New York Jets Deep "46" The Houston Texans

Buddy Ryan brought the "46 Defense" into the NFL almost 25 years ago. Since then, he has passed on his defensive philosophies to his two sons, Rob and Rex, who have terrorized opposing offenses ever since. Yesterday, the Houston Texans found out first-hand how awesome the "46 Defense" can be.

Rex Ryan made his coaching debut yesterday for the New York Jets against the Houston Texans. Since the day Ryan was hired, he has promised a smash-mouth, in-your-face defense. As a Jets fan, he was essentially promising something I haven't seen since the "New York Sack Exchange" days of '85 and '85.

After Houston's first offensive possession, I knew Ryan would make good on his promise. The Jets' defense manhandled the Texans' offense on the first possession and then for the entire game en route to a 24-7 victory.

The stars on defense for the Jets were their linebackers. Bart Scott, David Harris, Bryan Thomas, and yes, even Vernon Gholtson (three solo tackles, which is two more tackles than he had all of last year) tormented Texans QB Matt Schaub from the first snap.

Harris led the way with 11 tackles and one sack. You know it was a dominating performance when you are surprised a guy "only" had 11 tackles and one sack. Harris was that good yesterday.

What bodes well for the future if you are a Jets fan is that they did all this without their outside linebacker, Calvin Pace. Pace, as you may recall, was suspended for four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy. I can only imagine how good the Jets' linebacking core is going to look when they get Pace back.

And speaking of the future, keep an eye on Jamaal Westerman. Westerman is an undrafted rookie out of Rutgers and has impressed Ryan from the first day of training camp. Westerman made an immediate impact yesterday by recording two tackles and one sack.

Ryan has a history of taking "nobodies" and turning them into "somebodies." All you need to do is look at Bart Scott for evidence of that. Look for Westerman to be that somebody this year.

I will also go as far as saying, Westerman will have more sacks than Gholtson this year.

If the first game is any indication of how the Jets' defense is going to play, then Jets fans are in for a real treat.