as the game wore on. Just when the defense thought that Tyrod Taylor had handed the ball off to McCoy, they soon discovered that LeSean had nothing in his hands; it was a playfake. The QB found receivers that were uncovered as the play developed, leading to big gains of yards. By the time the linebackers and cornerbacks realized that it was a play action, they had stepped towards the line of scrimmage and were already trailing the receivers or tight end Charles Clay. Between the rushing of McCoy and the fake handoffs, the heads of the defense was spinning in circles, leading to more big plays.
After the dust had settled, New York’s defense had been ripped to shreds. LeSean alone had 110 rushing yards on 22 carries and had 3 rushes of more than 20 yards. Even the quarterback Taylor had scrambled 8 times for 38 yards, picking up 1st downs. The inability of the Jets to stop the run kept the clock moving for Buffalo, resulting in a time of possession of 33:04 minutes versus 26:56 for Gang Green. The extended period of time kept the defense on the field more, leading to players getting exhausted and being more susceptible to the run in the late quarters. The Jets had worn down in the 2nd half that they even gave up a long 16 yard run to the fullback Mike Tolbert.
Imagine that!
A player of 31 years old not only gaining 42 total yards but also scoring a TD against this vaunted defense. How embarrassing.
The Jets knew that McCoy was coming at them and yet they were powerless to stop him. The defensive line and linebackers were of no help and even allowed the other back and the quarterback to gain yards against them. Not being able to get off the field gave Buffalo an extra 6 minutes of possession, resulting in Jets players getting tired and mistackling the ballcarriers. When Gang Green can’t contain the one dimensional offense of the Bills, New York deserves to lose the game against their AFC East division rivals.
