The Ringer NFL Show - The Jets Have the Best Defense in the NFL | The Island

Episode Date: November 9, 2022

Welcome to ‘The Island’! Each week a guest tries to persuade Nora Princiotti to agree with an argument they feel strongly about. This week’s guest is The Ringer’s John Jastremski, who argues that the New York Jets have the best defensive unit in the NFL. Will Nora join him on the island, or sail elsewhere? Host: Nora Princiotti Guest: John Jastremski Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The time has come to get ready for the 2022 World Cup. And what better way to prepare than by revisiting the World Cup's most amazing goals? I'm Brian Phillips. I'm making a podcast about the history of the men's World Cup, told through the stories of 22 iconic goals. The show's called 22 Goals. It's out now on the Ringer Podcast Network, and we're having so much fun. Maybe I'm going to go on another island here.

I think the AFCs is going to have not one, not two. I think they are going to have three playoff teams this season. Is that insane? Hello and welcome to the island. I'm Nora Ponziotti. I am so excited about today's show. We have a first-time guest. It's J.J. Estruski in the house.

J.J., what's going on, bud? Hi, Nora. I'm very excited to be here. I'm very excited to let it rip. this is this is the opportunity I've been waiting for so we're going to crush it we're absolutely going to crush it so I believe we're going to be talking a little bit of jets today which I'm very excited about love JJ's coverage of everything New York sports but in particular I'm curious to see where your mind is with the jets doing so well but also we're going to have to talk about where they stack up in the

aFC East with your beloved dolphins at some point in this but before we get to that JJ tell us what island you're on. I'm John Z. Shremski, and my island is that the New York Jets have the best defense in the NFL. Think of the island like a record spinning on a turntable. Only now, that record is skipping. That's right. My island is that the New York Jets. Let that sink in for a moment now, Nora.

The Jets, the same team that was one of the worst defensive metrics, all that stuff for the last couple of years. I think they got the best defense cooking in the NFL as we're two weeks away from Thanksgiving. That's my island. That's what's up. The best defense in the entire NFL. So we're talking Dallas, Denver, you know,

for as bad as that offense has been the defense with the Broncos has been really, really good so far. Philly, Buffalo, the Titans, the 49ers probably deserve to be in that conversation. The Jets, better than all of them. the number one defense in the NFL. That is what you're here to argue. It's very excited. You wanted me here to make a case for what I see in New York.

And Nora, I have to be perfectly frank. I thought the Jets are going to be a five-win team going into the year. I thought they were better. I thought they were improved. But we talked about it all summer long. The AFC is this gong, right? Like it's this unbelievable conference. All these great quarterbacks.

I knew the division was going to be tough. So I'm like, okay, the Jets are better. I love their draft. They're a year away. They're a five-win team. Here's why I was wrong. Their defense is off the freaking rails. They got a cavalcade of dudes who can get after the quarterback and can get after the

quarterback consistently. They got Carl Austin fully back off his injury. But Quinn and Williams has played like an absolute peace. I mean, you can't block the guy for goodness sakes, Nora. So the pass rush, which I thought was going to be a strength for the New York Jets, has been terrific. but to me what has transformed this team and what has taken this team to a different level,

their cornerback tent, Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed, I can't find a pair of corners playing better than those two guys. And you know this, you've been covering the NFL for a long, long time. Normally with talented rookies, even if they have great, prosperous, flourishing NFL careers, that position is really hard to learn

right out of the gate. So I thought with Sauce Gardner, okay, he'll end up being a solid rookie and he'll kind of take off for his second year or his third year. Well, I was wrong. He's playing like a legit stud right out of the gate. You've seen him against big time receivers already. Matched up with Tyree Kill. He matched up with Stefan Diggs on Sunday.

