The 2023 Jets defense is off to a pretty enigmatic start to the season, showcasing two sides to itself. Although they struggle in the first half of games, they turn things around in the second half. Gang Green is the only team in the NFL that has not given up a touchdown in the second half.
The Jets play more zone coverage than they do, man, but balance the two to stay in front of plays and not give up anything down the field. The 2023 Jets defense is no joke, especially after their solid coverage and 18 hurries in a 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night. If anything, the Jets reminded fans just how good they are on defense.
Will the 2023 Jets defense please come out?
Jets CB Sauce Gardner (1) – Frank Franklin II/AP Photo
In 2022, the Jets were one of the top defenses in the NFL. They only gave up 4.8 yards per play and allowed the fourth-fewest points in the league. A glaring strength of last year’s defense was holding opponents to field goals.
The 2023 Jets defense was unquestionably awesome in 2022, and they repeated that feat in 2023 – but only half of the time. There is a pattern of the defense stumbling but then dominating in the second half of games. In the first half, the Jets defense has given up six touchdowns, tied for sixth-most in the league.
In the second half of games, Gang Green has allowed 22.3 yards per drive, which is fourth-best. It is a different story in the first half, as they have given up 37.3 yards per drive, which is 28th in the league. Although the offense is not without blame, the 2023 Jets defense’s first-half woes have caused them to trail by double digits in the first half of every game so far this year.
2023 Jets Defense Coverage Busts
Trailing by double digits in the first half of games has made life hard on the Jets’ offense. They have had the hard task of playing catch-up against opponents early in games. What is going on? How come the Jets’ defense is constantly getting into slow starts? How can they perform better in the first half of NFL games?
Four of the six touchdowns in the first half were passing touchdowns to tight ends. The 2023 Jets defense is the only unit that’s allowed the most first-half touchdowns to Tight Ends of any team, let alone the first half. On one of those four touchdowns, Cowboys Tight End Luke Schoonmaker beat Jets Lineback Jamien Sherwood for a 1-yard touchdown in Week 2.
The Tight End broke free against the zone coverage of the other three touchdowns. Also in week 2, Jake Ferguson broke a soft spot between Jets Cornerback Suace Gardner and Jets Linebacker Quincy Williams for a four-yard touchdown. The 2023 Jets’ defense has woefully allowed Tight Ends to get freebie touchdowns in the past two weeks.
One was in week 3, where Patriots Tight End Pharoah Brown broke from a block to score a 58-yard touchdown. In week 4, Chiefs Tight End Noah Gray scored a 34-yard touchdown Sunday night. This season, busted coverages have been a glaring issue for the 2023 Jets defense, which has led to them giving up deep receptions.
Conclusion
On a positive note, the 2023 Jets defense has the number one red zone defense with a 25% touchdown rate. New England and Kansas City would have been held to just field goals if they had not given up those deep touchdowns against them. To improve, the Jets defense must prevent big completions down the field.
Another positive note is the defense is giving up 5.3 yards per rush attempt in the first half. They get even better in the second half, giving up only 3.3 yards per rush attempt. Regarding big run plays, the Jets’ defense has been stout in preventing Running Backs from getting massive runs.
Besides Isiah Pacheco’s 48-yard touchdown run Sunday night, the longest first-half run the defense gave up only went for 15 yards. The only issue is that Gang Green has allowed chunk gains, which led to opposing offenses getting long drives.
One improvement the Jets need to make is their containment of scrambling Quarterbacks. The 2023 Jets’ defense has allowed 28.5 rushing yards per game against running quarterbacks, the sixth-worst in the NFL. It is tough to challenge running quarterbacks, but when the Jets’ pass rush gets too reckless, they lose control of their gaps.
For the Jets’ 2023 defense to remain elite, they must dominate the first half in games. Fixing those glaring issues can prevent the busted coverages and chunk gains on the ground, especially the Quarterback scrambles.
