You may not have heard it in years past, but the Jets are so good defensively that they tend to brag about their place in the NFL defensive rankings.
While they have never made the playoffs or had a winning season during that span, their defense last season ranked third in the league in yards allowed and 12th in points allowed, and in 2022 they ranked fourth in both categories.
So what happened in Sunday's season opener against the 49ers was hard to swallow, especially as San Francisco out-wrestled them in a commanding victory with 180 yards rushing and 6.9 yards per carry.
Backup running back Jordan Mason, who filled in for injured MVP candidate Christian McCaffrey, rushed 28 times for 147 yards. Mason has rushed for 464 total yards in 33 previous NFL games.
That brings us to Sunday's Jets-Titans game. The Titans are vulnerable on offense, especially second-year quarterback Will Revis, who is coming off a dismal season opener in which he committed three turnovers to go with two interceptions and a lost fumble.
If the Jets' defense, undoubtedly embarrassed by being pushed around by the 49ers, don't face Revis and the Titans like “a pack of rabid dogs,” in the words of the great Lawrence Taylor, then there's a problem.
Jets fans can only hope and pray that this week's practice will feature defensive players trying to wash away the bad experience from a week ago.
Neither Jets head coach Robert Saleh nor defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich have a hard-nosed style of coaching, so Jets defenders could watch tape of the 49ers' disastrous loss and not be condemned for the sins of the previous Sunday.
Instead, they were calmly corrected by Saleh and Ulbrich and had to wallow in hurt feelings about what had happened in the West.
“This is not the first time we've been punched in the mouth,” Saleh said Friday. “The important thing is to go and watch the film, watch it, tell the truth, admit what we did wrong, celebrate what we did well and try to move past it.”
“But the players know they made mistakes. That's our philosophy. [not to chastise]”They don't need another guy to tell them to their face that they screwed up. They already know. They want to know how to fix it. Ulbrich and I would rather sit down and talk it through, get to the bottom of it and make sure this never happens again.”
When I asked Saleh how he thought the defense would respond, he replied, “We will respond this time as we have responded before. Professional athletes are very proud and honored. They want to solve their problems. They want to do well. And I think we can do well.”
The Jets defense, under Saleh and Ulbrich, has recently bounced back after a period of underperformance.
Last season, they lost to Dallas 30-10, then to the Patriots 15-10, then to the Chargers 27-6, then to the Raiders 16-12, then to the Dolphins 30-0, then to Washington 30-28, and finally to the Browns 37-20, then to the Patriots 17-3 in the season finale.
So there's clear evidence that this defense has resilience genes.
“We still have a great defense,” Jets cornerback DJ Reed said Friday.
“I'm very confident in our team,” Ulbrich said. “I expect them to answer the call this week. I really do.”
When asked what he expects from the defense on Sunday, Ulbrich said: “The reaction. The reaction to what happened and our level will be revealed.”
The counterattack should be swift and ferocious enough to crush the Titans rushing attack like stone and swallow Revis alive. If the Jets play at the level they have shown defensively for the better part of the past two seasons, they should beat the Titans and snap their 1-1 record.
The Jets are loaded with talent defensively, even without the ghost of Haason Reddick, and they won't lose to Revis and the Titans.
For the past two years, all we've heard is how good the defense is, but imagine how good the team could be if they had a talented quarterback to complement it.
Now, the Jets have Aaron Rodgers, who is not only a capable quarterback but also a future Hall of Famer, so now it's time for the defense to complement the offense.