Made game-changing plays for the New York Jets in a double-digit upset win over the Buffalo Bills. I got Sauce Gardner and I got DJ Reed as a pro's pro who everyone around the Jet said. Yeah, solid player. Maybe he's a good number two corner. Nora, he's playing like a pro bowl or two. So I have Robert Salah coaching him up. The defensive line getting after the quarterback, corners doing a stellar job. The linebackers are pros. They've been around the block, Lon Alexander, C.J. Mosley. They got it all humming. Norah, it's, it's mind-boggling to me, a team that has Zach Wilson as their starting quarterback, who hasn't exactly lit the world on fire,

might I add is six and three. Why are they six and three? Like things are on fire around? No. The more, I'm telling you, the more and more you think about it, the more and you are more you can make the argument, the Jets defense is good as anybody right now. I believe that. That's my island. Okay.

So let's sort of, let's set the stage here. There's sixth in DVOA right now. They are first in PFF grade as a defense. You've got your friends over. See, the nerds are siding with you. Normally I never side with the nerds. Jack's Island. Nice.

Seventh in yards allowed, up from 32nd, last in the league last season, all the way up to seventh this year, eighth in points, tenth and runs sob win rate, 11th in pass rush win rate. Actually, for as good as this defense has been, you go to the stats, and they're not all like absolute, you know, top five what you might expect. But I think there's actually the thing in there that leads to all of that is that this is a three-level defense. one of the strengths of the Jets defense

is that it just doesn't really have a clear weakness, right? Like linebackers, solid. Secondary, really, really, really good. The pass rush that we've seen be able to get so much pressure just rushing for, like all three levels of that defense are really, really solid. So it's very, very hard to figure out where to attack.

But let's talk about the past coverage a little bit more because you brought it up and I think it's critical. Sauce is leader in the club. House for defensive rookie of the year for sure. DJ Reed, though, deserves so much credit because he's just not as flashy. He doesn't have the nickname. We don't talk

about him as much, but he's having an incredible season. The thing that I think is really interesting is that you know, young players really, really talented, but I don't, they are playing incredibly smart football, which

is a hard thing to recognize on a defense because we just don't talk about it as the cerebral thing the way that we talk about, you know, offenses and the genius offensive coaches like Sean McVeigh and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I heard Dominic Foxworth, former quarterback on ESPN, talking about how impressed he's been by, because they play a lot of zone and they play a decent amount of cover three. And he was saying that to his eye, watching them play cover three was really, really impressive because they're incredibly aggressive in how they go about it, which is critical because

cover three, you know, it's a little bit of a solved defense in the modern NFL, like the quarterback are just too good. They can pick you apart. If there's a weak spot in the zone, they will find it. We've seen this over and over again. And that's why we see, because we know how important explosive plays are in the modern NFL, we've seen the league go so much more towards coverages with two high safety shells, which we talk about all the time. But when the outside corners are really, really, really good, which Jets defense check, And then two, you have a really smart, aggressive defense that knows what it's looking for, has the green light to play fast from the coaching staff when they think they have a key,

are allowed to be really aggressive about how they go after an offense. They can be really good in that coverage without devoting that second safety to putting a lid on an offense. And it takes not only really good players, it takes a really, really, really well-coached unit to do that well. And hearing Dominique talk about that was kind of mind-boggling to me because it clicked just how well Robert Sala has these guys playing. And then I saw that there was a random question in Bill Belichick press conference today where he was asked about Shaq-Lennard calling out some of the Patriots plays before the snap

in the Patriots Colts game. and totally unprompted, he brings up that he thought CJ Mosley looked like he might have been doing that too. But what he said, I'm going to read you the quote. He says, that's what good defensive players do. They anticipate things, and they are sometimes able to get a read on what they think is going to happen. They're not always right, but sometimes they are,

and they can certainly make you look bad offensively. But as an offense, do I always want to be balanced and then try not to give things away to the point where you don't have something complimentary that goes with them. So the last part is just about what the Patriots would do on offense to try to deal with that. But the fact that, you know, it's just you start hearing all these different things that all point towards people around the league see this defense, see how it's playing and go, oh my God, those guys are really well coached. They know what the tendencies of the offenses that they're going against are.

And they know that they have the green light to be really, really aggressive when they think they see something coming. So, you know, there's a big credit pie to go around. And a lot of it is, okay, the front office identified some really, really talented young. players, right? But the coaching, I think, as we start to see this defense take on a little bit of that old San Francisco image, like the coaching really does seem like it stands out because they're playing fast and they're playing like a defense that knows. They all know what they're doing. They all know how the pieces work together. They're deep so they can stay fresh. And it's really excited to see. That's my spiel on the coverage unit. But we cannot.

leave this defensive line rotation and how impressive up front they've been out of the conversation. I got to ask you, as a Dolphins fan, you are going to see in the last week of this season this Jets defense facing Tua and the Dolphins' offense.

And for as good as the secondary has been, I do think that it's going to come down to how good that front can keep can keep being. Because you know better than I do, those Dolphins receivers are going to win. They're going to win some reps. It doesn't matter.

The Jets secondary is as good as it is. Those guys are going to win some reps. So you have to be able to get pressure on the quarterback. When you think about, you know, week 18, AFC East potentially on the line, Dolphins Jets, what are you thinking about?

Because I know you got an interest in both teams here. Okay, so let me set the stage for you. I will be at that game. So I will be in peak, Florida, January, JJ mode. I'm going to be as pasty as anything because I'm going to have no tan. I'm going to be probably burnt from being out to sun Friday and Saturday on the golf course. And here's my hope, Nora, that the dolphins might be loving Miami dolphins are already in the playoffs. So I don't have a lot of agitia and stress and angst going into that game.

Now, the Jets stuck it to the Dolphins the last time they played. But remember, that was Teddy Bridgewater game. He got knocked out in the first play. Skyler Thompson ends up starting that game. And Skyler Thompson had the dolphins within striking distance going into the fourth quarter. Sanders misses a field goal. And then the wheels in many ways kind of fell off the wagon. Yeah, that game scares the crap out of me from a dolphin's perspective.

From this standpoint, the way you're going to beat Miami is you're going to pressure to her. You're going to pressure him in his space. you're going to own the line of scrimmage. The Jets have the dudes to go and do that. Now, I don't know if Zach Wilson is going to be able to take advantage of the Dolphin defense, the way Justin Fields did, and the way that Joe Burrow did earlier in the year. But yeah, we have seen it.

Listen, that's been the blueprint and the formula in the modern day NFL. I mean, it goes back to the Hollis Lombardi Lensry days, for that matter. But especially now with the rules being the way that they are, if you want to slow down these potent, high-octane offenses, you've got to be able to rush. You've got to be able to rush with sometimes three and four and do it consistently. The Jets have shown this year they can do it.

And I want to piggyback off from something you said with the coach. Because I gave the coach a hard time, you know, when he had that dopey comment about the receipts. Like I was like, this is going to blow up in your face. You're the Jets. This is not going to end well. Big mistake. You know what?

The team had Robert Salas back. I give credit where credit is due. And we mention a lot of these rankings with the jet defense. Remember this. Week one, Baltimore, they got smoked. Week two, that miracle game, that they probably lose 99 out of 100 times, if not more. They got smoked by the Brown's offense. Week three, Joe Burrow picked them apart.

If you look at the jet numbers, no, I haven't. But I guarantee if you take those first three games out of the equation, their defensive numbers are probably going to be even better. Again, they're not a potent offensive team. They just lost Bruce Hall for the year. They lost Vera Tucker for the year. And yet they're six and three. That speaks volumes.

That's coaching, yes, but it's the talent of his defense. Yeah, I mean, two of their three best defensive performances just by the PFF grade have been in the last three games. And that actually doesn't include the Bills game. The Patriots and Broncos games, just by that grading, Oh, they should want. Let's be honest with the Patriot game. Let's be honest about this. And I have a guest who is like the biggest, he is like the biggest Jeff Finn on the planet.

And it's weird because we're good buddies, even though he hates my football team. I don't hate the Jets. I don't hate the Jets. I have different hate for teams in the AFCs, but we'll get to that later. The Jets, if they get that pick six, which was a for gazing, roughing the pass at call on Franklin Myers, the Patriots do not win that game at that last stage. him a couple weeks ago. Jet defense in that game. I mean, New England cannot do a darn thing for goodness sakes.

So they're bowling. There's no doubt. They're balling. Yeah. No. So you're totally spot on. The weakest performance is definitely weeks one and week two. And it does seem like they're getting better and better as the season goes on. You brought up the AFC East. We talked a little bit about that final game of the season. But where are you with this division that has suddenly,

I don't think very many people saw this coming at all. I certainly didn't. Three apparently very good teams. None of them located in New England. I love that, by the way. That is music to my ears. That puts such a big fat smile on my face. You have no idea.

Now look, the Patriots do have some manageable games down the stretch. They still have the greatest coach of all time to trolling their sidelines, even though Mac Jones is a total hack and a total stiff. and should be on the bench if I were running a team. Oh, my God. I just want to throw this out there. And I don't know if this story has been shared.

I might have shared it on New York, New York, but I'll share it anyway. So a bunch of us ringer colleagues are at the Super Bowl. And I might have been having a couple of drinks. And, you know, we're all kind of shooting the breeze, having some fun, having some laughs. It was great to see everybody. And our boss, the great Bill Simmons, he hates Tua. Oh, my God, he hates Tua. It's so obnoxious.

It's so annoying. I tell him this to his face. So this can be stated on record. And he laughed at me and looked at me when I said, my guy is better than your guy. And I said it convincingly, without hesitation. And all I'm going to say is maybe I'm like Robert Sala, I got the receipt. So I have that saved. I will be bringing that up to him the next time I see him.

And I just wanted to get out there. But in all seriousness, Nora, this division is so much fun. I still think Buffalo is the team the beat, assuming, right, that Josh Allen's elbow is okay. Like, let's say he's out like two weeks, three weeks, nothing, nothing catastrophic. That guy is a legend. He's got so much it. Like, and Miami's got to go to Buffalo, which is a place, by the way, they never, ever, ever, ever, ever win. So I still think Buffalo is going to win the division.

But am I crazy to say, maybe I'm going to go on another island here. I think the AFCs is going to have not one, not two. I think they are going to have three playoff teams. season. Is that insane? You know what? We had to submit our midseason. They're very nice here at the ringer. They let us do, because, you know, we pick all the playoff teams and predict a Super Bowl winner and conference championships and everything. We do all that stuff before the season starts. They're so kind to us. They let us like have a little redo. Wow. You're getting like a revision. You know, I needed those in college after I had my C plus papers, you know? I didn't follow the rules.

That's nice. That's nice. But so in my submission, maybe I don't know if I should be sharing this before it's all posted, but somehow I think it'll be okay. I think the world will keep spinning on its access if I share that. In my revised playoff team predictions, I submitted them this morning. Three entries from the veritable AFCEs such as it is. And you went with Buffalo? You went with my beloved dolphins. And then you went with the New York Jets?

The New York football Jets. Yeah. Nora, by the way, let me just throw this out there. If I would have given you a hundred bucks at the beginning of the year, and I told you, you have to bet on the Jets and the Giants to make the playoffs.

And I'd be like, hey, I'd give you $2,000 if that happens. You would have to be like, nah, I'm taking my hundred bucks. I'm going to go have a meal. I'm going to have lunch in New York City. Can you believe the Giants and the Jets have legitimate chances to make the playoffs this year? Isn't that nuts? It really is nutty.

It really, really is nutty. There are a lot of Giants fans in my life. And it's fun to watch people's joy. Like, it's just exciting to be around. I mean, I don't expect, like, so many people have so much just, like, they roll their eyes at New York sports fans. And that's totally fine. If you're here, like, if you're here with the people, it's just nice when they're happy. You know, like, particularly, I mean, man, that Jets game starts on Sunday.

and the kicker wipes out on the opening kickoff. And it's just like, oh, God. Oh, this is so Jets. You know it is. I'm a Peanuts fan. It's Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. It's right behind me. Except there's no Lucy.

Lucy is just like the thing that happens when the New York Jets play football. I'm just saying the Patriots. The Patriots could be the definition of Lucy for the Jets. That's fair. That's fair. It could be. But you're thinking like, okay, so if they go on and lose that game, particularly if it's cool,

close. That's not like up there with the butt fumble, but it's still, it's just like same old Jets. And what in a weird cosmic way, it feels like what better proof that something's actually different that they had something like that happened? And then the sky cams all

messed up and all sorts of weird things are happening. And yet the Jets are still winning a really, really competitive football game. Like, it's, I can't believe it. I don't know what I'm watching here. It's like an alternate universe. The fact that the Jets are six and three. The giants

are doing what they're doing. And then nor from my standpoint, think about this. I got all this great stuff going with New York, New York, which is great for business. It's great for the podcast. No, listen, even if I'm not a jet or a giant fan, I want them relevant. It's better for me. It's more fun to do shows on Sunday.

But then I have the most exciting dolphins team that I've had since I was a kid. Like going back to Dan Marino, like it's not even close. This is the most Because they can score. Like, I've watched so many bad quarterbacks, so many bad offenses.

I got the Marks Brothers reincarnated with Tyree killed J. Laudel and Lattel and too. And I love the coach, by the way. He's awesome. He's fantastic. I love him. I love him. Well, that's, I mean, that's the thing in Miami.

It's also the thing with the Jets. It's also the thing with the Giants, right? Like, what's a commonality between all three of those super optimistic situations right now? I think all three teams, all three organizations feel like, they have the right coach. They have the right guy. And Sala obviously, like, that was a little shaky for a minute. But again, it's just like how much this team has taken on, particularly the defense,

has taken on the image of those really, really good San Francisco defenses. And that's why I'm fascinated, fascinated, fascinated to see how this plays out. One, particularly just the idea that this Jets defense might be going against the dolphins with stakes on the line at the end of the season. Though for your sake, JJ, like I hope it's all wrapped up. For my sake, for entertainment's sake,

I kind of hope they're playing for some kind of prize. Well, how about this? How about this, Nora? To be a man of compromise right now. How about they are playing for the AFCs title? How about that?

They're both in. Maybe there's a little slip up for Buffalo and they're playing for the AFC's title. I like that. That I'm down with it. Man. Man. It just would be so exciting.

Because so, and here's, where you see the real commonalities with those San Francisco teams, which like, I don't know that any of his teams had the secondary that this Jets team has. But the defensive front, and particularly how deep it is, right? Like, the biggest thing to me that has changed schematically about what they're doing defensively is just that they can get pressure without blitzing. So they're blitzing 13% of the time and their fifth in pressure rate. And fifth and sacks, second and quarterback hits.

We just saw them sack Josh Allen five times. Third down. Last season, they blitzed 44% of the time on third downs. Highest rate in the NFL. They finished 28th in pressure on those plays. This year, they've blitzed 21% of the time on third downs, 23rd in the league, and they have the second highest pressure rate in the NFL. That's all per true media.

I'm just fascinated to see what that would look like in a chess match between Mike McDaniel, Robert Sala, between the Jets. Like, it just would be such a fascinating chess match because the depth that the Jets have in that defensive line rotation would be fascinating hit it against that Dolphins offense that, you know, we saw it when they played the Ravens, Right? Like they can, even a good defense, they can just tire you out because they're so fast and you're just running up and down the field the whole time. But Quinn and Williams, John Franklin Myers, Sheldon Rankin's, Carl Lawson, they're getting quality snaps from Bryce Huff, Nathan Shepard, Vinny Curry, Jermaine Johnson, Solomon Thomas. They can keep sending those guys in waves.

And when they sub in, you're not thinking, now obviously there's guys that you don't want to take off the field in a critical situation. like Quinn and Williams you take all the logos and you know smudge out faces or whatever I'd believe he's Aaron Donald some of the time like it's unbelievable

the year that that guys have it still when the depth guys come in you're not like oh crap it's all going down the drain so that game in the fourth quarter like I can't quite picture what it looks like

I just don't know who ends up getting the upper hand there. And it probably does come down to what those guys in the secondary could do against those receivers. And when, frankly, if they're, they seem so empowered to make just aggressive decisions in that defense, how many of those decisions break right and how many of those decisions break wrong, right? Like, we saw Sauce give up a touchdown to Diggs on a double move. Like, it's going to happen sometimes, particularly with how aggressive. they are. It's just, does it happen

four times? Does it happen two times? I'm like salivating at the thought of watching that game, watching that game be one that has big stakes at the end of the season. That said, I still think the bills come out of this division on top as long as Josh Allen's elbow

isn't a big deal that you know, I think the worst situation for them is it's like a lasting thing that just affects doesn't make him unavailable, but just affects how good of a thrower of the football. He is because while we're singing the praises of this defense, I think he completed like 52% of his passes on Sunday.

It looked weird. Like that didn't look like the Josh Allen that we've become accustomed to. So with the caveat that it hinges on all of his ligaments being hunky dory, I do still think the bills come out of this one. But I'm totally with you. We could see all three teams, all three of these teams. in the playoffs. And it's just,

it's one of the most exciting divisions in football, I think. Yeah, and I can't even bury the Patriots yet, which bothers me, because I really would like to and I'd like to dance on their grave.

Oh, I'd be, I'd be, you're being too rough on Mac. It's not, no, no, no, offense is completely deteriorated around him.

He got the complete chef a couple weeks ago on that Monday night game. He should have never been out there. Like, never, that Chicago game, them starting him and playing him a couple of series,

and then you got the entire crowd channing for, Bailey Zappy after one too many Sam October Fest. That was unfair because he should have been in that game. They should have let Zappy play until they lost. And then you could have given him the clean entryway and the clean pivot point back into the Stoddor's job. And he does have as much around him.

I understand that. But he's looked awful this year. Like he has taken, he went from being a guy, Nora, who looked very promising and looked really good for about 12 games. He stunk the final five games in the year, played terribly in the a playoff game against the Pats or against the bills. And this year, I don't know if it's the new system, whatever. He has not looked apart.

He just hasn't, you know? He hasn't looked good at all. I just think that if you break it down everything around him, the offensive line, the just weird combination of stuff they're trying to do in the run game, all those receivers that they're spending 15 million bucks in cap space on, not living up to the contracts. like the entire offense has just taken a nose dive around him. So I'm sort of team.

It's not totally Max fault. But that whole thing there looks bad. It's amazing. Isn't it crazy though? Everything's going against the Patriots. They don't look like a vintage Patriot team. And yet here they are. There's still a game over 500.

Like they just won't go away. And here's my thing, Nora. I have a lot of Patriot fans in my life, not just Uncle Bell, but we have a lot in my life. that I went to college with, and they don't understand what it's like. Like, the 20 years of their life. Now, I had it with the Yankees.

I did. I'll be fair about this. But, like, they had a team in the NFL was supposed to be parity and evil and good, bad, bad, good. They win a division every year. They have more Super Bowls than I'll ever see in 10 lifetimes. And I'm like, you know what? You guys can stink for 10 years. And you're not allowed to say a word.

So I'm a little vindictive and bitter and all of that combined into one. But you know what? They've seen enough. It's other people's turn. You know, it's like time to share the rock. Time to spread the wealth a little bit. Share it in the AFC, please. I worked in Boston sports media for four years.

You're going to hear about it. One way or another, you're going to hear about it, JJ. I'm well aware. But like, I want them miserable. That's the thing. Like, they've seen enough. They've seen enough. And I say it out of work because I love my friends up in the women,

but you've seen it all. All right. without further ado. I think I've reached a decision here. And JJ, by the way, you mentioned you're going to be down in Florida. You're going to be on a golf course. We're already on the island. I want to make sure that there's enough SPF going on.

You're packing sunscreen? A lot. And it can't be 30. 30 ain't good enough, Nora. We need at least 45 with that Florida sun. Or I'm going to look like a red lobster coming back to New York. So here's the deal. I'm not on the island.

Oh, you're breaking my heart. Fredo, you're breaking my heart. Because you know what? It's not about the Jets. It's just about the teams that we might be short-changing in this conversation. Particularly what Dallas has done has been so impressive. Denver would be really up there. Again, I believe also in the 40-

The Chubb thing definitely, I think, is going to impact them. See, because I figured you were going to say Dallas, like, when you told me you were not on the island, I was like, all right, Nora's going to counter me with Dallas. I understand that. And I thought you were going to give me the second counter Buffalo when they get guys back. That's where I thought you were going to go. So that's where I was going to go is I think we saw that really, really miss Matt Milano in particular against the Jets and really struggle to defend the run because of that. I do think that they at the end of the year are really, really going to be up there. Dallas is definitely the first one that came to mind.

If there's anything this Jets defense doesn't have, they're so good at getting pressure just as a collective unit. This is unfair to say because there's like 31 teams that don't have a Micah Parsons, but like they don't, there's not, Quinn and Williams is the most sort of the most impressive guy on the line, and he's mostly on the interior. And he's not from the outside. Okay. I can understand that. I'm missing that, like, super, super explosive pass rusher.

And I think what Micah Parsons gives them in Dallas is something that we shouldn't overlook. Here's the thing, though, if you're on the island and you're running out of sunscreen, I'm going to hop in my rowboat and, like, come over and bring it to you. Because here's the island I am. and I don't think it's very far away. By the end of the year, I might be there. Okay.

Because... I like that. Whenever something good happens to the Jets, I think there is this institutional memory to be like, oh, it's too good to be true. Oh, the, you know, the football's going to be pulled away at the last second. I don't think this is as good as this Jets defense can be. I think they can get better.

Because the more that I started thinking about this and just trying to wrap my arms around the kind of season they've had so far. The thing that stands out that you sort of, that's easy to miss with a surface level glance is how much it seems like the coaching is paying off. And just how smart of a defense,

it seems like this unit is right now. And we talked about their worst two performances come the first two weeks in season. A lot of their best performances have come in the last month. and by the end of the year, they're going to have chances to prove themselves, right? Because they've got the bills again. They're going to play the Jags,

and then they close the season with the Seahawks and the dolphins. I cannot wait to see how this defense looks at that point, because I think by the end of the year, we could talk about them as the number one unit in the NFL. And, you know, that's sort of, that depends on how other defenses do. But the thing that I do feel really, really sure of is that for as good as they've been so far,

the arrow is still pointing up. I think we're going to get you on that island by the end of the year. I got a feeling. I got a feeling. I'll let you know. I'll keep you posted. I hope it doesn't come at two in Mike McDaniel's expense. That's all.

Well, I'll be very curious to see how that pans out. JJ, I will certainly keep you updated on any island excursions, island adventures, island joining that I might be doing towards the end of the year and very excited to watch what's in store for this Jets defense.

It's just been really, really explosive, really, really cool to watch. This has been the island on the Ringer NFL show feed. Thank you so much, JJ, for joining and to you for listening. We will be back next week, but for now, Sheila Capadio

will be up with the scramble tomorrow going in-depth on NFL news. Thank you, as always, to Stavon Anderson for production on this episode and to Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgapal for additional production supervigated.