Rich Schultz /Getty Images
LaRon Landry stops Buffalo's David Nelson dead in his tracks.
Rex Ryan did his best to nitpick over the Jets defense after his team’s season-opening rout of the Bills, but the truth of the matter is that Mike Pettine’s unit is clearly one of the best in the league.
The Bills’ offensive statistics — Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three garbage-time touchdown passes and Buffalo racked up 195 rushing yards — were as misleading as they come and largely irrelevant.
Ryan and Pettine dialed up one great defensive call after another to suffocate the Bills early and set the tone for the laugher. The defense played as dominant a first half as any in Ryan’s tenure. The Jets forced three turnovers on the Bills’ 23 offensive plays before halftime. Fitzpatrick was flummoxed by Ryan and Pettine’s simulated pressure packages.
A Daily News game review revealed that the Jets brought only four pass rushers on nine of Fitzpatrick’s 13 drop-backs in the first half (they never rushed more than five before the break). Ryan and Pettine routinely confused Fitzpatrick with five or six men at the line of scrimmage before the snap. Both of the Jets’ interceptions in the first half came with seven men in coverage.
Fitzpatrick, who had a 38.9 passer rating in the first half, looked lost.
“We did a good job of disguising,” safety Yeremiah Bell said.
The Jets scored 17 points off three turnovers to build a commanding 27-7 halftime lead. Pettine’s group routinely gave Mark Sanchez & Co. great field position. Gang Green’s average starting field position was its own 35-yard line. None of the Jets’ four touchdown drives was longer than 56 yards.
Still, Ryan wasn’t happy with the missed tackles and defensive execution after the Jets opened up a 41-7 lead in the third quarter.
“It’s hard for me to remember another game where we put together a complete performance as we did in the first half,” outside linebacker Aaron Maybin said. “It was a great first half. The downside of that is there was a second half... and I have played in better halves of football than the second half.”
Ryan noticed a drop in defensive intensity and poor tackling that led to three Bills touchdowns in their final four drives of the game.
“I don't know if it’s human nature, but we certainly have to do a much better job than we did in the second half of that game,” Ryan said.
Although safety LaRon Landry maintained that “it’s all about finishing,” nobody was overly concerned about the meaningless stats that the Bills put up late in the game.
Fitzpatrick had two of his three touchdowns and amassed 30% of his passing yards after Darrelle Revis left with 9½ minutes to go with a mild concussion.
“We just had a lapse,” Bell said. “That’s just something we can’t do. We let our foot off the pedal. . . . We want to be the top group in the league. In order to do that, we have to keep our foot on the pedal for four quarters.”
INJURY UPDATE
Ryan said that on Wednesday he will have a better gauge of the hamstring injury suffered by OLB Bryan Thomas against the Bills. Thomas was walking around the locker room on Monday without a noticeable limp.
TE Dustin Keller, coming back from a pulled hamstring suffered a few weeks ago, played a limited number of snaps in the opener. Keller, who had one catch for seven yards, didn’t suffer any setbacks and should be closer to 100% this week, according to Ryan. . . . WR Patrick Turner was waived, but there is a good chance the Jets will re-sign him. OLB Ricky Sapp was signed to the practice squad, while DB LeQuan Lewis was released from the practice squad.
STEEL REINFORCEMENTS
Steelers safety Ryan Clark will be back to face the Jets after missing Sunday’s loss in Denver due to a sickle cell trait that flares up at high altitude. Meanwhile, star linebacker James Harrison’s aching left knee was good enough for him to work out Monday, so he could play for the first time since January. He remains questionable.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin expects two more regulars who had to leave Sunday’s game — right guard Ramon Foster (migraine) and right tackle Marcus Gilbert (left knee) — to start against the Jets. — With The AP
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NydnRss/~3/LPEV53SNIOk/story01.htm
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