Alright I have a question when it comes to the positioning of the Jets Defense. Why wouldn't Eric Barton and David Harris be a prototypical inside for a 3-4 since they are both players that can take on o-linemen because barton is a big strong linebacker. He is playing on the outside now right? That doesn't make a bit of sense to me because he seems like the type that can help make this defense up the middle a little better. This is just an opinion i guess about how we could improve this D a little bit because lord knows we need it. But I have no clue what is so appealing about the 3-4 because I remember watching the Ravens game i think it was and watching how easily a team can neutralize a 3-4. In that game the 2 guards just got straight to the second level, took out our two ILBs and the center was able to push our DT one way and the middle of the field is just as wide open as the creases leon runs through on kick offs. I was just wondering what everyone thought about that and just one more question. Im going to my first game this year this weekend and I was wondering what the deal is with parking and everything and what is going on at halftime with curtis. Is it going to be one of the Wayne Chrebet day things?
Barton and Harris are our inside linebackers, and you're right, they are well-sized for that position. Were you posting in reference to Hobson, who plays outside?
Barton and Hobson are medium to small-sized for inside linebackers. The Pats always have a 260-270 guy inside with a 245+ guy next to him. Used to be Vrabel and Bruschi, now it's Adalius Thomas and Bruschi.
Did anyone see Jets Xtra point this week on SNY? Normally I think Buttle is too homeristic, but he made a really interesting point about the Jets D this week, and that is that the problem is NOT our dline, it is our linebackers sucking so bad. He points out that in the 3-4 it is the dlines job to eat up blockers while the linebackers play. Until Harris started playing, NONE of the Jets LBs were doing that, but now Harris is playing like an absolute beast. Also, compare the current stats of the best front 7 in the NFL (Steelers) to that of the worst (Jets): Jets: DLINE: Ellis - 35 t, 22 solo, 2.0 sack Robertson - 34 t, 23 solo, 0.5 sack Coleman - 51 t, 38 solo, 1.0 sack LINEBACKERS: Hobson - 41 t, 29 solo, 1.0 sack Barton - 48 t, 30 solo, 1.0 sack Harris - 66 t, 45 solo, 1.0 sack (only in 2 starts!!!) Thomas - 31 t, 24 solo, 1.5 sack Steelers: DLINE: Smith - 19 t, 15 solo, 1.5 sack Hampton - 14 t, 5 solo, 0.0 sack Keisel - 17 t, 9 solo, 0.0 sack LINEBACKERS: Haggans - 34 t, 18 solo, 4.0 sack Farrior - 45 t, 33 solo, 5.0 sack Foote - 36 t, 19 solo, 1.0 sack Harrison - 57 t, 48 solo, 6.5 sack Now, obviously the Steelers won't have as many tackles because they don't spend as much time on defense as the Jets do, but the real damning difference is two-fold: 1) The amount of sacks the Steelers LBs have, vs. the Jets LBs. Pass rush is HUGE in this kind of defense, and we obviously are not getting it. 2) LB to DL tackle ratio... with Pittsburgh, the ratio favors the LBs dramatically... that doesn't mean the Steelers DL sucks, it means they are doing their job and letting the LBs make plays. With the Jets, the tackles are spread evenly across all players... so what doees that mean, is it that the LBs suck and the DL has to compensate for them, or is it that the DL is not doing their job? The more I watch the film, the more I think the real problem is the LBs, and NOT the DL.
The other way to look at it is that the Jet's defensive linemen just are not being well-coached in how to play in the 3-4. Defensive linemen in the 3-4 do not make tackles, they control lanes and occupy blockers. Why are the Jets getting gashed for so many yards on the ground? A. The defensive line is allowing holes to open on the line of scrimmage and blockers to get to the second level. B. The linebackers are somehow causing holes to open up on the line of scrimmage and luring blockers to the second level. Either way you look at it the linebackers are kind of screwed once a runner is through a hole with a blocker on them. Look at the Patriots numbers: Ty Warren 28 tackles, Vince Wilfork 25 tackles, Jarvis Green 24 tackles. That's what a defensive line is supposed to look like in a 3-4. The Jets large number of tackles by the defensive line tells me that the Jet's defensive linemen are trying to shed blocks and make tackles. Dead linebacker and 9 yard gain...
I would've agreed with you right up until Harris started playing. Watching the effect Harris has had in two games, vs. the rest of the linebacking corps over the whole season, and knowing that our LBs are somewhat talented, just tells me they are the ones who aren't getting it done, and it goes back to the Jets running the wrong defensive scheme. I think if we had better LBs for the 3-4, the DLine wouldn't look nearly as bad as it does right now. If you look at the games this year, one of the biggest problems has been missed tackles... much more so than simply getting blown off the ball.
The single biggest problem so far this year has been that of the two gaps that D-Rob has responsibility for ZERO of them have been consistently contested. Just watch him getting tossed around like a ragdoll in the last game if you want to see the problem in all its gruesome details. He's guessing and going for a gap and half the time he's wrong. When he's not wrong, half the time he's double-teamed out of the way and a blocker slides off of him and onto an ILB. Just watch the tape. It's not like this is a great secret or anything. Even the announcers were talking about it last week and they are usually the last person to see anything in the trenches unless that is where they played.
The D line is absolutely our problem...youre right though, the D line is supposed to eat up blockers. The problem is..ours doesnt. Robertson, Coleman and Bryan Thomas (pass rushing OLB) only draw one blocker. Ellis at times draws two, but thats still Rare. So basically there are a few opposing O lineman who can get out in front and destroy our linebackers. Yes Harris has made a good plays, but we still get torched for just as many rush yards as when Vilma was in there. Alot of those tackles were clean up jobs. We need a D line who draws attention period.
....but in the 3-4, we only have 3 d-linemen trying to tie up 5 o-linemen plus a TE or 2. That's 3 on 6 or 7. The math says at least a few O-linemen can get to the second level without ever being touched. So....there will ALWAYS be at least a few o-lineman down field, which is why Vilma is on the gurney.
Nose Tackles are supposed to occupy up 2 lineman, ILBs take on blockers one on one and OLB attack the OTs. Its really a 7 on 7, but our LBs arent good enough to take on Guards (Vilma). Harris can but hes the only one.
