Jets vs. Steelers: Game info, where to watch, notes

Here’s everything you need to know for the Jets’ matchup with the Steelers.

The New York Jets will host their last home game of the season when the Pittsburgh Steelers come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

New York is getting back a bevy of key players from injuries in Jamal Adams, Quinnen Williams, Brian Poole and Arthur Maulet. It’s also a revenge game for Le’Veon Bell as he’s going up against his former team for the first time after spending the first five years of his career in Pittsburgh.

For the Jets, it’s all about gaining some confidence heading into next season. Sam Darnold needs to finish his sophomore season strong after a year that hasn’t gone as expected. Ending on a high note at MetLife would be a step in the right direction for Darnold heading into 2020.

Defensively, the Jets have to throw a variety of different looks at rookie quarterback Devlin Hodges. Gregg Williams has to disguise some coverages and send pressure to Hodges to force him to make mistakes.

As for the Steelers, they need this win in order to secure a spot in the playoffs. They are 8-6 on the season and are currently the six seed in the AFC Wild Card race. They control their own destiny and a win over the Jets would go a long way in helping them make the playoffs.

Here’s everything you need to know for Sunday’s game:

Who: New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
When: 1:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, December 22, 2019
Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
TV/Radio: CBS, ESPN 98.7 F.M. For a Spanish broadcast check out 1050 AM ESPN
Livestream: fuboTV (try it free)
Line: Steelers -3.5

Limiting Steelers’ running game among 4 keys to Jets defense

The potential return of Jamal Adams and Quinnen Williams should help the Jets defense stop the Steelers running game.

After getting shellacked by the Ravens last week, the Jets have had ample time to prepare for a Steelers squad whose playoff hopes are on life support.

New York is getting healthy on defense and could see the return of at least three key contributors this weekend. The game carries little meaning in the grand scheme of things, but a solid showing against Pittsburgh could help bolster the team’s mentality heading into the offseason as it gears up for next season.

The Steelers are a strange team. Their offense should be one of the best in the league with solid weapons in the receiving and running game, but they’ve struggled at times throughout the season due in large part to a rash of injuries. Nevertheless, they sit at 8-6 with a shot at the playoffs. They’re starting undrafted free agent rookie Devlin Hodges once again, who has struggled at times but remains 3-1 as a starter.

This game won’t define the Jets’ season, but it could define the Steelers if New York can hold off Pittsburgh. With that being said, here are four keys to the Jets defense in Week 16.

Sack the duck

The Steelers’ offense has been hit-or-miss with Devlin Hodges under center, but the Bills showed everyone this past week that pressuring Hodges can limit his ability to run the offense.

The Bills sacked Hodges four times last week and the young Steelers quarterback finished with four turnovers, and a 43.9 quarterback rating in a costly 17-10 loss.

The Jets haven’t been great at getting to the quarterback lately and could struggle against a Steelers offensive line that has allowed the 25th-most sacks in the league this season. Sacks will be hard to come by, but just pressuring Hodges might be enough to slow down Pittsburgh’s offense.

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Steelers QB Devlin Hodges gets starting nod against Jets in Week 16

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday that Devlin “Duck” Hodges will start against the Jets on Sunday.

The Jets are going to have a chance to go duck hunting when the Steelers come to town on Sunday.

Despite a rough performance against a Buffalo Bills defense he proclaimed nothing special on Sunday Night Football in Week 15, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced on Tuesday that Devlin “Duck” Hodges will start for Pittsburgh on Sunday.

“I think it’s reasonable to expect growth from young players as they get exposure,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes that exposure can be negative exposure, like his experience in the last game, but exposure nonetheless is a tool for growth.

“Particularly at the quarterback position, I think it’s reasonable to expect him to learn from those negative experiences from last Sunday night and apply it to this next opportunity and really, hopefully not make those same mistakes twice.”

