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New York Jets defensive lineman Jermaine Johnson had a very clear message to deliver to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
He was doing an interview with senior Jets reporter Eric Allen this week and he was asked about the pass rush plan versus a guy like Mahomes.
“We got something for him,” Johnson said as he started to smile. “We got something for him.”
Bulletin Board Material for the Chiefs Ahead of Jets Game?
There are only two games on the NFL calendar in Week 4 that feature a higher spread than the one in the Jets-Chiefs game.
Kansas City is favored by 8.5 points over New York, per Vegas Insider. The line opened at 9.5 and interestingly the money is coming behind the Jets which has shrunk the line by a point as of publication.
Despite those long odds, Johnson might have provided some additional motivation for the Chiefs heading into the matchup with his comments.
Gang Green only has six sacks as a team through the first three weeks of the 2023 season. That is tied for No. 27 in the league.
If they want to pull off the upset against Kansas City, they are going to have to make Mahomes as uncomfortable as possible.
According to the sack numbers, the Jets haven’t been getting home so far this year. Perhaps more concerning from a New York perspective, is the Chiefs proven ability to keep Mahomes upright so far.
The former Texas Tech product has only been sacked once this season. That is the lowest number of any starting quarterback in football through the first three weeks of the season.
An Updated Jets Gameplan vs. Chiefs
Against the New England Patriots, the Jets tried to play a ball control offense where their offense didn’t have to do much and the defense ended up doing the heavy lifting.
That plan limited the scoring, but it still wasn’t enough to pull out the victory.
Against the Chiefs, the Jets might have to call an audible at the line of scrimmage. While the plan is to keep the ball out of Mahomes’ hands for as long as possible, to win this game the Jets will have to put up some points.
“These are the type of games you want to be involved with,” wide receiver Garrett Wilson told the media on Friday September 29. “We’re going to have an opportunity to go out there and keep up with one of the best offenses the last three or four years in football and we’re excited for the opportunity man. We know we have to keep up, we know what problems are going to arise this weekend and it’s going to be our job to respond, and I feel like we’ll be able to.”
Wilson acknowledged that they, as an offense, will have to “keep up” with the Chiefs. That’ll be easier said than done.
Kansas City has one of the most potent offenses in football through the first batch of games. The Chiefs are No. 5 in total offensive yards per game, No. 5 in passing yards per game, and they’re No. 9 in points per game (26).
The Jets aren’t in the same ballpark in those same offensive categories ranking No. 32 in total offensive yards per contest, No. 32 in passing yards per contest, and once again No. 32 in points per contest (14), per ESPN.
When there is this sort of lopsided nature analytically, typically teams will attempt some razzle dazzle to confuse the opponent and cause some misdirection to make a big play happen. It’ll be up to Nathaniel Hackett to dig into his bag of tricks because the Jets are going to need all of them to make up the difference.
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