Reviewing the tape from the 2018 Jets. Here are some things I'm noticing:
1) Their base defense is typically a 34 Under. Everyone is talking about this being a huge change. Not so fast. His 34 under isn't much different from a 43 Under.
a) The NT typically plays 1 tech on the Strong side in both fronts.
b) The 3 tech plays weak side B gap in both fronts.
c) The on-ball LB weak side plays the same tech, 5-9, as the LEO end in the 43 Under.
d) There is some subtle difference in the strong-side end and this is primarily the difference...but not always. Sometimes they play the same tech.
Finally, modern NFL defenses typically play significantly varying fronts from play to play. Gone are the days where teams are overwhelmingly an even or odd front. You see this with Bowles defense as well.
2) The primary difference from last year's defense is in their Nickel and Dime fronts (which are the majority fronts in the modern NFL). This is where Vea and another dominate DT comes in. Vea played 24 Nickel in Washington. The defense was predicated on his ability to dominate 2 gap from the 4, 2, or 0 positions and dominate those areas or get pressure from the 3 tech.
Bowels Odd 24 Nickel often features a pair of 3 technique DL with one of them jumping to 1 tech at the snap and the stacked ILB taking the other A gap that that DT doesn't take.
3) I'm seeing a LOT of DL jumping adjacent gaps at the snap, sometimes a full DL Slant, but sometimes just a single DT jumping one gap. You'll often see a LB scraping downhill off of that DL's hip to attack that gap they just vacated.
4) Coverage-wise, they're very different from Smith (who was overwhelmingly Quarters and C3Z), but not so terribly different from Buckner. They run a lot of Cover 2 Zone, Cover 2 Trap Zone (with pressure coming from the NCB off the slot or the WLB, while the open Corner is reading the slot receiver and trying to break on a hot Hitch or Out), 2 Man Under, and C1 Blitz.
Cover 3 Zone is the trend in the NFL, and Bowles seems to run less of it than what I'm used to seeing.
5) Finally, like most teams, they run a mix of Press and Off coverage.
