Inside the Jets vs. Titans 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 traveled to Tennessee this past Monday, and put together a great defensive effort. The defense carried the offense, but in the end, the Titans were able get the victory. Mark Sanchez had 5 turnovers, leaving the Jets defense in a terrible spot.

Regardless of the loss, let’s take a look at what the Jets D did good and bad on Sunday.

Enjoy!

Right after the lead-changing touchdown pass to Jeff Cumberland, the Titans drove down the field and responded with a 14 yard touchdown run by Jake Locker.

The Titans essentially had an extra blocker on this play. Normally, Chris Johnson would be the ball carrier with 9 blockers and Jake Locker carrying out the fake. But with Locker keeping it, he is able to run behind 10 blockers, and Chris Johnson becomes his lead blocker.

Jake Locker is highlighted in yellow. He runs a sweep to the left, similar to the touchdown run by Colin Kaepernick in the 49ers win at Metlife Stadium.

The left guard pulls left, with the other Titans picking up the remaining defenders.

With 4 lead blockers for each of the 4 Jet defenders, the Jets defense doesn’t have much of a chance to stop this play.

The left guard is able to lay a hat on Yeremiah Bell. Chris Johnson gets a seal on the other side on Ellis Lankster, creating a nice lane for Locker.

LaRon Landry is the last defender at about the 5 yard line.

But with the seal on Bell, it’s difficult for Landry to get in position to make a tackle.

This was a tough one to swallow, because this play was executed to perfection… and identical to the run by Kaepernick.

The Titans stole this one out of the 49ers playbook, but who could blame them.

It worked didn’t it?

Well now that we’ve got the bad out of the way, let’s take a look at the good.

Please turn the page and join us as we break down a defensive turnover from Sunday’s Jets vs. Titans matchup…

The next play we’ll take a look at is the sack by Yeremiah Bell.

The Jets were able to disguise their coverage to perfection.

When Locker takes a look at the pre-snap, it’s safe to assume that he’s anticipating 4 rushers.

But he gets a surprise. Yeah, there are 4 players blitzing, but not the players he thought.

The Jets defenders in black are blitzing, with Yeremiah Bell highlighted in red because he gets the sack. The players in blue are the ones dropping into coverage.

Notice that one of the defensive linemen has a blue arrow. Normally the down-linemen are pass rushers… but in this case, it’s a great disguise.

With an overload to the Jets left and the Titans right side, Yeremiah Bell gets a clear path to the quarterback.

Below, you’ll see a red dotted line and an arrow indicating a blitz.

However, Ellis Lankster is not the one blitzing. I highlighted him in red because Yeremiah Bell is missing from the picture. So to clear things up, I drew Bell’s path, while using Lankster as a variable.

The ESPN MNF crew must’ve done the same… because they drew Lankster in yellow as a blitzer.

Although it’s Bell who is blitzing, it’s a great example of how well the defense disguised their coverage.

Maybe Rex Ryan did fool John Gruden. Maybe even he couldn’t tell who’s rushing, and who’s dropping into coverage.

Either way, it was too much for the Titans offensive line to handle.

You’ll notice on the next shot that Bell goes untouched.

Jake Locker has no choice but to take the sack.

This was a great call by Rex Ryan/Mike Pettine.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough… due to the pitiful performance by the Jets offense.

It’s ashame that the defense is playing at such a high level and the offense can’t hold up their end. Usually, when you hold an opponent to 14 points, there’s a great chance you’ll win the game. But not in this case. Mark Sanchez and his 5 turnovers cost the Jets this game.

Actually, when you sit back and think about it, it’s incredible that the Jets only surrendered 14 points after turning the ball over 5 times.

But that’s the way this season has gone.

We’ll have to wait and see how the team is rebuilt after the season. Until then, we’ve got 2 games left.

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

As always, thanks for reading!

Please check back next week… where JETSerious will break down the Jets defensive effort vs. San Diego in week 16.

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