IT is a bloodthirsty, attack defense that destroys you physically and mentally, if not emotionally, with both brain and brawn, and opposing quarterbacks are advised to hide the women and children in their lives. A review of the tape of Sunday’s 16-9 Jets win over the Patriots showed that, much to Gisele Bundchen’s chagrin, Tom Brady was hit 23 times by the Bruise Brothers who Rex Ryan has turned loose on the NFL. That’s a high amount, even by the sadistic standards of the Jets’ rookie head coach — and a graybeard statue named Kerry Collins is next on the hit list.
“If we can rattle [Brady],” nickelback Donald Strickland said, “other opposing offenses, we’re sure we can rattle them.”
Ryan was asked whether the Jets rattled Brady with hits or pressures.
“It’s the combo platter: If you don’t knock him down, but you still hit the quarterback physically? Then that’s a hit,” Ryan said. “And that was the key to that game. We had to get pressure on him. If you bring three to get there, great. . . . Four, five, six, seven, eight . . . whatever it takes, we thought we had to do that.”
Brady may not have been sacked, but you can bet he reached for the Motrin yesterday. “I don’t believe that’s the highest total I’ve ever had,” Ryan said. “We had one where the guy was out with ‘general soreness’ the next week.”
When Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor was the most intimidating monster of the Meadowlands, he made certain that his defense dictated to the offense instead of the other way around. These Jets think that way.
“Offenses want to push the envelope on defense most of the time, but we try to push the envelope on the offense,” Strickland said.
They even lick the stamp, 11 tongues at once.
Nickname, anyone?
“Goons,” cornerback Ahmad Carroll said. “A bunch of goons. . . . People that don’t care, wanna just do anything. Goons.”
“Ouch!” tight end Dustin Keller said. “Nobody shies away from contact, and they’re physical, the most physical defense in the league. Especially for quarterbacks: Ouch!”
Joe Klecko, the greatest defensive player in Jets history, doesn’t hesitate when you ask him to describe these Bruise Brothers.
“Knock the snot out of somebody,” Klecko said. “It ain’t really hard to figure out what they’re doing. You don’t rattle Tom Brady very much, right? Well, they did a pretty good job.”
Why is this defense so intimidating? “You don’t know what he’s coming with,” Klecko said. “They’re just scary. And not only that, they don’t let you block ’em. These guys want to get there. They come from all over.”
It will be even scarier once Ryan’s best pass rusher, Calvin Pace, returns after Week 4 from a suspension. What’s the difference between last year’s Eric Mangini defense, which recorded 29 sacks at the halfway point before fading, and this year’s defense?
“It’s vanilla to helter skelter,” Klecko said.
The New York Sack Exchange (66 sacks in 1981) savaged the quarterback with Klecko (20½), Mark Gastineau (20), Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam. “We brought the four guys and that was it,” Klecko said, “and nobody could handle us. But this team has talent all over the place. When you put that kind of talent together and Rex’s mind? Wow!”
Klecko loved playing for his Jets coach, Walt Michaels. He would have loved playing for Ryan, son of legendary coach Buddy Ryan. “Now you got a football coach,” Klecko said. “Wow! What a difference! He’s his dad. He’s his dad calmed down.”
When you can leave your shutdown corner, Darrelle Revis, on a guy like Randy Moss, it is a luxury few teams own. “You give him one-on-one coverage,” Klecko said, “you can do anything.”
Moss insisted yesterday that Revis had help.
“He was supposed to say that,” Revis said. “You just gotta show respect to where it’s due. If it’s not your day on Sunday it’s not your day. We played a lot of Cover 1. The only time we played Cover 2 was in the fourth quarter ’cause we didn’t want to give up no big touchdown pass. We won, he had four catches for 24 yards, that’s just what it is.”
The best is yet to come.
“The trust factor on this team is so high, it’s great,” Revis said. “I never been around a defense like this, that guys who care about their job, and no one’ll let their teammate down.”