New York Jets: Are the Jets the Team To Beat In The AFC East?

As of right now, we're standing in week six of the NFL season, and the New York Jets have won all three of their divisional games while standing atop of the AFC East at 4-1. 

While the Jets stand at 4-1, their lone loss has come against the Baltimore Ravens, who are also 4-1. Despite that loss, I believe, as of right now, the New York Jets are the team to beat in the NFL. 

When you look at this team's roster, you should recognize that their defense is loaded. And when I say loaded, I mean it. 

Jets' head coach, Rex Ryan, has all the right pieces for his defensive puzzle. Ryan has two very good corner backs with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, and those two corners allow Ryan to blitz freely. 

Ryan is able to blitz just about everyone man lined up in the box every play. The Jets have the ability to leave Revis and Cromartie, along with safety Dwight Lowery in man-to-man coverage.

New York puts tremendous pressure on every quarterback they face. The Jets are 7th in the NFL with 12 sacks, but there's more to it. 

Even when the Jets don't get a sack, they put quite the lick on the quarterback. Not only does the quarterback feel extremely sore after playing the Jets, so does everyone who was tackled. 

When the Jets tackle you, you feel it. They are such an aggressive and punishing defense, which has nearly a violent hit on every play.

You might say the Jets are too aggressive and will give up the big play. Well, so far this season, they've been able to contain the majority of big plays while blitzing at will.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets are doing one thing that matters, and that's running the football.

LaDainian Tomlinson appears to be back.

The resurgence of LT has contributed to the Jets success tremendously. Tomlinson has rushed 435 yards with a 5.7 yards-per-carry average, which is pretty impressive for a 31 year old back. 

Not only do the Jets have LT carrying the football, they have future lead-back Shonn Greene in the mix.

Greene has played satisfactory while splitting carries with Tomlinson. Greene averages just about 60 yards per-game.

There is one factory that is contributing to the Jets success that no one could have predicted, and that's quarterback Mark Sanchez' success.

Sanchez, who threw 20 interceptions last year has thrown none along with eight scores this year. Sanchez has been a pleasant surprise for New York, and if he continues to play well, the Jets will be hard to stop on offense.

As of right now, the New York Jets are the team to beat in the NFL. They have what it takes to win, and that's a great defense who will punish the opponent with a very strong running game lead by LT. 

Ever since the Jets lost to Baltimore in week one, they have been on fire, and there's no sign of stopping. 

This article was first seen on Sports Haze.

Tony Santorsa is Sports Haze's AFC East Beat Writer, and you could read more sports stories at www.SportsHaze.com.

You can also follow Tony via Twitter @ TonySantorsa