Coaching Legend Believes New York Jets Defense is Worse After Saleh Firing

Future Hall of Fame coaching legend Bill Belichick did not hold back when asked about the latest Jets issues.

David Butler II-Imagn Images

The New York Jets have a new problem lately: its performance on defense. 

Just a few weeks ago, the Jets decided to fire defensive-minded head coach Robert Saleh in the middle of the season. Since then, the Team has struggled to find an identity on the football field. As the team looks to move on with interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich at the helm, New York is entering dangerous territory if it hopes to make the playoffs this season. 

As the team prepares for next week, critics are continuing to chime in about the recent head-scratching moves from the Jets front office so far this season. Some of those remarks have come from one of the best coaches in NFL history, Bill Belichick.

On Monday, the former New England Patriots head coach was on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show to discuss the past week of games across the league. When the topic of the Jets came up, Belichick did not hold back his thoughts on the team's moves. The 72-year-old believes that the defense has taken a major step backward since the firing of the Jets head coach. 

"I thought Coach Saleh did a good job with that Jets team and they were a lot better on defense when he was there..

The Jets are the Jets and Woody is Woody" 😂😂

Bill Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/TJhVqfazzX

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 21, 2024

“I thought Coach Saleh did a good job with that Jets team, and they were a lot better on defense when he was there.”

It has not been a good two weeks for the Jets overall. While the team was hoping to make a splash this past week on Sunday Night Football on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, it fell flat and moved to 2-5 on the season after the 37-15 final.

The Jets defense started strong against the Steelers on Sunday night. They forced their opponent to punt on four of the first six drives of the game. However, they were unable to keep up the momentum for the full game. 

New York allowed 409 total yards of offense from the Steelers, who made a change under center, turning to veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for the first time this season. The team struggled to get Pittsburgh off the field as they were 5 for 14 on third down and 2 for 2 on fourth down conversions. They also lost the turnover battle as the Steelers kept a clean slate. The Jets are at the bottom of the league this season, with only two interceptions. 

However, the poor performance from the defense is only one of their problems.

The Jets injuries are starting to pile up as well, including one to star cornerback

who suffered a leg injury in the first half on Sunday. Although he returned to the game, he did not appear to be 100 percent for the rest of the contest. 

The Jets defense will look to vastly improve on the field as they hope to avoid their fifth loss in a row next week when they travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough to take on the Patriots. A loss would move the team to 2-6 on the season. Only three teams in the Super Bowl Era have started the season 2-6 and made the postseason.