The New York Jets are 5-3 this season and have done so despite a huge gap between their offense and their defense.
In fact, if you ask the folks at Pro Football Focus, the gap between the two units can’t get any worse. The Jets have the No. 1 overall defensive grade from PFF (83.8) and the No. 32 offensive grade (62.4).
So, this is wild: PFF's team rankings for the #Jets
Offense: 32nd
Defense: 1st— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) October 31, 2022
Let’s start with the positive side. The Jets have been incredible at all levels on defense, especially in coverage and in pass rush. The Jets’ 87.7 coverage grade ranks 2nd in the NFL behind only the Denver Broncos’ 90.7 while their pass-rush grade of 79.0 is tied for 4th with the Philadelphia Eagles and behind only the Dallas Cowboys (84.6), Buffalo Bills (84.5) and Tennessee Titans (80.4).
Jeff Ulbrich has done a great job with this unit, a big reason why the Jets have won five of their first eight games.
Now for the flip side. It’s no secret the passing game has not been great over the past few weeks. Well, PFF’s passing grade for the Jets so far is a measly 52.8. Only one team has a worse grade in that department and that is the Chicago Bears (51.2).
While Zach Wilson has struggled to throw the football, he hasn’t had much help in front of him either as the Jets continue their carousel on the offensive line. As a result, the pass-blocking and run-blocking grades are not pretty either, at 54.7 and 55.0, respectively. That’s fourth-worst in pass-blocking and sixth-worst in run-blocking.
That is quite the disconnect between the offense and the defense. You can add special teams in there as well in connection with the defense. Despite the special teams’ issues in Week 8, New York still boasts a grade of 91.4 on the unit, which is tied for 2nd with the Washington Commanders and, interestingly enough, the Bears. That’s also just 0.1 points behind PFF’s No. 1 unit, the Titans.
Add it all up and the Jets have a 78.1 overall grade as a team, good for 11th in the league. So, using this metric, the defense and special teams truly are the biggest reasons why the Jets are 5-3 and in the playoff hunt at the midway point of the season.
