FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -The New York Jets were once a force on defense, slamming quarterbacks to the turf and stuffing running backs with a swarming presence every week.
That dominance is now a frustrating memory.
“For us as a defense, are we disappointed we’re at where we’re at? Yeah, but that isn’t going to do anything,” defensive end Kenyon Coleman said Tuesday. “Mourning about it isn’t going to fix it. You just have to go back to the basics and do what you do. It can’t rain forever.”
Sure, but the defense has endured a storm of criticism during the last several weeks as opponents have exposed the Jets as a very beatable unit that has been outperformed and appeared weary down the stretch. The performance – or lack of it – has both coach Eric Mangini and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton on the hot seat.
aun Ellis said. “I think we’ve been off- balance a lot. The sacks were coming early in the year and now we’re struggling to get sacks and get pressures. Those things correlate with the passing game. It goes hand in hand. You can’t give up 200, 300 yards and get sacks with it.”
The Jets have only five sacks and allowed an average of 365 net yards in the four games since their impressive back-to-back victories at New England and Tennessee. Against Seattle’s makeshift offensive line, the Jets were held without a sack for the third time in five games.
New York has 40 sacks overall, led by eight by Ellis, who has just one of them in the last seven games.
“We’re getting blocked, man,” Ellis said. “They get paid over there, too. We’re getting blocked. We’ve just got to beat our guys, recognize the protection and just get there. We’ve faced a lot of different types of quarterbacks who move different ways. We were getting them earlier and we’ve been in a little bit of a slump here and there, but we’re still pursuing and rushing and just trying to put pressure on the quarterback.”
rusher until this four-game stretch.
“It has been tough, but it’s football, man,” Coleman said. “It’s up, it’s down and it’s just really a parable of life. That’s what football is. You can’t get too high and you can’t get too low. You’ve just got to do what you do and keep fighting.”
The struggles on defense have been a major factor in the team’s collapse from Super Bowl contenders just a month ago, when New York was 8-3 and in control of the AFC East. Now at 9-6, the Jets need to win Sunday against Miami and then hope for some help to even get into the playoffs.
“We got into the funk and it kind of just kept on going,” nose tackle Kris Jenkins said. “Right now, the reality of the situation is we’ve been painted in the corner. Our backs are against the wall and we need to find a way to survive, and we need help or it’s going to be a new season.”
Jenkins, acquired from Carolina in the offseason, was impressive through the first half of the season and was the perfect fit as a prototypical nose tackle in the Jets’ 3-4 defense. But he has appeared to wear down while the run defense has suffered.
“Kris is not a one-man band,” coach Eric Mangini said, refusing to single out Jenkins for the struggles. “It’s the whole defensive group playing sound defense.”
ntly ranks 29th despite having a Pro Bowl cornerback in Darrelle Revis and a rising star in safety Kerry Rhodes. Ty Law has had minimal impact at right cornerback since joining the Jets six weeks ago and replacing rookie Dwight Lowery. The other safety spot has been a revolving door with Abram Elam, Eric Smith and David Barrett all taking their shots.
“We’re in this situation because of us not making the plays we’re supposed to make and had a chance to make,” linebacker Calvin Pace said, referring to the defense as a whole.
New York has one more opportunity to make a strong defensive stand, and it comes against Miami and Chad Pennington on Sunday. If the Jets beat their former quarterback and New England loses, they win the AFC East. They can still make the playoffs as a wild card if they and New England win and Baltimore loses to Jacksonville.
“I’m not as depressed as I was on Sunday, I’ll be honest with you,” Jenkins said. “There’s still a light at the end of the tunnel right now. We just have to make sure we go out and do some things. We need to win this game on Sunday. There’s no question about it.”
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