Eagles vs. Jets: Destruction Proves NY Is Doomed without Jim Leonhard

Shredded Jets defense will be a fixture on the menu for New York for the remainder of the season. They will not be able to recover from the loss of safety Jim Leonhard.

This unit was lost in Sunday's trouncing at the talons of the Eagles as they allowed 45 points.

Leonhard injured his knee the previous week against Kansas City and is out for the season.

Leonhard's Role

The injured Jets safety is a solid athlete and player, but his ability during the play is not what makes him so valuable to this team.

Leonhard is the quarterback of this defense. He is Rex Ryan's extension on the field. He allows Ryan to call his exotic blitzes and disguised packages without fear because Leonhard will have his teammates lined up in the right spot.

Transparent Defense

New York runs a complicated and disguised defense. At least they like to. That was not the case on Sunday, and their sets were easily transparent.

The Eagles knew what the Jets were going to run.

Safety Eric Smith revealed this to the world following the game and is quoted by ESPN's Rich Cimini:

"

They'd line up, look at us, look at Vick, and (say), 'Oh, they're in Cover Zero' or 'They're in Cover One. They did a good job of studying, a good job of preparing for the game.

"

Obviously this is a huge detriment. The Jets thrive on confusing an opposing offense by showing one look and offering another. They were a different defense this past Sunday. 

Jetting Ahead

The Jets do not have to keep things this simple and transparent. It's not like they are fielding a whole new team—they are simply replacing one person.

They have had to replace Leonhard before and fared much better than this. Ryan acknowledged the need to make adjustments in his press conference. Ryan, quoted by Pro Football Talk's Greg Rosenthal, said, "It doesn’t generally happen with our defense. We’ll try to change some things."

The Jets' defense will play better than this. However, it would be foolish to think that they could go all the way from this watered down version to a fully functioning lethal unit in such a short time.

The Jets only have until Saturday to fix things before their Big Apple showdown with the Giants. They will then close the season against the Dolphins.

The way the rest of the wild-card hopefuls have been struggling, there is a good chance the Jets will still be able to limp into the playoffs, but it is clear that this defense will not allow this team to be anything more than a one-and-done squad.