The New York Jets have built a defense on physicality, and it battered the Bills

The unit shut down one of the best offenses in the league with sheer physicality

If I were to tell you in the preseason that the New York Jets would be the first team in the NFL to get past their preseason win total, you probably would’ve laughed me out of whatever room we were in.

However, the New York Jets are at 6-3 after a 20-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills that saw the Jets defense give star QB Josh Allen and the high flying Bills offense fits for 60 minutes. Allen’s -0.01 Expected Points Added (EPA) per attempt was the lowest total in a game for Allen since last year and was sacked five times.

The Jets are different team in terms of their body composition on defense. They’re a lot like the Tennessee Titans with the body composition on the defensive line. They don’t have many speed rushers, guys that’ll bend the corner. They have guys that are, in a word, ass-kickers up front. They’re powerful and disruptive, and opt to go through linemen and extra tight ends instead of going around them. John Franklin-Myers is the starting DE on this team, and he’s 6’4 and 290 pounds.

This is beneficial against QBs like Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, who are so lethal out of the pocket, because they aim to crush the pocket instead of bending around it. They constrict the airspace and lean on their star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to get pressure up the middle, right in the QBs face.

However, the physicality extends beyond the defensive line. The linebackers and secondary both play with their hair on fire, and against the Bills, used their physicality to disrupt a lot of routes and route timing. This buys the defensive line more time to get to the QB, and create disruption up front as well.

Quinnen Williams’ sack on Josh Allen is a perfect example. The Bills are trying to run a stick concept, and Josh Allen looks at WR Stefon Diggs first. However, CB Sauce Gardner completely jams Diggs at the line of scrimmage, throwing off the timing. It forces Allen to look to the other side, and by that time, Williams is in his face. Watch Allen’s head go to Diggs first, then have to work back to the other side when he sees him get disengaged by Gardner. It’s great overall team defense and more importantly, it’s complementary defense.

In addition, the Jets are getting great play in the back half of their defense, and are trusting their guys to do a lot of different things on the back end. New York did a lot of late rotation against the Bills, going from two high to single high, and trusting safety Jordan Whitehead to make plays coming down into the box in the run game or in the passing game. On this play, the Bills are running a bender across Whitehead’s face, in order to hit Diggs on an over route behind him. Whitehead doesn’t take the cheese, but instead baits Allen into almost throwing an interception.

Through nine games, the Jets are seventh in total defensive EPA per play and are one of two teams to be ranked in the top ten of both passing and rushing DVOA on defense. Head coach Robert Saleh has finally found the defense that works in New York, and it’s a scary sight for other teams.