Instead of pulling the plug on the rookie after one bad game, Tomlin is opting to give him a chance at redemption against a banged up Jets secondary in what is essentially a must-win game for a Steelers squad looking to remain in the hunt for the final AFC Wild Card spot. By keeping Hodges under center, Tomlin is placing a lot of faith in a player who never figured to be in this position.

An undrafted free agent out of FCS Samford, Hodges began 2019 at the bottom of Pittsburgh’s depth chart. A season-ending injury to Ben Roethlisberger moved up him to No. 2 behind Mason Rudolph before Hodges took over for the injured Rudolph in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Hodges played relatively well in his first career start, going 15-20 for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rudolph returned after Pittsburgh’s bye and took over center once again until Week 12, when he was yanked mid-game against the Bengals. Hodges relieved Rudolph in that game and has not relinquished the quarterback position since despite rather pedestrian stats. Hodges has only thrown for 884 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions, but has kept the Steelers in the playoff race with a 3-1 record.

Even with Gregg Williams throwing everything he has at him, it’s safe to assume Hodges will improve upon his four-interception performance against the Bills against a New York secondary that got torched by Lamar Jackson in its most recent outing and is in dire straits due to an assortment of injuries to key contributors.

If he doesn’t, let’s just say the duck might not be flying in Pittsburgh much longer.

Scouting the New York Jets for Week 15

A look at the New York Jets from a tactics and tendencies point of view as the Baltimore Ravens host them in Week 15

The Baltimore Ravens will look to extend their franchise-best winning streak on Thursday as they welcome the New York Jets to M&T Bank Stadium.

These two teams have played each other 10 times prior to this matchup. The Ravens own an 8-2 advantage but did lose the last time these two met in Week 7 of the 2016 season. 100 rushing yards and 54 receiving yards from Matt Forte was the catalyst behind a 24-16 win for the Jets at MetLife Stadium that day.

But with the Ravens hosting New York in a completely new season, let’s take a closer look at the Jets to see what we can expect to see from them on offense and defense.

Jets offense

It is hard to say anything overly positive about the Jets on offense this season. They have been quite dismal, sitting 31st in yards and 29th in points scored. The Jets are only slightly better at passing the ball than running it, as they are 30th in passing yards and 31st in rushing. Only 7% of the Jets offensive plays have gone for 20 yards or more this season, the 3rd lowest rate in the NFL.

The Jets are a predominantly shotgun offense, taking 66% of their offensive snaps out of the gun in 2019. They have a pass to run ratio of 62% to 38% and average a meager 6.6 yards per pass attempt against a fairly anemic 3.2 yards per rush. Jets quarterbacks have combined for 15 passing touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2019, and have absorbed 46 sacks. Their 9.9% sack rate allowed is the third-highest of all NFL teams. Only 22.7% of the Jets’ offensive drives have ended with a score. This ranks last in the NFL. 11.7% of their drives have ended in a turnover, which is 18th highest.

The Jets offensive efficiency, if one can call it as such, has translated across all of their formations. The one they use the most is 11 personnel, with three wide receivers a tight end and a single running back. They line up in this on 68% of their snaps and pass the ball 73% of the time when doing so. 11 of their passing touchdowns have come when they’ve been in 11, but so have 11 of their interceptions.

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Jets vs. Dolphins: Standings implications among 4 things to know in Week 14 clash

The Jets surprisingly lead the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed, but that will be the least of their concerns in their Week 14 clash.

How worse could the Jets get?

Well, a second loss to the Dolphins would certainly push the Jets below rock-bottom in an already-disappointing season. Though the playoffs are essentially unattainable in 2019, pride still exists and that’s what the Jets will be playing for in Miami in Week 14.

Injuries struck the Jets hard again this week, with starters Le’Veon Bell, Brian Poole and Jamal Adams all unlikely to play. That leaves only five players on the team who have played every game this season, as pointed out by The Athletic’s Connor Hughes. It’s not an excuse for poor play, but certainly a huge factor in the Jets’ pitiful 4-8 record.

