New York Jets and Denver Broncos Are Familiar With Each Other to a Degree

NJ.com notes the Broncos played the Baltimore Ravens last week. Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison left Rex Ryan's scheme in place when Rex came to the Jets. It is possible they will see some of the same things they saw last week. There might be a degree of familiarity.

The same is true, though, of New York's defense facing Denver. The Jets are plenty familiar with the Broncos' offense. They see it twice each season. Josh McDaniels imported this system from New England. It is largely the same scheme the Jets shut down in Week 2. The biggest difference is they will be facing Kyle Orton instead of Tom Brady.

I think familiarity matters to a certain extent. Every piece of information a team gets can be valuable. Dwight Lowery credits his interception of Brett Favre to seal last week's win to recognizing Minnesota's tendency to run that route in a specific situation. I don't think anybody really believes the reason the Jets beat the Pats in the Meadowlands last season was their trade for Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell might have provided a useful insider tidbit or two or a play, player, or tendency that proved useful, though.

The Broncos might be familiar with some of the Jets' looks this week having experienced a lot of them last week. The same goes for what the Broncos will show New York's defense. The players are different, though. The coaches are different. So are their skills and tendencies.

I don't dismiss this effect entirely, but I think the impact will be subtle. Ultimately execution will matter much more. The Rex Ryan's defense did really well against Miami and Buffalo in Gang Green's second meetings with those teams a year ago even though those teams had seen the scheme. His defenses played at a high level in the AFC North all of those years in Baltimore.

The following question is the most telling part of the NJ.com article:

"How’d it work out for them?’’ linebacker Jason Taylor asked about the matchup between the
Broncos and Ravens.

As a matter of fact, it didn’t work out well for the Broncos, who lost, 31-17. Baltimore held the Broncos to 39 yards rushing in the game.