2018 New York Jets Coverage Stats: Week 13

The Jets defense failed to hold up at the end of a close game yet again. Let’s take a look at the numbers posted by the team in coverage.

Previous editions: Pre 1, Pre 2, Pre 3, Pre 4, W1-DET, W2-MIA, W3-CLE, W4-JAX, W5-DEN, W6-IND, W7-MIN, W8-CHI, W9-MIA, W10-BUF, W12-NE

RULES

• The coverage numbers include only legitimate targets into the general area of a receiver/defender; throws in which a defender in coverage was directly involved the outcome. Throwaways and deflections at the line are excluded.
• The stats for each individual are that of the quarterback’s passing numbers when targeting the individual’s matchup. A player could receive coverage credit even if a teammate finished the play. For example, against Denver this season, Morris Claiborne tipped a pass in this direction that ended up being intercepted by Marcus Maye. I credited Claiborne with that interception.
• Penalties and pass breakups counted are only those accumulated in coverage. Penalties/PBUs picked up on blitzes, or penalties tackling another player’s responsibility, are not included. PBUs and INTs in the box score are not exclusive to one another.
• “Burns mitigated by opponent miscue,” or “miscues” (M) are included in charting to attempt to knock defenders who benefited from an egregious error by the offense (drop, horrible throw) and give perspective to the validity of their raw stats. A defender can still register an interception or incompletion to his credit on a miscued play.

Here are the individual numbers for the Jets against Tennessee.

Next, let’s take a look at the coverage numbers broken down by individual player-vs.-player matchups and man coverage vs. zone coverage.

Some takeaways:

• A very flashy game for Trumaine Johnson. He finally made a huge play, picking off his second pass of the year and taking it the distance. Overall he allowed only one catch for seven yards on eight targets, bringing his passer rating allowed on the season down to 72.1.

It was definitely one of Johnson’s better games of the season, but it was not quite as dominant as that statline would suggest. He was bailed out by poor throws on a pair of easy should-be first downs. He also committed a crucial facemask penalty late in the game (not charted above since it was not in coverage).

Nevertheless, Johnson did play a solid game overall and took another step in the right direction.

• Only one catch for three yards allowed on three targets for Buster Skrine. He had his way with Tajae Sharpe in the slot, winning with physicality. Skrine has only seen four targets over the past two games.
• Morris Claiborne allowed a season-high 94 yards, giving up receptions of 22, 28, and 44 yards. He added three penalties, two of which were accepted and the other declined. His early season fire has cooled. He’s allowed 235 yards on 15 targets over the past four games, a brutal 15.7 yards per target.

CLIPS

Throughout the afternoon, we saw a few examples of the physical press coverage ability that earned Johnson such a hefty contract. In addition to his pick six, this rep to start the game was one of them. Johnson matches up with Corey Davis on the left side at the top of your screen. He gets an early jab in as Davis tries to win the inside, and remains physical through the top of the route. Davis’ timing is thrown off and he isn’t ready to make a play for the ball.

Of course, the pick six was the highlight of Johnson’s day. Johnson lines up 1-on-1 on the left side (up top) against Cameron Batson. Wonderful job here getting underneath the rub, and using physicality to knock Batson off of his path. He uses that 95th-percentile height and arm length to go up and snag the pick over the 5’8, 175 pound Batson. Touchdown.

Here is how the Jets are stacking up through twelve games. I added a new stat to the chart - success rate. It takes the player’s ability to prevent first downs and adjusts it for penalties and mitigated burns.