Jets' Run Defense Shows Dramatic Improvement

Baltimore had just 11 rush yards at halftime as the Jets dominated up front, but ended up taking the loss.

If only the Jets' pass coverage was as good as their run defense Sunday, maybe it would be a different story. 

Baltimore won 24-9, but if there was a silver lining in this cloud of defeat, it was the Jets' run defense. 

Since New York hired General Manager Joe Douglas, the run defense has gotten dramatically worse every season. 

Jets team run defense:

2019: No. 2

2020: No. 12

2021: No. 29

However, in this game against the Ravens, the Jets' run defense looked dramatically better and it showed statistically. 

Baltimore's leading rusher was running back Kenyan Drake with 31 hard-earned yards, and a lot of that didn't come until the 4th quarter.

As a team, the Ravens had 21 carries for 63 yards (3.0 avg) for the entire game. 

That's impressive, considering Baltimore had the No. 3 rushing attack in the NFL in 2021 averaging 145.8 yards per game.

How about the Ravens' leading rusher for the past three seasons?

Despite adding 18 pounds this offseason according to the television announcer, quarterback Lamar Jackson only mustered up 17 yards on 6 carries. 

Statistics are one thing, but what exactly was impressive about the Jets' run defense in the eyes of a talent evaluator? 

1. Gang tackling

It was apparent from the get-go. 

Every time the Ravens attempted to run in the first quarter, they were draped with white and green jerseys. 

There was a noticeable difference in the aggression level of the Jets' defenders. They were flocking to the ball and tackling with visible emotion. Newcomer safety Jordan Whitehead flew in on support and got noticeably fired up. I like Whitehead a lot and back in March said signing him was a 'home run,' and he did not disappoint in the opener in run support. Having that kind of an influence coming up from the safety position is infectious. 

It didn't matter who tried to run the ball for the Ravens in the first three quarters of the game, they were stuffed. 

At halftime, the Ravens had been held to 11 yards rushing. 

The big takeaway was it looked important to this unit to stop the run and that is a big change from the last year or two. 

2. The run defense looks faster 

With all the gang tackling, it was noticeable how much faster the team defense looked overall. 

Whether it was Whitehead flying in, or corners Ahmad Gardner or D.J. Reed slicing in and making a tackle, the team speed in run support looked faster. 

Ironically, all three of those players I just mentioned are new to the team. 

Reed even caused a fumble in the 3rd quarter. The Jets were down 24-3 by this point, but that didn't stop Reed who knifed in and dislodged the ball from Ravens' running back Mike Davis. The Ravens recovered, but the effort was still there despite the scoreboard, which was a great sign. 

3. C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams

These two were flying around making stops. 

The thing that was most impressive was their outside speed to the perimeter. 

Both Mosley and Williams made big stops of Jackson when he tried to hit the edges outside running the ball. 

Mosley was the team's leading tackler (11 total, 7 solo) and Williams finished the day as the team's second-leading tackler (6 total, 6 solo). 

Being able to stuff the run up the middle is huge, but in today's game with runners who like to bounce it to the outside, having two linebackers who can cut off runners at the edges is key. 

Bottom line

I know there are no brownie points for losing the game, but if any one thing stood out to me while watching this game, it was just how much better the run defense looked going up against a decent team. Granted, Baltimore was 8-9 last season, but this was a double-digit win team the three seasons prior to that. 

Everyone knows I am hard on the Jets, and rightfully so. This is a team that has won 13 games over the past three seasons and now they are 0-1. The last thing I would ever try to do is build false hope in this loyal fanbase who knows football. 

In my eyes, that run defense against Baltimore looked like a playoff quality run defense on game film and it was confirmed by the stats. 

I must give credit where credit is due.

MORE:

• Robert Saleh Critical of Jets' Mistakes After Ugly Loss in Opener
• Jets Get Crushed as Ravens Cruise to Week 1 Rout
• Jets' Duane Brown Out For Much More Than Just Week 1

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