NY Jets pass rush must wake up against Will Levis and Titans in Week 2

The NY Jets' defense let the whole team down on Monday night. They hold the biggest piece of the blame pie for the time of possession being a career low for Aaron Rodgers.

The defense let a backup running back in Jordan Mason run all over them all night, uninterrupted, but perhaps the biggest disappointment was the lack of a pass rush.

Brock Purdy had plenty of time to pick the Jets apart, completing 19 of 29 passes for 231 yards and zero interceptions, while leading the offense to six third-down conversions. Just a little bit of discomfort could have gone a long way to ending 49ers possessions and getting Rodgers back on the field.

While the defense was bad, the 49ers are good and it's hard to expect the Jets to go into Santa Clara on Monday Night Football and beat a team that literally just almost won the Super Bowl. So let's not all collectively lose our minds just yet. It's always easy to overreact to Week 1.

What's important is, that is the best team the Jets will play all year. And in Week 2, things get drastically easier. The Titans' defense looked solid in week 1 against the Bears, but they were playing a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams.

This week, they face the exact opposite of a rookie QB in Aaron Rodgers. Things should be much different for them. But for Rodgers to get a shot at exposing their defense, he has to stay on the field.

This is where the defense comes in. More specifically, the pass rush. They need to be better. While the 180 yards they gave up on the ground didn't help, I believe we can largely chalk that up to facing Kyle Shanahan.

I would expect Quinnen Williams, Javon Kinlaw, and C.J. Mosley to ensure that Tony Pollard and the rest of the Tennessee run game is at least mostly neutralized.

The pass rush is really what to watch for. Will Levis is a young quarterback with good physical tools and potential, but if the Jets can get some pressure, whether that be up the middle or around the edge, they can force Levis to commit to receivers too early and make some mistakes.

This could lead to some turnovers and at the very least, some punts. Punts would be a welcome sight for the Jets this week.

NY Jets must pressure Will Levis in Week 2

Some heat on Levis should mean more time for Rodgers to dissect the Titans' defense. We saw in the 1st quarter what the Rodgers-Wilson connection can be, but it really only lasted one drive.

More time together on the field should make all the difference, but if the Jets' again struggle to get pressure, they could make things very hard on themselves.

While Will Levis can be forced into mistakes at this juncture of his career, that doesn't mean he isn't a threat back there if you give him more than three seconds.

He also has some decent weapons in the aforementioned Pollard, as well as receivers Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tyler Boyd. If he has time to plant his feet, read the defense, and go through his progressions, he has plenty of targets to find. The Jets can't give him that time.

If he does get that time, and he consistently keeps the ball alive on third down, we are going to see a lot of footage of Aaron Rodgers anxiously watching the game with his helmet off from the sidelines... again.

The other reason that the pass rush is something to focus on Sunday, is how it impacts the ongoing storyline that has refused to go away since camp. Haason Reddick and the Jets' front office are jostling for leverage. If the pass rush is as bad this week as it was on Monday Night, the Jets start to lose that tug-of-war.

So when you tune into the game on Sunday, keep your eyes peeled on what is going on upfront when the Jets are on defense. Are they getting any pressure? Is it coming from the outside or the interior? Is it coming artificially or do they need to blitz?

The answer to these questions will likely determine the outcome for the Jets, in a very big way.

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