An inside look at the Jets-Colts Week 11 matchup on Sunday.
Marquee matchup
Colts RB Jonathan Taylor vs. Jets defensive line
The Jets’ biggest weakness on defense this season has been stopping the run, and now here comes Taylor to give them another challenge. Taylor may not be the same back he was a few years ago, but he is still having a strong season. He has 616 rushing yards and five touchdowns in seven games. He has gone over 100 yards in four games this season, including last week when he had 114 against the Bills.
The Jets are 25th in the NFL against the run and have given up at least 100 yards rushing in five straight games and in eight of their 10 games this season. In 2021, Taylor torched them for 172 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the most that any back has gained against the team under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
“He feels like a guy that is a little bit of a renaissance of the guy that he was the first couple years in the league,” Ulbrich said. “He looks fast, he looks explosive, he doesn’t go down with arm tackles, you got to get numerous hats on him to get him down, so it is a great challenge, they got great scheme too as far as ways to create space for him and get out in the open, so he is going to be a huge part of what they do on offense and we got to be ready for that.”
Costello’s call
There is very little reason to expect Jets victories these days, but I think they don’t just win but dominate in this game. The Colts are turning back to Anthony Richardson, who has not played well and their defense is suspect. The Jets control the game from wire to wire and intercept Richardson twice, including one from Sauce Gardner.
Jets 27, Colts 17
4 DOWNS
Shot takers: The longest play the Jets offense had last week was 15 yards, and that was on a checkdown pass from Aaron Rodgers to running back Breece Hall. The offense had four drives of 10 plays or more and scored just two field goals. They did not hit any of the explosive plays that lead to easy touchdowns. Can they do it this week against the Colts? Rodgers said it comes down to protection.
“We got to be able to block it up,” Rodgers said. “If we want to take shots down the field, we got to block it up front and if we do that, we got a chance, but otherwise, we got to keep quarterback clean, part of us has to run the ball. We got to run the ball a little more effectively and maybe a little more so we can get some of those [play]-action passes.”
Tackling the problem: The Jets missed 20 tackles last week in the loss to Arizona, and the emphasis this week has been on changing that. Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, a former NFL linebacker, did a tackling presentation for the entire team, not just the defense, this week. They also practiced in full pads more than usual. Ulbrich expects to see a difference.
“They took the challenge this week,” he said. “Of all things, if something’s going to get improved, it’s that. We showed a lot of it in the meeting rooms, practice, individual. As much as you can shine a light on something we did that with tackling, so I anticipate a much better tackling game.”
Mr. Wilson: There are plenty of negatives to point out about the Jets, but one players who is having a monster season is third-year receiver Garrett Wilson. He ranks second in the NFL with 65 receptions, one behind the Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase. He has the most catches through 10 games in franchise history.
Wilson has a streak of eight straight games of at least five catches that should be able to be extended against a Colts defense that ranks 27th in pass defense. Only Laveranues Coles has a longer streak in team history of at least five receptions. Coles did it in 13 consecutive games in 2002.
Take your pick: One of the strangest stats about these Jets is that they have just two interceptions this season. Both came from backup cornerback Brandin Echols, and the last one was in Week 5 in London against the Vikings. That is so long ago that Robert Saleh was still the coach.
Ulbrich said they have not gotten as many opportunities as they’d like because they have been trailing and opponents have not had to pass.
“We’ve got to be operating we leads, and we don’t operate with leads,” Ulbrich said. “Teams aren’t forced to press the ball as hard and search for the explosives and try to get down the field, so when that happens there’s less opportunity and at the same time, we’ve missed some opportunities that we should have taken advantage of, so it is a combination of both those things.”