The New York Jets lack a consistent needle mover in the pass rush department.
In the Week 4 contest versus the Denver Broncos, the Jets didn’t register a single sack.
While as a team the green and white have 14 total sacks on the season which ranks inside the top-five in the league, there is some fools gold there.
Half of that entire total came against the New England Patriots in Week 3 when they were missing two of their starting offensive linemen.
We Have to Be Honest With Ourselves About the Jets Defense
Michael Nania of Jets X-Factor gave a tip of the cap to Jets pass rusher Will McDonald who had a “solid game with 4 pressures.”
However, Nania said McDonald was the “only” defensive lineman “to show up as a pass rusher. No other DL on the team had a single pressure,” per Next Gen Stats.
McDonald is the leading sack artist for the Jets with five, every other player on the defense has fewer than two sacks. One of the big things McDonald struggled with against Denver was the basics. He twice lined up in the neutral zone costing his team in critical situations.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix dropped back 25 times against the Jets. Yet he didn’t face much heat from the green and white defense.
I ranted on social media about why the team now needs to figure things out with Haason Reddick regardless of who has the leverage. Superstar Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams “liked” the post on X previously Twitter.
Time for the Jets to Make a Move
Enough is enough. It’s time for the Jets to make a move to bring someone in.
Whether that is figuring things out with Reddick or bringing in a new pass rusher or maybe even both. Now some people might argue, Paul, the defense isn’t the reason the Jets lost the Broncos game. The offense only put up nine points, the defense was good enough to win.
I would agree with that notion, but it’s not about this game, it’s about all of the other games coming up.
If the Jets fancy themselves as a Super Bowl contender, then they are going to need an elite pass rusher to make things uncomfortable for the opposing quarterback during a critical juncture in the game.
If an inexperienced Nix had all day to throw against the Jets, how is the team going to fare against better competition?
Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills twice, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans, Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, and we can go on and on.
Those quarterbacks are going to make you pay if you give them enough time to sit back and pick apart your defense.
We are only a month into the season and there is still a full month plus ahead of the NFL trade deadline. If the Jets are truly all in they will make an all-in kind of move by filling the void at pass rusher.
Try to close the gap between the team and Reddick to see if you can get him in the building. Investigate the available options on the free agent market. Explore possible trade targets that could make sense.
It’s do-or-die time for the Jets.
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