ISLE BE READY: Darrelle Revis said he has to stay focused against Tim Tebow and the running Broncos.
The Jets have spent the past two days preparing for Tim Tebow and the Broncos’ option offense. If you ask cornerback Darrelle Revis, they won’t ever have to do it again.
Revis said the Broncos cannot continue running the option with Tebow at quarterback. Revis said he believes the only way that an option attack is sustainable is to have a dream team backfield.
“Yeah [the option can work], if you have Michael Vick and, I don’t know, Chris Johnson at running back,” Revis said. “Yeah, it can work. Those are probably the two fastest guys that can probably get out on the edge on you. Yeah, those two.”
The Jets face a Broncos team tomorrow night in Denver with Tebow at the controls. So can Tebow make the option work in the long term?
“No,” Revis said. “No, not for a whole season. Because we know what they’re doing, and we feel comfortable in our game plan.”
That game plan is to hit Tebow hard, several defensive players said. The Jets hope to force Tebow to throw after he attempted just eight passes, completing two, against the Chiefs last week.
“Up front, it’s going to be a fun game for us,” defensive lineman Marcus Dixon said. “We just need to come off the ball, knock people back and get tackles for loss. We have to force them to throw the ball.
“You’ve got to get them out of that read [option] by tattooing the quarterback.”
Tebow has started only for four games, so there is a limited amount of game film the Jets can study. Rex Ryan mentioned that his brother, Rob, had to scheme against Tebow in the preseason when the Cowboys and Broncos met. They surely have discussed it this week.
Ryan also feels facing the Wildcat is similar.
“I think we’re fortunate because we had Brad Smith here for the two years,” Ryan said. “We would work against that in training camp and all that. Now, it’s a little different, but it’s similar as well. So I think that helps us. Obviously he’s a legitimate quarterback, where most guys, we used to see Miami run their version of the Wildcat with a great running back in Ronnie Brown. But, obviously, Ronnie wasn’t a great thrower. We do have experience against the Wildcat before. Tebow is obviously a better passer than most guys back there.”
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The Jets have used 41-year-old backup quarterback Mark Brunell as the scout team Tebow the last two days. When asked what similarities the two possess, Brunell said, “I’m left-handed and he is left-handed. That’s about it.”
Ryan can also draw on his experience as a college coach for this game. Ryan coached at Cincinnati and Oklahoma as well as smaller schools. In 1999, Ryan published a book called “Coaching Football’s 46 Defense” from Coaches Choice publishers. In it, he details his approach to stopping the option.
The Jets rarely run the true 46 defense Ryan writes about. But he might break it out tomorrow.
“If properly coached, the 46 defense cannot only cope with the option attack, it will break it down and destroy any hope for success,” Ryan writes.
Jets defenders stressed how important it is for them to play assignment football and to have sound tackling.
“It’s like man coverage up front where this person is assigned to one spot, another person is assigned to this spot,” nose tackle Sione Pouha said. “That’s why it’s equally important to do your job, but it’s equally important to trust the guy next to you, the guy behind you to do their job, too. Everybody has a role to stop things on that offense.”
When asked how much falls on the defensive line, Pouha said, “The world.”
While Tebow completed just two passes last week, one was a 56-yard touchdown. The challenge for the secondary is to stay alert.
“You cannot go to sleep,” Revis said. “This is a game where there’s probably going to be a lot of running, that can kind of lull you to sleep when they run play after play. We’ve just got to keep our eyes on the receiver and, when it’s time, just focus on the play.”