It was, as you saw, hardly artistic. But this is what the Jets’ 18-17 triumph over the Buccaneers in their season opener Sunday at MetLife Stadium was: A blueprint for the way they must do business, at least in the early part of this season.
Defense first. This has always been the Rex Ryan mantra and it has never been more important than it is right now for his team.
Those rookie mistakes quarterback Geno Smith made in victory in his NFL debut — a fumble inside his own 5-yard line and an interception to squelch a drive in Tampa Bay territory — will not be the last he makes in the coming weeks, beginning with Thursday night’s AFC East showdown against Bill Belichick and the rival Patriots.
The Jets also scare no one with their running game, with neither Bilal Powell (12 rushes for 29 yards Sunday) nor Chris Ivory (10 for 15 yards) to be mistaken for Adrian Peterson.
So consider Sunday’s defensive performance — holding the Buccaneers to just 12 first downs and 250 yards of offense, forcing two turnovers and a safety — the most likely path to victory for them until further notice, because this offense is not going to threaten any NFL scoring records.
“We’re going to have to be extraordinary this year, because we’re so young,’’ Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said. “Once Geno gets his feet under him and starts to feel comfortable in the pro game, then it’s going to really be good. But we’re going to have to hold them off a while [as a defense], and that’s fine with us. We had to do the same thing with Mark [Sanchez] when he was a rookie.’’
Pace, the elder statesman on the Jets’ defense, arrived at the stadium Sunday morning in an ornery mood after having been reminded by some of the NFL preview TV shows how little respect the outside world has for the Jets.
“I saw it [Sunday] on ESPN,’’ Pace said. “They said, ‘There’s no way they’re going to win.’ Well, we won. Don’t count us out.’’
When he was reminded by a reporter “a lot of people’’ have dismissed the Jets as one of the worst teams in the league, Pace said, “A lot of people?
Everybody
Let’s be real about this.
Everybody.
“For whatever reason, I guess there are some personal vendettas against the Jets — to pick us 32nd in the league,’’ Pace went on, referring to ESPN’s league “power rankings’’ recently released. “Don’t get me wrong, I know the last two years haven’t been up to our standards. But 32nd? We might not be the best, but we damn sure ain’t the worst. It’s motivation.’’
The Jets’ defense looked super motivated from the moment the Buccaneers offense took the field. The Jets smothered Tampa Bay Pro Bowl running back Doug Martin, who produced 1,926 yards from scrimmage last season (1,454 rushing), holding him to a quiet 65 rushing yards, a 2.7-yard average and two receptions for minus-1 yard. The defense forced a safety on the Bucs’ second possession.
The defense also had Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman (15-of-31, 210 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) rattled from the start. One of the two TDs the Bucs scored came after Smith fumbled the ball away at the Jets’ 5-yard line.
If this had been any of the last four years under the watch of the original, bombastic Ryan we came to know and be entertained by, he would have been crowing about his defense until he was hoarse last night. But, in sticking with his unfortunate change to meek and humble Rex — surely the result of a clam-up mandate by general manager John Idzik — Ryan refrained from chirping.
“We just compete out there as a team,’’ was the best Ryan could come up with when asked about the performance of his defense.
It had to kill Ryan not to brag about his defense, because more than anything else, on this day it was his defense that won the game. That might have to be the blueprint for the rest of the season if the Jets are going to shock the football world the way they hope to.