After each game, we typically highlight three defensive and three offensive players and look in detail at their performance. We’ll start today with the defense:
Prince Phillips
Word from inside the locker room is that Harrison Phillips has become one of the main leaders backstage since his arrival before the season. That makes sense given the injuries, trades and benchings that have affected the team’s captains this year.
In that regard, Phillips recent play has been inspirational, as he’s been dealing with a foot issue that has him wearing a surgical boot for a day or two after each game. Even so, he’s been playing through the pain and anchoring a Jets’ line that is doing well even after Quinnen Williams’ departure.
On Sunday, the Jets held an opponent below 100 yards for the second game in a row. This is the first time they’ve done that back-to-back all season, after only having done it twice in the first nine games. This week they did it against the team with the sixth-ranked running game in the NFL.
Phillips was a big part of that effort as his six tackles all came within four yards or less of the line of scrimmage.
There was also a unique play where two Jets, including Phillips, were credited with passes defensed on the same snap. It was 3rd-and-goal and Phillips got his hands up to deflect the pass to the tight end. However, the intended receiver still got his hands on the ball only for Tony Adams to then knock it out so he got credit too.
Unofficial guidance suggests it’s up to the scorer but if two players each make a significant and distinct contribution to the incompletion, multiple players with a pass defensed is possible albeit rare. The team only had one other pass defensed all day.
Of course, if the ball was caught, then Phillips would get no credit at all for a deflection so it’s a bit of an anomaly.
That aside, he continues to impress and the Jets have to be considering bringing him back as he is under contract next year.
Oliver the place
The Jets set their personnel packages in such a way as to counter the Ravens’ run threat as Jarvis Brownlee’s playing time was down and Isaiah Oliver and Kiko Mauigoa both played more than usual.
Oliver was in on three tackles officially and certainly made contributions in terms of being able to limit rushing yardage.
However, when he was tested in coverage, Oliver let the Jets down a couple of times. He had a bad 34-yard pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-15 to set up the Ravens’ first touchdown in the third quarter, failing to get his head turned around on that play. He also had this bad missed tackle on the next drive, one play after the Jets turned the ball over on downs.
Oliver’s versatility is a good asset but the wisdom of using him in situations where Brownlee could have been used instead is questionable.
Brownlee had some penalties and other mistakes in recent weeks, but if the idea was to improve their size and physicality against the run by using Oliver instead of Brownlee, that seems counter-productive because Brownlee is good in those situations, as he showed with back-to-back stuffs near the goal line in the second half.
Problematic ‘wood
Jamien Sherwood is always going to be at the center of the blame when the Jets have defensive struggles but, by the same token, perhaps he deserves some credit for when they play well, as they did in the first half.
The box score shows that Sherwood led the team with 13 tackles – more than twice as many as any other Jets player – although he didn’t have a tackle for loss, quarterback hit, pass defensed or any other kind of impact play.
While a few of those tackles were close to the line of scrimmage, the majority were not. He made a good stop against the run here, albeit late in the game.
In coverage, Sherwood only gave up one first down on three targets, as he was half a step late to get across to Mark Andrews in zone coverage near the marker. On a similar play, he got there right on time to stop Derrick Henry for a gain of five.
Of course, when you drop into coverage against the Ravens, you also need to be wary of Lamar Jackson’s run threat and Sherwood played his part in limiting that (although Jackson being less than 100 percent probably played more of a part).
There have been calls for Sherwood to be replaced or moved into a different role where he has less on his plate but these things are both probably unlikely. With upgrades in personnel around him (including the natural development of some youngsters) and his own comfort level improving with time, the Jets will be hoping that any recent improvements are signs that the defensive foundation is in place with Sherwood at the controls and that this will make them a more consistently competitive team going forwards.
Honestly, though, nobody could be blamed for feeling that Sherwood has been underwhelming and doesn’t make enough impact plays to warrant his status. Let’s see if he has it in him to step it up.
Three-on-O will follow tomorrow.