i think after the regular season the jets have the best defense of 2009 but an all - time great defense NO WAY! but if they rise to the challenge and stop a last minute drive in the playoffs this could change
Hey, I've watched every game of the Jets this season. Heck, I've watched most of the games twice. It's a great defense. Fact is, if they had even a decent passing offense, they would have been feared as much or more than the '85 Bears or the '00 Ravens. They had a very difficult job of carrying this team entirely. They played a much harder schedule than the '00 Ravens (one of the easiest schedules ever) and had a much worse offense than the '85 Bears. Do any objective comparison and you'll come to that conclusion. The rest is similar or tips favorably for the Jets. Just because the offense lost some games does not make the defense any worse. The fear factor that you talk about is mostly fear of the TEAM not the defense. That said, the playoff performances of the '85 Bears and '00 Ravens were blow-your-mind good, so it remains to be seen if the '09 Jets can match that. But we're talking regular season and the '09 Jets certainly match those two teams there.
They also played one of the easiest schedules ever. Like TERRIBLE offenses. They played 2 top 10 offenses, only 6 in the top half. 10 in the bottom half, including 5 in the bottom 3. Seriously, they benefited a lot from their schedule. The '09 Jets did not.
You guys played more than 10 teams with offenses in the bottom half of the league....It's the nature of the beast. The Ravens also went like 4 or 5 games without scoring a TD that year if I am not mistaken. The D CARRIED that team. I doubt you're ever going to find a D that played nothing put powerhouse offenses all year.
Sorry, but this cannot be classified as an "All-Time" defense. Are they very, very good? Yes. Are they the '78 Steelers, '85 Bears or '00 Ravens, absolutely not. Exhibit A: Blowing MNF game @ Miami. Let Miami drive the field for game winner with relative ease. Exhibit B: Hold Falcons out of endzone ALL game, but when the chips were down, I saw four guys standing around Tony Gonzalez as he caught winning pass unmolested. Exhibit C: Brad Smith gives Jets lead with 106 yard KR. What happens next? Peyton Manning marches right down the field to retake lead with about as much effort as it takes to step on an ant. Sorry, but an ALL-TIME defense would NOT allow all three of these to happen.
Well we agree to disagree. You don't think there was more of a fear factor running a crossing pattern with Mike Singletary, McMichael/Perry and Doug Plank lurking in the middle? How about Ray Lewis, Sam Adams and Rod Woodson? I am not arguing it isn't a great defense. Just not an all time great defense. Yes there is a gigantic difference. BTW, I do not really care for the late game collapse argument. Any defense that gives up 10 points should not lose a game and should not be blamed if the team happens to lose. That isn't even factored into my argument.
Dont get me wrong here, i love our defense, but its not a great defense. Not yet!, we keep this thing together, and add just 1 more killer pass rusher, and we could be a Lites Out D. Somebody along the lines of a Julius Peppers perhaps, or of equal caliber. We failed in 3 critical drives against us at the end of games..........for various reasons. Things get very hectic the last 2-3 minutes of the game when your on D, and only up by 1 score or less, and the other team starts their final drive............talk about pressure!!! If we do anything this off season, our #1 priority IMO would be to get that constant pass rusher on our D. So we dont have to send that extra man every time we have to get to the QB..............lets hope tanny and Rex keep it together, and add 1 piece.................then my friends...............we can talk about a GREAT D................with that said, a few breaks here and there, we can still D it up, and who knows what'll happen starting this saturday...............i see the jets beating Cincy, after a close 1st half..........26-17.............Go Jets!
Harris, Scott over the middle? Certainly, the two you mention are probably more physical (meaning they injured more people?), but it's not like Jets opponents got to run crossing patterns much. The only fear for this team is probably for QB's and WR's hoping to complete a pass on Revis Island. But physical defenses don't necessarily mean great defenses. That's really a different thing altogether. In that case, some of the late 80's Eagles defenses were more feared (they injured like 8 QB's one year), but that doesn't mean it's a great defense.
Speaking of which, is Peppers in a contract year? He would be the final piece to make this D "special" (provided Jenkins returns).
He's stated he wants to play OLB in a 3-4. He's a big upgrade over Bryan Thomas. That said, he'll cost at least a 2nd round pick and we'd have to give him a big contract. Of course, if there's no salary cap, that's not a problem, but it might be if they bring it back.
Thanks for the info. However, that shouldnt stop the Jets from going after Peppers. Afterall, the are examples of players supposedly hating each other, but getting the job done for the common good. Examples: 1) 1973 Oakland A's - they used to have clubhouse brawls before games regularly then go out and beat the daylights out of their opponents on their way to a championship. 2) Reggie and Thurman (It interesting to note that Reggie was also on that 1973 A's team..) 3) Kobe and Shaq
While there have been exceptions, I'm not sure it's a great idea to put 2 former teammates who had something of a public hatred for each other on the same line together if you want to maintain a tight unit. If Rex thinks it's the right fit, I will be the last one complaining, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me on the surface.
it could work, i think. they'd be on different units (d-line vs. lbs) so at least we got that going for them. the main reason they could work together is because it'd be a really fun defense for them to play. peppers basically gets to benefit from blitzes that either set him free or puts him one-on-one against the weakest o-lineman. that said, if he's a prima donna, there's no way rex lets that guy on this team.
A great Jets example was Keyshawn and Chrebet. They despised each other off the field but played great together on the field.
You can't be a "great" defense and blow it at the end. The most damning performances that keep this defense out of the rarefied air of great are the first Miami game and the J Ville game. Both times the defense had the chance to put an end to the game and couldn't. I give them more of a pass on the Atlanta game because they only allowed one touchdown.
that makes no sense. you can't play great and then fail at the end. That means you didn't play well enough to win, which means you didn't play well enough. A historically great defense would have given this team a division championship.
Outside of RevisandHarris, I don't think too many other people are really banging the table in this argument. I think a better comparison would be between the 2009 Jets and the 2005 Bears. While the Bears didn't top the ranks in yardage (which is a somewhat irrelevant stat, really) they were dominant as a scoring defense. I can't really remember, but I don't think they let a team score 20 points that whole season. And on offense? A Thomas Jones led rushing attack and an inexperienced rookie quarterback. They won games by running the ball, playing stifling defense and limiting the responsibility of the very green, turnover-prone Kyle Orton. Yeah. That sounds about right.
