With the addition of Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets this past off-season , expectations for the team are its highest in over a decade. Fueling the fanaticism is the recent statement by cornerback D.J. Reed that the Jet defense “could be historic.” The Jets have not made the playoffs in over ten years. Perhaps this year’s expectations and rhetoric could be less. Reed’s comments have brought heat and fanaticism. In fueling fanaticism beyond unreasonable expectations Reed compared the Jets defense to Seattle’s Legion of Boom. He also compared the Jets’ defense to the Chicago Bear’s great defense of the mid-1980s. Both of those teams won Super Bowls.
Reed compared the current Jet defense to that of the Seattle Seahawk defense that led them to victory in Super Bowl victory in 2013, and to a return to the Super Bowl the following year. The defense was led by secondary cornerback Richard Sherman and safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. They played a physical Cover-3 defense. Up front Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril provided pressure on the quarterback. The defense led the NFL in points against as well as yards allowed, embarrassing Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl to an easy victory.
For Reed, a cornerback, to associate the Jets with the Chicago Bears of 1985 is quite different, as the Bears played a “46” defense, a configuration that is not utilized anymore in the league and an alignment that the Jets will not use this year. The Bears had Hall of Famers Mike Singletary, Richard Dent and Dan Hampton up front. William “the Fridge” Perry was used take up space over the center and guards up front. This allowed linebackers Singletary, Wilbur Marshall and Otis Marshall to flow freely to the ball.
Tom Landry and Buddy Ryan
While the 46 defense was revolutionary for the time, Defensive Coach Buddy Ryan was merely using a page from Tom Landry’s initial concept of the 4-3: Free up the middle linebacker (Landry was the defensive coach for the New York Giants in the late 1950s, and changed from a 5-2 configuration to a 4-3 to allow middle linebacker Sam Huff to flow unencumbered to the ball.) Ryan layered on Landry’s concepts with a defense that blitzed from all angles to frequently overwhelm blocking schemes of the time. Chicago allowed just 12.4 points per game on their way to a victory in Super Bowl XX.
Disappointed with the progress of quarterback Zack Wilson, the Jets traded for QB Aaron Rodgers in the off-season. Rodgers, a 4-time MVP award winner, brough with him a coterie of coaches and players to ensure success. Nathaniel Hackett, a coach who embarrassingly failed in Denver as the head coach, but was Rodgers’ recent offensive coach in Green Bay was hired to coach the offense. Fueling the fanaticism, Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, receivers familiar with Hackett’s scheme were signedas well. They are to support an already talented group led by WR Garret Wilson and running back Breece Hall.
Rodgers has thrown for over 4,000 eight times in his career. The last Jet quarterback to do so was Joe Namath. In 1967 Namath threw for 4,007 yards in a 14-game season. That was a long time ago, to say the least.
Fueling the Fanaticism
The Jets have had several good teams in the last 25 years. While their 2009 and 2010 seasons were their last AFC championship appearances and still in our collective memories, it was their 1998 season that represented their best chance to return to the Super Bowl since their title in 1969. In the AFC title game in January 1999, the Jets faced off against the Broncos at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Led by quarterback Vinny Testaverde, running back Curtis Martin, and wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the Jets led 10-0 late in the third quarter. Bronco running back Terrell Davis started to impact the game, ran for 167 yards and helped the Broncos to a 23-10 comeback victory.
While head coach Robert Saleh has tried to damper and down play the hyperbole by suggesting that D.J. Reed’s comments were taken out of context, they weren’t. And while the team is still a 2-point underdog going into Monday nights game against last year’s AFC East division winner Buffalo Bills, a big target is on the Jets backs and expectation are enormous for the season.
Barry Schustermann
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