How the Jets Defense Stole a Win from the Eagles

Entering Week 6, the Jets defense had already made two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL look completely pedestrian this season. Josh Allen fired 3 interceptions against Gang Green in Week 1. Patrick Mahomes threw 2 interceptions (and there should have been a 3rd) in Week 4. Both quarterbacks looked uncomfortable from start to finish.

You can now add Jalen Hurts to that list.

Hurts tossed 3 interceptions against the Jets on Sunday and looked uncertain throughout the afternoon. The Eagles scored a season-low 14 points and were held scoreless for the final 35+ minutes of the game. This was without the Jets’ two best corners, Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed, in the lineup.

So how does Robert Saleh’s defense keep doing this?

It starts with the coverage approach, which plays from the top down. They keep the passing game in front of them and limit big plays. New York dares offenses to go the length of the field and put together long drives. They do so with the belief that they can rally to tackle any pass catcher and that their relentless pass rush can eventually get enough pressure to derail drives.

This doesn’t mean they just sit back and play soft zone, though. They use disguise in the secondary, mix in plenty of post-snap movement, and dial up sim pressures at the right time to keep quarterbacks guessing.

Against the Eagles, the Jets were able to take advantage of right tackle Lane Johnson exiting the game early. The pressure they generated, particularly in the second half, had Hurts jittery in the pocket. As the game wore on, he stopped seeing the field clearly, no doubt a result of the regular pressure and coverage disguise.

It culminated in an interception by safety Tony Adams that ultimately won the Jets this game:

So how did the Jets create this game-changing play?

Adams said after the game that he just “did what [his] coaches said. They said show like I’m blitzing, and [he’s] gonna throw it right to me.” Clearly, his coaches had some kind of hunch based on Philly’s tendencies.

In fact, just 3 plays earlier on a 3rd-and-7, the Eagles had run the same route concept to the other side of the field with tight end Dallas Goedert and wide receiver A.J. Brown:

Hurts hit Goedert for 11 yards and a first down:

Nursing a 14-12 lead, the Eagles needed one more first down to all but put the game on ice. They faced a 3rd-and-9 at their own 46-yard line.

One thing to note here is that this was the first play out of the 2-minute warning. That meant the Jets had a chance to talk about it on the sidelines and devise a plan in anticipation of getting the same playcall from the Eagles. As Adams said after the game, the coaches basically told him what to do and what would happen.

This time, the Eagles came out with Goedert and Brown aligned to the left instead of the right to try and dress up the play differently:

The Jets weren’t fooled.

Pre-snap, New York showed a blitz look with 7 potential pass rushers on the line of scrimmage:

Adams showed blitz, like his coaches instructed, and then dropped out at the snap. As did the two other defenders to his side that were also showing blitz initially: