How the Jets Plan to Contain Russell Wilson, Seahawks Offense

Russell Wilson and one of the NFL's best aerial attacks will host New York's defense on Sunday, the second-worst team in football at defending the passing game.

The Jets have lined up against some incredibly talented quarterbacks this season. We're talking the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray and Cam Newton.

On Sunday, New York's beleaguered defense, thinned out by injuries and still in search of its first win of the year, will have its hands full with Seahawks' quarterback Russell Wilson. 

Wilson, in his ninth NFL season, is having one of the best years of his career. Through 12 games, he's already thrown for 3,479 yards and 32 touchdowns. He's been an integral contributor to Seattle's offense, a unit that ranks fourth in the league entering Week 14 scoring 29.4 points per game.

Meanwhile, the Jets allow an average of 291 passing yards per contest. That's the second-worst total in all of football. 

So, how can New York's defense possibly keep the Seahawks in check? Jets head coach Adam Gase said this week that it starts with keeping Wilson in the pocket. 

"You better do a good job of containing him in the pocket," Gase said. "If he doesn’t like what he’s got going on, he breaks the pocket and then it can become a real issue. Now you’re looking at bigger plays than him just standing back there because everybody gets all spread out and all of a sudden now he hits a guy moving out of the pocket, now you’ve got possibly a really bad thing happening where you can hit guys down the field."

New York's secondary, a group that's been burned for 340-plus passing yards in three of its last four games, will be without starting safety Ashtyn Davis who was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.

The Jets did get a boost at the cornerback position, however, as Bless Austin was activated off the IR. Even still, as interim defensive coordinator Frank Bush put it on Thursday, Sunday is "going to be a tough day."

"[Wilson] is having a MVP season so he presents a challenge, not just for me, but for anybody that plays him. He can do it all," Bush explained. "He’s extremely smart. He’s agile. He throws the ball well. He has a command of everything that’s going on with that offense. He’s confident. He’s a highly, highly competitive kid, and he never says no. So, all those things bode well for the Seahawks, and that’s why they find ways to win games."

Seattle is in the middle of the pack when it comes to their running game, but Jets linebacker Neville Hewitt singled out stopping the run as a way to contain Wilson through the air. 

"They're going to do a lot of play action and stuff," Hewitt said. "He's a great quarterback. A lot of comeback wins, things like that. [We need to get] lined up fast, [win] on first down and [get] them to third and long, getting them off the field on third down."

Even if New York has struggled against opposing aerial attacks this year, especially in the last month, Bush believes his group has the potential to come out on top on Sunday. If New York's defenders up front can put pressure on Wilson, keep him from finding a groove while limiting his ability to extend plays out of the pocket, there's no reason this resilient defense isn't capable of keeping New York in this game. 

"At the end of the day, if we go up there and play hard and do the things we were supposed to do, hey, I like the idea of us being able to compete with them," Bush said.

The only question remaining is whether or not Jets quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense in green and white do enough in Seattle to put this team in a position to win.

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