The evasive Eric Mangini would rather give a quart of blood than a hint of what goes on in the Jets’ film rooms, so getting an answer on what kind of changes the coach has made during bye weeks is like getting an answer from the CIA. But for the second straight season, whatever changes Mangini has made have turned out golden.
The Jets were off yesterday, still basking in the afterglow of Sunday’s 40-13 laugher at Miami. They forced a season-high five turnovers in their best defensive performance of the season – a season that again turned with some tinkering by Mangini during the bye three weeks ago.
“There were multiple things we changed defensively that we either expanded or took out. I wouldn’t say it’s one glaring thing [where we said] ‘OK, that’s it. I don’t know how we missed that pink elephant, that’s the one,’ ” said Mangini, who insists his defense wasn’t really as bad as it looked early in the year, and has improved as new players settled in.
“We’ve had different people working this scheme this year,” he said, alluding to four new starters: first-round pick Darrelle Revis, Abram Elam, Kenyon Coleman and David Harris. “As those reps build and those people work together, and you get a chance to step back and look at some of the assumptions you made going into the season versus what the reality is . . . it all plays in together.”
Whatever assumptions Mangini has corrected, the results have been solid.
Last year the Jets surrendered 24.1 points-per-game before their bye, but came out of their week off with an emotionally-charged 17-14 upset win at New England, and held their opponents to 12.75 points the rest of the campaign. This season has been the same.
They lost eight of their nine games through the bye week, allowing 25.3 points and ranking 30th in total defense. But they came out of their bye week with a 19-16 upset victory over Pittsburgh, and, after stumbling in Dallas, didn’t allow an offensive touchdown Sunday.
“Our record is really not reflective of the team that we are,” linebacker Victor Hobson said. “It was a big deal for us.”
The Jets were able to pressure Dolphins rookie quarterback John Beck despite not blitzing as much as usual, and they didn’t let any receivers get open deep. Much of that was due to the continued development of Revis, who after getting burned in the slot Week 4 against Buffalo, had an interception in the Jets’ second game against the Bills (Oct. 28) and another pick Sunday.
“He’s made quite a bit of improvement,” Mangini said. “It may not be big jumps, but he has very good work ethic. He takes the coaching and puts it into his practice and preparation the next week . . . As long as he continues to work the way he does, he’ll continue to improve every day.”