Here at By the Numbers its been an exceedingly busy week. The result? More casual days! Enjoy recovering from Torrey Smith Day with the following bullets:

  • The Jets’ secondary is one of the best in the league. Last year opposing offenses gained a favorable down and distance measurement when attacking Darrelle Revis only 29% of the time. This was second best number for corners in the league behind only Asante Samuel. Furthermore when Revis was attacked he only surrendered an average of 5.7 yards per pass attempt.
  • Furthermore, his cross field counter part Antonio Cromartie is no slouch. Last year while Revis battled hamstring issues Cromartie matched up against the opposition’s #1 WR favorably. While Revis finished the year as the second best corner against the pass, Cromartie finished close behind him at #5.
  • However, for as strong as the Jets coverage was in 2010 their pass rush was a disaster. In 2009 Rex Ryan’s blitzes befuddled offensive coordinators resulting in the Jets being the number one team on third down defense.  In 2010 though, the tides turned. Offenses adjusted their blocking schemes to buy their QBs additional time, and instead of getting sacked or hit they had the time to find open receivers. The results were devastating. New York’s third-down defense was the worst in the NFL in 2010!

As good as the Jets pass rush was in 2009 it was that bad in 2010.
  • On the offensive side of the ball it appeared that Jets’ QB Mark Sanchez improved in 2010. However, that may have been a mirage. According to Football Outsider’s Game Charts Sanchez was very lucky in 2010. No quarterback in the league came close to throwing as many dropped interceptions as Sanchez, who had 15 throws that hit defenders in the hands.
  • Still though Sanchez has been a solid QB in 2011. In Week 3 he ranked as the #3 QB completing a league high 11 of 13 passes across the middle of the field. The Ravens will need to be especially aware of this plan of attack on Sunday.
  • Furthermore the offense still features former league MVP LaDainian Tomlinson. While its posh to call Tomilson washed up, its not true. Tomilson was every bit the boom-or-bust RB that Ray Rice was last week. He did almost all his damage on three big plays: a 74-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter; an 18-yard touchdown catch in the second; and a 20-yard run in the fourth quarter. All told, LT accounted for more than 1/4 of the Jets’ receiving yardage on his yards after the catch.
  • Overall this game should be a battle. The Ravens and Jets enter the week projected as the #3 and #7 teams in the NFL according to Football Outsiders projections for this season and performance thus far. A win would continue to help the Ravens through their very difficult first half schedule and significantly improve their chances of making the playoffs.