Here are four things to know for Week 14.

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Stopping DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki among keys to Jets defense vs. Dolphins

The Jets defense must lock in on the Dolphins top receiving threats in this rematch of their Week 9 loss.

The only thing more demoralizing than losing to a previously winless team is doing it twice in one season.

The Jets accomplished just that in their loss to the then-0-11 Bengals in Week 13, just four weeks after they deliver the Dolphins’ first win of the 2019 season. This time the Jets will get the chance for revenge at home against a team that’s riding an offensive hot streak.

New York is severely depleted with a bevy of injuries including safety Jamal Adams, who’s recovering from an ankle injury. New York will likely lean on its dominant run defense again, though the Dolphins average the fewest rushing attempts and rushing yards of any team in the league. Miami will utilize its passing game, so the Jets should expect to see a lot of Ryan Fitzpatrick, DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki.

With that being said,here are four keys to the Jets defense against the Dolphins.

Focus on DeVante Parker

The Dolphins’ recent uptick in offensive production is due in large part to DeVante Parker finally breaking out and realizing his potential.

The wideout already reached career-highs with 854 receiving yards and six touchdowns and he’s secured at least six receptions and more than 90 yards in three consecutive games. He and Preston Williams tortured the Jets secondary when the two teams met back in Week 9. Now he’s the focal point of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s targets with Williams on injured reserve.

The Jets could have a tough time against the physical Parker, especially after giving up nine receptions for 125 yards and touchdown to the Bengals wideouts Tyler Boyd and Auden Tate a week ago. This will another good test for rookie Bless Austin to see if he’s truly capable of being a starting cornerback.

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Jets secondary vulnerable against Dolphins with key pieces missing

The Jets secondary will be vulnerable to the Dolphins this Sunday as they’re missing a ton of key pieces.

The Jets secondary is as depleted as it has ever been this season.

New York will likely be without its star safety Jamal Adams due to an ankle injury. Meanwhile, both Brian Poole (concussion) and Arthur Maulet (calf) are trending towards being out as well. That means the Jets will have only two members of their secondary playing in Sunday’s game that started in Week 1 in Marcus Maye and Darryl Roberts.

In other words, the unit is looking extremely vulnerable heading into Week 14.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has already coached up this defense to be respectable, but this might be his biggest challenge yet.

“He’ll have to get creative this week, which I’m sure he doesn’t mind,”Adam Gase said of Williams.

We could be seeing multiple players playing in different positions on Sunday. With Adams out, Roberts could see some time at safety as he played at that position for five games last season. As for the slot, Nate Hairston will have to play on the inside. To replace Maulet, the Jets will have to slide Maurice Canady to the outside. It’s not an ideal situation, but there’s not much else they can do to fix this.

“You have to have the contingency plans of what if somebody goes out, how are we shuffling things around,” Gase said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that are going to be responsible for playing a few different positions.”

The last time the Dolphins faced the Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns in a win. That was when New York’s secondary was considered healthy. Since that game, Fitzpatrick has thrown for over 300 yards twice and wide receiver DeVante Parker has had over 100 receiving yards in two of his last three games. If Fitzpatrick and the rest of the Dolphins continue to play the way they have lately, the Jets’ defense will be in deep trouble.

“They’re throwing the ball, which I’m sure [Fitzpatrick] loves,” Gase said. “He had a good game last week. The last time we played him, we struggled to get him to turn the ball over and create enough pressure to make him uncomfortable. That’s the number one thing when you’re playing Fitzy is you’ve got to try to get to him, you’ve got to try to get him to make some mistakes and put pressure on him and make some of those throws tough.”

Quinnen Williams needs to step into the spotlight

Quinnen Williams hasn’t performed up to the level the Jets expected him to when they draft him third overall this summer.

