Three Things to Watch from the Jets in Week 12
Break up the New York Jets.
Winners of two straight games, the Jets do have a good thing right now. They beat two pretty bad teams the past couple of weeks, but they did so with just one turnover during that stretch and some big plays on defense.
And while the Jets, (3-7), face a big challenge at home to the Oakland Raiders (6-4), this is a measuring stick type of game for head coach Adam Gase’s team. The Jets have some very winnable games over the next few weeks but the Raiders are a team that looked poor last week against the winless Cincinnati Bengals and could be set for a tough match-up.
They will have to battle a 1 P.M. kickoff as a West Coast team as well as taking on a Jets team that is playing well and efficiently.
‘Three Things to Watch from the Jets in Week 12’:
Of course, Adams… - Jamal Adams has put together quite the little stretch, with five sacks over the past two games. Adams has been effective coming off the edge, his safety blitz creating all sorts of issues given his blend of strength and speed.
Oakland, of course, will be dialed into this. Which makes it all the more interesting.
The Raiders don’t run the play-action very often, but this could be a game where it could be utilized to neutralize Adams and open up shots down the field where the safety vacated his space to blitz. Adams, while effective off the edge, should continue to blitz but he might be more effective as a decoy and then dropping back into coverage in this game.
Let Adams blitz from time to time, but also throw confusion at the Raiders by showing blitz and then dropping him into the passing lines. It might create some confusion and a turnover or two.
The Run Defense – Going against one of the best running backs in the NFL in Josh Jacobs, the Jets run defense will be tested on Sunday.
A big physical back, Jacobs is effective after contact. But the Jets have the league’s best run defense, allowing just 3.0 yards per carry and 791 rushing yards this year.
If the Jets can limit Jacobs from churning out tough yards, it will help make Jon Gruden’s offense one-dimensional and force long third downs. For what it’s worth, the Raiders are the third-best team in the league on third down, in large part because they create so many short yardage situations.
No More Flags – The Jets have struggled with penalties all year long, this last week in a win at Washington a rarity where they didn’t top the boxscore in penalties or penalty yardage.
The Jets have been whistled 81 times this year, fourth-most in the league. From that, 29 of all Jets penalties have led to an opponent first down, third-most in the league. This has extended drives and led to a myriad of issues including poor starting field position for the offense when the Jets defense does get off the field.
Having cut back on their turnovers the past two games, the Jets could go a long way towards being competitive and winning a few more games if these costly penalties can be curtailed.
