FanPost

Bring Back the Overload Blitz

I want to preface this fanpost with the notion that I am writing this mostly for myself. If I don't write every so often, I get an itch. It is also the perfect time of year to think "what if".

In 2009 the Jets were the most blitz happy team in the league. They also had the best defense in the league. Teams eventually figured out exactly what the Jets were doing, and were able to game plan for it. If you notice, there is no perfect offense or defense in the NFL. With time, everyone figures out what the other team is doing and how to plan around it. The west coast worked, then the spread worked, then the 2 TE package worked. Does it mean that the west coast offense is inept now? No, it just means that after a team runs it, the other teams can spend an entire week trying to learn plan how to defeat it.

The Jets began moving away from the blitz after the 2010 season. We're entering the 2014 season. It has been long enough that teams no longer game plan on how to defeat Rex's crazy blitzes. Do they know or could they find out how to? Given time, sure. Could the Jets charge into the season and take some of their early opponents by surprise? I think so.

in 2009 and 2010 we had 2 amazing corners, but no one to rush the QB. We were betting that those CB's could hold the own until someone made it back there. Now we have the strongest DL in football. We have a speedster at LB in Davis instead of the slow Bart Scott. We have Coples who is begging to pin his ears back and run no matter where he is lined up. We have Barnes coming back from an injury, who showed he can still chase down the QB. We even have a couple rookies who made names for themselves for rushing the QB. They are Ik Enemkpali and Trevor Reilly. There is no question we don't have the same caliber CB's that we did back then. I also don't think there's any question that we have far more talent rushing the QB than we did back then. Before we were counting on Revis and Cro more so than our rushers. We counted on them to stay on their men long enough that someone would get there. Now I think we can count on our pass rushers to get there before the coverage breaks down.

While our CB position is weaker than it was, our safety position looks to be stronger. Only time will tell if Pryor is as good as he is billed, but if he is, this could be the best tandem that Rex has ever had. There were times he was counting on Jim Leonhard and Eric Smith. Neither was fierce in coverage or rushing. Now you have a very athletic duo in Allen and Pryor. Allen played a hybrid LB/S role in college, meaning he is more than capable on the blitz. He also seems to be improving in coverage. Pryor is known for laying the wood. He is big and fast. Could the improved safety position mask the CB deficiency? I think it very well could.

I don't foresee us taking the league by storm and having the #1 defense again this season simply by bringing back the blitz in a big way. I do think that our roughest stretch of the season is early. We face some real powerhouses in weeks 2-7. On paper we should lose all of those games. In reality, we should squeak out a win or two. If we come out swinging the lumber, and surprise the league again, we might steal 3 out of the 6. If we come out of week 7 at 4-3 I don't think anyone could complain. Surprising the league is the only way I can see that happening. I think we need to surprise them with the blitz again. Let Rex send his dogs to win him some games that he should lose.

This is a FanPost written by a registered member of this site. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not those of anybody affiliated with Gang Green Nation or SB Nation.