Jets Film Review: No Failure to Communicate

Last year breaking down what happened for the Jets was a difficult job. Sure, part of it was just due to the team being bad, but it got boring and repetitive. Practically every week there was a breakdown on defense that was so bad that I couldn’t offer analysis better than, “The Jets need to recognize and communicate better.”

Marcus Maye’s interception on Sunday stood out to me for the contrast it provided between last year’s defense and this year’s defense.

As a tight end was going in motion on the goal line, Jordan Jenkins was pointing him out. Presumably, it was Jenkins’ responsibility to cover him initially, but Jenkins was never going to be able to get to the other side of the formation so he called this out.

Maye picked up the signal, read the play, and played coverage.

In truth, this is a very difficult play to defend on the goal line. Had Deshone Kizer made a better throw it could have been a touchdown, and there might not have been the Jets could do aside from tip their cap.

But this is an example of communication working. Good things happen for a defense when it actually forces the offense to execute. If the Jets don’t communicate well here, the tight end would have been wide open, and this would have been an easy pass for Kizer. The way this was defended forced Kizer to throw a good ball, and he was not up to the task.

Maye was all too happy to take advantage.