NY Jets: Dropping and Jamming the Pass Rush

One thing that stuck out to me watching Sunday's game against the Steelers live was the frequency with which the Jets were kicking Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson out wide to help with coverage.

There were points where Richardson dropped into coverage, but other times there were more subtle moves. Richardson or Wilkerson might have bumped an inside receiver or tight end off the line before rushing the passer or drop a bit to clog the passing lane.

I think more than anything, this might be a sign of a coaching staff coming to grips with the fact it cannot depend on its secondary to do a whole lot and trying anything to help the pass defense. I know Darrelle Revis was out, and Pittsburgh is as dynamic of a passing offense as exists in the NFL, but this speaks volumes about the lack of faith this coaching staff has in the back of its defense and with good reason.

I don't know that you can say this necessarily had a huge impact in the game. The Jets did not do this for the majority of their snaps. It seemed to happen less frequently as the game progressed, and the results were mixed with some good and some bad.

I do think in general as an offense I'm happy when quality pass rushers from an opponent are doing something other than rushing the passer. You cannot say the struggles of the Jets to get to Roethlisberger were purely a result of this. Again, the Jets were not doing this most of the time, and there were other guys who could have won their matchups. Still, there were a number of instances where Wilkerson and/or Richardson were either delayed getting into the pass rush because they were bumping a receiver or didn't rush at all because they were covering. I don't know that this is a solution to the problems this team faces.