Black and Gold Xs and Os: Offensive Gameplan vs. the Joker, Err...the Jets

The New York Jets are a good football team. Their offense is dangerous, but their defense is proven lethal. They are coordinated by their head coach, Rex Ryan. And they are a reflection of their head coach—confident, brash, and down right good.

They like to throw the kitchen sink at you and when they've done that, then they blow up the house.

I once heard a college offensive coordinator talk about Nick Saban's defenses on third down as being impossible to figure out because you literally never get the same look.

The same is true of Ryan's defenses. There is no pattern, no rhyme or reason. If Heath Ledger were alive he'd probably play Rex Ryan in a movie. Or maybe Rex Ryan's goal is to be confused with the joker. Whatever the case is, he has no doubt struck fear into the hearts of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints offense.

It is not pointless, but it is difficult to describe the Jets defensive scheme. But I can tell you very eloquently about some of the players performing that scheme.

Jets Defensive Personnel

NT Kris Jenkins

Jenkins is a former Carolina Panther who excels playing the nose in Ryan's hybrid defense. One play he is right in the face of the center, the next he's standing up behind a linebacker ready to blitz. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen on film. The chaos only begins with Jenkins though.

DE/OLB Vernon Gholston

A season ago Gholston was a lost cause. But Rex Ryan has allowed Gholston the freedom to just play, for all intents and purposes. On four down linemen sets, Gholston will put his hand on the ground.

In the more common 3-4 sets, Gholston lines up outside the tackle and mostly blitzes, but occasionally drops into coverage. The Saints would love to find this guy out trying to cover a tight end or running back. Otherwise, he'll probably in Drew Brees' face.

ILB David Harris

The Michigan Alum is really the heart and soul of this defense. He makes the calls, and makes many of the plays as well. He is extremely instinctive, with good range, and really solid playmaking ability. He is the best Jets best cover guy among the linebackers, but also excels when blitzing the QB.

LB Bart Scott

It is hard to tell whether Scott is a true OLB, or ILB, because as I've said Ryan moves his guys around, and there's really no rhyme or reason to any of it. Either way, he lines up much of the time outside, but plays a lot of coverage. He is good in coverage, but really excels in the run game. He too is a playmaker.

CB Darrell Revis

Revis has developed into one of the best corners in the entire game. He is wonderful in man-to-man coverage, as he always draws the opponents best receiver. He is also very instinctive in zone coverage (granted the Jets play zone about one out of every hundred snaps, but still).

S Jim Leonhard

Like Scott, Leonhard followed Ryan to New Jersey when he got the head job. Leonhard has assumed the Ed Reed position in Ryan's hybrid defense. He will come up and play the run on occasion, but more often than not he is the lone deep safety in a very aggressive man-to-man coverage scheme.

Some Scheme-Related Information

There are a few things that are easy to recognize for even the common fan about the Jets defense.

One is that they are extremely creative, and love to blitz. They will do this a variety of ways. Many times they overload one side of the line, in an attempt to outman that side. Other times, they'll bring more balanced numbers but delay certain members of the blitz. They are almost always in perfect synchronicity with their stunts and blitzes.

Second, you notice that they play tons of man-to-man coverage. They are more than happy to allow Revis, Lito Sheppard, and Dwight Lowery to play their guys straight up knowing they have Leonhard back to clean up any mess. But they're able to do this because they are counting on the pressure to force poor throws or to result in a sack.

Third, the linebackers are all very versatile. Part of the reason I mentioned three of them is that they are really the base, or the rock of the defense. They make this defense. The defense is designed for them to make plays.

They blitz, they play coverage, both underneath zone, but also man-to-man. They are fed ball carriers in the running game. They also will get down in a three-point stance and straight rush the QB on occasion. It is a very diverse system, which makes it nearly impossible for the QB to know where the pressure is coming from.

How To Calm The Joker's Effect

I expect Sean Payton to call a lot of pass plays early on for a couple reasons. The first reason is that success will give the offense confidence in their ability to protect and move the football.

The second is a necessity to be ahead on this defense. If you are behind against these guys, you may as well give up because you're done. Finally, by throwing effectively against their heavy blitz, heavy man-to-man scheme it will force them to calm down a little and play some more base defense.

If you can get them into their base defense (and who knows what that actually is), you can better predict what you're going to get, which of course makes play-calling easier and generally frees up the running game.

Specific Gameplan

In the passing game, I would expect a lot of Empty sets, which is a catalyst (in the scientific sense) for the blitz. Now why if I'm an offensive play-caller would I intentionally ask for a blitz? Well, when the other team is playing man-to-man and you have a QB who makes quick decisions and possesses a quick release, that is actually exactly what you want.  

They can run eight to 10 yard hitch routes on the outside. They can run drag routes across the middle to get guys running in space. They can throw the hitch screen where they only have to block DBs.

Also, on third down I would look for a lot of "Gun" two-back looks. This could be Shockey, David Thomas, or Heath Evans complementing one of the running backs. This gives you potentially seven blockers against as many as seven rushers.

If the Jets play more coverage these guys can get out to the flats or middle of the field and try to pick it up after the catch.  

In the running game, the off tackle, or zone play would work pretty well. Many times in base situations (first or second down and not two-minute or red zone) the Jets will play four down linemen, but place three of them to one side of the line.

They leave the opposite end over the OT. All the OT has to do is kick him out and the rest of the line seals off the rest of the line. Then you lead up the hole with the fullback and just like that you potentially have a 3-5 yard carry without much effort from the running back.  

If you know in advance which side this is going to be you can line up a receiver to the side of the lone end and have him crack the outside linebacker on a toss play, in order to get Reggie or Thomas into space. You could also flare them out of the backfield like this, although that leaves them one-on-one with a corner.

To beat the man-to-man coverage you can run some quick routes, but also I propose a route combo where the inside receiver runs a deep-in route and the outside receiver runs a post on top of him.

The safety must choose to help on one of them, and assuming both run good routes by keeping the corner on their hip, the guy who does not attract the safety should be open. You could literally have eight men in protection for this, and the receivers still should get free.

The middle of the field will not be open very often, unless you run to middle routes on different levels to attract the linebackers to one and throw to the other level of the coverage. If the linebackers get depth, Shockey on crossing routes then becomes a good target. If they stay shallow, the deep ball becomes an option.

These are just a few of the concepts I expect to see coming from Sean Payton's call sheet this weekend. He's going to have to pass successfully to open up the running game. Hopefully he stays loyal though to running the ball, because it remains an important element to victory.

It should be a great chess matchup this weekend between Payton and Ryan. It should be a lot of fun. If you love Xs and Os like I do, this is one of the most intriguing games on the entire 2009 NFL calendar.

I know I'll be doing a lot more learning in this one than suggesting (to the t.v.). I can't wait. Until then Geaux Saints!