Inside the Jets vs. Cardinals Film Room: Defense

JETSerious will bring you inside the defensive film room and dissect plays from the beginning to end…. each and every week.  We’ll look at what the Jets defense did right and wrong for each play.

The Jets hosted the Cardinals on Sunday. It was a low scoring game (7-6) with very poor play from both quarterbacks. The Jets defense, however, went toe to toe with one of the best defensive units in the NFL in the Cardinals.

The Cardinals defense may have created 3 interceptions, but the Jets defense held them to 6 points. That’s a dominant performance.

*Interesting Note: Although each one of these games did not result in a win, the Jets held their opponents to 10 points or less in 5 games this year… ranked #1 in the NFL.

Let’s dive in and see what the Jets defense looks like when we break it down…

Enjoy!

The first play we’re going to look at is a sack by our rising star Muhammad Wilkerson. Bart Scott was also credited on the sack, but you’ll see that it was all Wilkerson doing the dirty work.

In the picture above, you’ll see that Bart Scott is going to loop all the way around the center, and crash inside. The remaining blitzers are going to penetrate and help collapse the pocket.

But take a look at Wilkerson beating his man inside. The center for the Cardinals doesn’t stand a chance.

Wilkerson is almost hitting the quarterback by the time we get to the next frame. He’s really starting to become a premiere defensive lineman in this league. Mostly because of his versatility. Not every defensive end can line up over the center, like Wilkerson does here, and still sack the quarterback.

Wilkerson is also getting better at strip sacks. He’s able to get his big paws and long arms on the ball more often than not. The Cardinals are fortunate that Ryan Lindley was able to protect the football here. He knew there was abolutely no time to get rid of it and took the sack.

Please turn the page and join us as we break down another defensive play from Sunday’s Jets vs. Cardinals matchup…

The next play we’re going to dissect is the LaRon Landry interception…

Cardinals Michael Floyd is going to run a post. Donnie Fletcher is lined up man-to-man with Floyd. The Jets outside linebacker (to the left) is going to drop into coverage.

Everybody is else coming. You’ve got to love the call.

LaRon Landry is responsible for the deep middle 1/3 of the field. He starts off favoring his left, notices Floyd’s post across the middle, and makes a run at the ball.

Landry shows great range as a free safety. He’s been criticized for having poor cover skills, but he makes a great play here.

Landry is able to under-cut Floyd and Fletcher. It seems like a tough squeeze but Landry is so quick and is able to attack the football at the perfect timing.

Landry sacrificed his body on this play, running full speed with a potential 3-player collision.

Durability was also a concern for Landry this year… but hey, there’s 4 games left and he’s yet to miss a game. If I’m working for the Jets front office, I’m negotiating with Landry’s agent as we speak.

That’s just me.

It’s really impressive seeing Landry flying between two players at full speed. It’s starting to look like Landry is the “ideal” safety in Rex Ryan’s defensive system.

What a pick!

If the defense can keep this level of play up, we can expect a blowout in Jacksonville… but we’ll have to see how Mark bounces back first.

That’s going to be all from The Jet Press, Inside the Jets vs. Jaguars Film Room: Defense.

As always, thanks for reading!

Please check back next week… where JETSerious will break down the Jets defensive effort vs. Arizona.

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