When the Jets took Quinnen Williams third overall in the 2019 draft, they wanted him to become a force in the middle of their defensive line. Not necessarily Aaron Donald, but someone along those lines and just as menacing.

Through 13 weeks of his rookie season, Williams hasn’t been what the Jets hoped he’d become. He’s tallied only 1.5 sacks, 23 total tackles, three tackles for a loss and four quarterback hits in 10 games (he missed two weeks with an ankle injury) and hasn’t yet lived up to the pre-draft hype as the best player on the board. It’s still early in his career, but Williams is at risk of turning into yet another first-round mistake for the Jets, especially considering players like edge rusher Josh Allen and defensive tackle Ed Oliver were also available with the third pick.

Williams needs to step up now as his rookie season winds down to prove to the team and the NFL he was worth the high investment. The Jets have spent five of their last 10 first-round picks on defensive linemen since 2011, and only Williams remains on the team after New York traded 2015 first-rounder Leonard Williams at the trade deadline.

Williams has talent. He’s shown it in flashes throughout the season. There’s a good amount of impressive reps from Williams on Twitter, including this play against Raiders center Rodney Hudson and this pressure on Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. Williams is a huge reason why the Jets have the No. 1 run defense as well – he has five solo run stuffs on the year which is fifth in the league – but that isn’t enough.

The Jets need production after investing such a high draft pick on Williams. It doesn’t matter if he’s getting penetration or thwarting rushes if offenses are still beating the Jets. Dominant interior defensive linemen can change the game. Guys like Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Fletcher Cox made names for themselves with game-wrecking plays throughout their careers.

So far this season, three of the four defensive tackles picked ahead of Williams – Oliver (Bills, 9th), Christian Wilkins (Dolphins, 13th) and Dexter Lawrence (Giants, 17th) – have either more sacks, tackles or quarterback hits than Williams. Oliver has him beat in all three categories. Jerry Tillery, the fourth tackle pick in the first round (28th by the Chargers) is tied with Williams with 1.5 sacks. Stats aren’t the be-all and end-all for player evaluation, especially for a player who does most of his work in the trenches, but they are important for a defense like the Jets who lack a true playmaker on the line. The Jets drafted Williams to be that player. They traded Leonard Williams away because he didn’t turn into that type of player. Quality reps are nice, but it won’t be enough for the Jets to turn into a truly dominant defense.

This isn’t meant to disparage Williams as a player – he’s very good and has a lot of potential. But something needs to change down the stretch, either from Williams or the Jets defensive scheming. With so many injuries across the board, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams needs to unlock the beast in his young defensive tackle. Or, Williams needs to take it upon himself to move into another gear in the final four games of his rookie season.

Williams can do it. He’s shown the ability to blow up runs and pressure the quarterback. What he’s lacked so far is that play that sets Twitter ablaze. His sack on Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 8 displayed all the skills that make Williams special, but it was against the Dolphins in a loss. If Williams can take the next step from a quality defensive lineman to a dominant one, he can shake off the bust moniker that’s slowly creeping into his professional evaluation.

How Jamal Adams’ injury could affect the Jets defense

The Jets don’t have many options to replace their best pass rusher and safety if Jamal Adams misses time with an ankle injury.

Jamal Adams didn’t look healthy throughout most of the Jets’ loss to the Bengals Sunday, and his potential absence in Week 14 throws an already depleted defense into complete disarray.

Adam Gase wouldn’t rule Adams out for the Dolphins game this week but called the safety’s ankle injury “legit week-to-week.” Adams was seen in a walking boot following the Bengals loss, but Gase wouldn’t call it anything more than an ankle injury.

“I’m going to lean on him a lot as far as how he feels,” Gase said Monday. “We want to make sure he’s good to go before we put him back out there. I want to make sure he’s in the right place physically so he can play his style of ball, which is basically he’s the heartbeat of our defense. We want him to be able to go full throttle and he has to feel right to get back out there.”

