How the Jets Defense Uses Disguise

The Jets have talent from top to bottom on defense. The combination of Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed at cornerback was one of the best in the NFL in 2022. The defensive line, anchored by Quinnen Williams, is filled with a large assortment of quality pass rushers who are able to stay fresh for 4 quarters given the amount of players in the rotation.

Their approach on defense is largely to keep the passing game in front of them. No big plays. Force the offense into long drives and eventually the pass rush will put them behind the chains. The Jets played more quarters coverage than any team in the league last season in this effort.

That doesn’t mean they just play a bunch of soft and predictable zone and hope that their talent wins out. Far from it actually. The talent they have affords them the flexibility to play any type of coverage - man, zone, or hybrid.

They mix and disguise their coverages well, particularly in obvious passing situations like 3rd down and 2-minute. That either slows down the quarterback’s ability to process or takes away his initial reads, giving that pass rush time to get home.

The Jets’ Week 6 win over the Packers last season gives a great view of how they were able to get to different coverages out of similar looks and keep the passing game off balance (obviously, Aaron Rodgers’ first-hand account of this defense made an impression on him).

Just take a look at the Jets’ pre-snap alignments on these three 3rd downs:

There are some slight differences, but each started out in a 2-safety shell and showed hints of man coverage. The Jets would end up playing three distinctly different defenses out of these looks, however.

Out of that first one, with Green Bay facing a 3rd-and-8, the Jets would rush 4 and rotate to cover-3 “buzz.” That left 4 underneath defenders sitting right at the first-down marker: