For all of his bluster off the field this postseason, Rex Ryan has been surprisingly conservative between the lines in the Jets' first two games. Conservative is a word no one would have expected to hear when describing a Rex Ryan defense, but that's exactly what its been; and its worked. It has been one of the best postseason coaching performances in history. The big man with the even bigger mouth has some how managed to confuse the two best quarterbacks in the game today (Peyton Manning and Tom Brady) and outsmarted the best coach (Bill Belichek) all while leading his Jets to two wins nobody thought he could deliver.
How did he do it? He did it by doing what nobody though a confident, cocky, smack talking guy like Ryan could do. He swallowed his pride.
Traditionally the Jets' defense is built on the blitz. Rex loves to come at quarterbacks from all angles and get as many hits as possible throughout the course of the game. In order to bring that extra pressure they end up playing a lot of one on one on the outside and they leave their corners and safeties on an island for most of the game. While the Jets have probably the best secondary in the game you just can't do that against Manning and Brady. In fact, those two guys would rather have you blitz the hell out of them. They see it before the snap, change a route, and before you know it a quick one step drop and throw turns into a big play or a touchdown.
One of the hardest things for anyone to do, especially the ultra competitive alpha male (99% of professional athletes and coaches), is to admit what your doing is wrong and make a change. Ryan knew that the defense he has spent his entire life coaching was not going to work against these two teams; so he changed it. In the Jets' first two playoff games this year they have rushed 4 or fewer men over 80% of the snaps. The Colts and Patriots game planned for a hard rushing, oft blitzing Jets defense and Rex rushed four and sat back in coverage. Nobody saw it coming.
It will be interesting to see if the Jets go back to their old ways against the Steelers and Big Ben (who is about as different a quarterback from Manning and Brady as you'll find). Whether they bring the heat this Sunday or not, you can bet that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have no idea what to expect going into the game. For that reason I'll take the Jets to win the game and head to Dallas; and you can give Rex Ryan all the credit.
