The NFL is a cutthroat league. If a team has an Achilles’ heel, opponents will attack it quickly and repeatedly.
The Jets’ weakness has been defending the deep ball, something the Bills exploited last week, and something the Jets know they will get a heavy dose of Sunday in Baltimore.
“We didn’t play as well as we could play [last Sunday], that’s obvious. We just let balls go over our head,’’ defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said. “We knew they had two guys that could run, and we were aware of that, and yet it happened anyway. Are we pleased with that? No. Do we have to correct it? Yes. We need to correct it pretty quickly.’’
After getting torched deep in the 37-14 loss in Buffalo, the secondary stayed out on the field Thursday doing Buddy Ryan drills — competitive drills on downfield passes named for the former NFL coach and the father of Jets coach Rex Ryan. The purpose was about as obvious as it was needed.
“Take care of the deep ball,’’ Thurman said. “Any time you have weakness in this league, they’re going to exploit it until you get it corrected. So if balls are going over your head, you’d better correct it pretty quickly, otherwise its due to happen again, and it’ll happen pretty quickly.’’
The Jets already have allowed 10 passing plays over 40 yards, fourth-worst in the NFL. To fully grasp how bad that is, one needs perspective on just how good they’ve been during Ryan’s tenure.
They did cough up 10 40-yard plays in 2011, but they finished first in 2009 with just three all season, tied for second last year with four, and tied for fourth in 2010 with five. To be on pace for 16 is concerning, and to a man the players said the devil is in the details.
“If I saw a team that’s been struggling covering deep balls, I’d throw a lot down[field],’’ cornerback Antonio Cromartie said. “It’s not that we’re flat-out getting beat, its little things about technique, making sure our eyes go back to the receiver instead of the backfield, finding where the ball is. It’s just little things we’ve got to do.’’
They’ve done a poor job locating the ball in the air, leading to Cromartie giving up Marquise Goodwin’s 43-yard TD and Dee Milliner surrendering T.J. Graham’s 34-yarder on an underthrown ball that got caught up in the wind last Sunday.
“Last couple games we got beat [deep], so we’re just trying to harp on it, make it comes to a stop. … It’s on film. [The Ravens] are going to have it in their game plan,’’ said Milliner, who acknowledged a technique flaw on Graham’s score. “In that situation, as opposed to man-turn, I should’ve zone-turned. When I turned back to the ball, I was supposed to have turned the other way.’’
Between QB Joe Flacco’s ability to throw deep, receiver Torrey Smith’s speed and their own failings and frailties, Gang Green expect to have to deal with a heavy dose of Ravens attempts downfield.
“Flacco’s got a huge arm and … this is a vertical passing team, so absolutely we’re expecting a lot of shots thrown at us,’’ said Ryan, who has considered using more Cover 2.
Ed Reed was brought in last week largely to help fix their vulnerability deep, and takes it as a personal challenge to help do so.
“Yeah I do, and I reiterated that to the secondary. We talked about it amongst ourselves. It’s got to be a conscious effort,’’ said Reed, who wore a shirt that had a picture of a football and said, “Wanted in the Air or on the Ground, $20,000,” but specified he wasn’t offering a bounty for turnovers.
“Sometimes it’s individual technique, sometimes its schematic, sometimes it’s situational,” Reed said. “It’s just a matter of execution … being where you’re supposed to be, protecting what you’re supposed to protect. You can’t cover every route.’’