SI

Lowly Jets Defense on Verge of Making Unfortunate NFL History

Unit could do something unprecedented next week.

Kyle Koster

The Jets have not been able to intercept a pass all season.
The Jets have not been able to intercept a pass all season. / Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The New York Jets are stumbling to the finish line in what has been another wasted season. Aaron Glenn's first foray as a head coach has not yielded any type of meaningful success and there's been precious few reasons for optimism. Sunday brought a 42-10 drubbing at the hands of the New England Patriots—and it could have been much worse had Mike Vrabel really put his foot on the pedal. As has been the case all year, a toothless Jets defense was powerless to stop Drake Maye.

Entering Week 18, New York is surrendering 29.3 points per game, third worst in the NFL. The unit has come up with only four takeaways on the year, five fewer than anyone else in the league. And all of those have been fumble recoveries.

Incredibly, the Jets have yet to intercept a pass through 17 games. All other teams in the NFL have at least six interceptions on the year.

Unless Glenn's defenders find inspiration and come up with one during a road test against Josh Allen's Bills in Week 18, they will become the first team in the history of the NFL not to have an interception in a season.

Per StatMuse, the 2018 San Francisco 49ers currently hold the record for fewest picks in a year with two. The 2020 Houston Texans and 1982 Houston Oilers are next with three each.

Also, and this is important, opposing quarterbacks have been enjoying a ton of success against the Jets defense in addition to not turning the ball over.

Again, improving these numbers and somehow avoiding unfortunate history now must be done against Josh Allen. So there's a very good chance Jets fans will have to wait nine more months until they get to experience the joy that comes with a secondary flipping momentum with a good hands play.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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