Jets vs. Chargers: Scheme Can Only Hide So Much

Rex Ryan's game plan from Sunday against the San Diego Chargers is being heavily scrutinized in many quarters. In particular folks are critical of the propensity he showed to blitz. Pro Football Focus; stats from the game provide some insight into why the schematic issues are perhaps overblown.

Philip Rivers Sunday

When the Jets blitzed: 13/17, 76.5%,  159 yards, 9.4 yards per attempt, 2 TD, 0 INT, 144 rating

When the Jets didn't blitz: 7/11, 63.6%, 129 yards, 11.7 yards per attempt, 1 TD, 1 INT, 96.4 rating

Rivers still picked the Jets apart when they didn't blitz. What is even more troubling is PFF notes the Jets got pressure on 13 of Rivers' 32 dropbacks. That's an astonishing pressure rate of 40.6%. For some context, Austin Davis is the most frequently pressured passer in the NFL this year. He's seeing pressure on 40.4% of his dropbacks.

There is plenty to get on Rex Ryan about. His performance leaves him open to a lot of scrutiny, but there is no way to hide an entire secondary. On some of these blitzes that resulted in big plays, members of the secondary were given fairly easy assignments and were incapable of executing them.

The fact the Jets weren't totally annihilated by the pass during the first four weeks of the season is at least partially owed to Rex Ryan's smoke and mirrors. Against San Diego Philip Rivers seemed to know what was coming, indicating perhaps Rex has carried this secondary as far as he can. A coach can only do so much when his players aren't good enough to execute simple calls.