Gase’s assessment of Adams’ role is 100 percent correct – he is the heart and soul of the Jets defense. Without him, the Jets could be in a lot of trouble, both from a personnel and schematic perspective.

If Adams misses any time, the Jets won’t have many options to replace him in the starting lineup.

New York only has two other safeties on the active roster, Blake Countess and Matthias Farley. They have a combined three defensive snaps in 2019, all of which belong to Farley. If Gase doesn’t want to start either of those two, he could opt to move cornerback Darryl Roberts over to safety, a role he’s at least somewhat familiar with after starting five weeks in 2018 for Marcus Maye. A third choice is to look at free agency, where former Jets reserve safeties like Brandon Bryant and Santos Ramirez are available. The fourth and least likely option is to bring in a veteran safety like T.J. McDonald, Eric Berry or George Iloka if Adams hits injured reserve.

Regardless of which route the Jets take if Adams isn’t healthy enough to play, the defense will suffer without him. Gregg Williams will lose his most valuable pass rusher and one of his best coverage defenders and it will change how he builds his defensive schemes. Williams unlocked Adams’ potential to rush the quarterback at multiple spots on the field, and it’s translated to team-highs in blitzes (60), pressures (15) and sacks (6.5). The Jets will have even more trouble rushing the quarterback without Adams, who has 32 more blitzes than any other active Jets defender.

Unsurprisingly, Adams wants to play. He said after the Bengals game that he felt like he let his team down by being unable to perform because of “a freak accident.” He injured his ankle early in the contest and only missed one snap, but didn’t look the same for most of the game. On Monday, he tweeted about how badly he wants to play through the injury.

“This injury is eating me alive,” Adams tweeted. “S–– sucks, can’t even describe how it feels to have something stop you right when you get on a roll. I’m gonna do everything I can to get back on the field ASAP, believe that. Win, lose, or draw, I wanna be out there with my brothas.”

The Jets will take the necessary precautions before deciding on Adams’ availability, including an MRI this week, and it looks like he won’t practice for most if not all of this week. With the playoffs almost completely out of the picture, it would make sense to sit Adams until he’s fully healthy. It would decimate the Jets defense, but the longterm health of Adams is significantly more important than a meaningless Week 14 game against the equally-woeful Dolphins.

If the Jets are seriously considering giving Adams a long-term extension this offseason, which they should, keeping him off the field for at least a week would be best for the team. It would also allow the Jets to get extended looks at other players at the position. The loss of Adams would completely change how Gregg Williams gameplans his defense against the Dolphins, but it’s the right move for the future of the Jets.

Pressuring Andy Dalton among keys to Jets defense vs. Bengals

The Jets’ pass rush needs to continue playing well to keep the Bengals at bay.

Gregg Williams’ defense continues to impress and now they’ll have another chance to show off against the 0-11 Bengals and one of the worst scoring offenses in the league. Cincinnati ranks 31st in points with 14.3 and the Jets should feast on a team that also ranks top-five in giveaways (22) and sacks allowed (40).

However, the Jets can’t overlook the lowly Bengals. Remember the last time the Jets faced a winless football team? They gave up 26 points and lost an embarrassing game against the Dolphins. The Bengals are objectively worse offensively than the Dolphins, but they’re starting a well-rested veteran quarterback in Andy Dalton and feature a dual-threat running back in Joe Mixon.

Here are four keys to the Jets defense against the Bengals.

Pressure Andy Dalton

The Bengals offense might see a slight rejuvenation with Andy Dalton back under center, so the Jets should pressure him early in order to take away the passing threat. Despite the Bengals’ winless record, Dalton actually ranks seventh in the NFL with 281.5 passing yards per game and the Bengals have scored 17 or more points in six of his eight starts this season. The Bengals’ line is still a sieve, and the Jets should have no trouble getting to Dalton – especially with the pass rush playing as well as it has the past few weeks.

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