An inside look at Sunday’s Jets-Eagles NFL Week 6 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Marquee matchup
Eagles offensive line vs. Jets defensive line
While it feels like the two New York teams have been rebuilding their offensive lines for the past decade, the Eagles arrive for this game with the best offensive line in football.
The way that Jets head coach Robert Saleh spoke about it this week, they might be the best offensive line he has ever seen.
“I feel like they’ve been together for 20 years now,” Saleh said. “They’ve been doing the same scheme, the same techniques, the same five. So, the amount of continuity that they have, you can see it in the way they play, the way they adjust from series to series. It’s almost like you’re playing the Peyton Manning of offensive line. You can hit them once, but I promise you they’re going to make the adjustment and fix it, and they know how to. It’s pretty cool to watch them play, especially when you go in chronological from game play one to the end of game and how they adjust on the fly and what defenses are trying to do to take advantage of them, but special group.”
For the Jets, this should be a matchup of strength on strength.
The defensive line is the Jets’ best unit and has caused havoc in games this year.
Quinnen Williams, Jermaine Johnson, John Franklin-Myers and Bryce Huff have all had strong starts to the season.
This will be a big test against a line led by center Jason Kelce.
The Jets know if they don’t stop the run, this will be a long day.
Costello’s call
This is a terrible matchup for the Jets.
They want to run the ball; the Eagles have the No. 1 run defense in the NFL.
The defense is strong against the pass and weaker against the run; the Eagles ate the No. 2 rushing offense in the league.
It all sets up to make it a long day for the Jets.
Eagles 31, Jets 10
Four downs
Breece the beast: Jets running back Breece Hall broke out last week against the Broncos — rushing for a career-high 177 yards, including a 72-yard touchdown.
It was a sign of the formula the Jets need to follow to win games.
A whole lot of Hall and good defense can carry this team.
“I felt like he had a major X button,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “His burst through the hole and for us because he’s broken a couple, we thought he might get caught, and he was not going to get caught on that one. So, I think that just both his strength, his power, his ability to put his foot in the ground makes him a very special back.”
It won’t be as easy this week, though. The Eagles enter this game with the No. 1 rushing defense in football, allowing a measly 61.1 yards per game on the ground.
Topple the ‘Tush Push’: One of the biggest stories of the past two seasons with the Eagles has been their success on their rugby-style quarterback sneaks, aka the “tush push.”
The Eagles were successful 37 out of 41 times last season running the play and are 13-for-16 this year, according to ESPN.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh said of Jalen Hurts running the play this week, “We got to kiss him 11 times.”
The Jets are fired up to try to stop the play.
“They’ve had a ton of success doing it,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “I know this sounds twisted, but I’m excited to see what we can do against it.”
Disarm the explosives: The Jets’ defense has been hurt repeatedly by big plays this season.
The Broncos had eight plays of 20 yards or more last week, including a 38-yard run by Jaleel McLaughlin.
That came a week after the Chiefs hit the Jets for four plays of 30 yards or more, including two touchdowns.
“The one-off plays are getting us, you know what I’m saying?” Ulbrich said. “We’ve given up some explosives the last couple weeks, which really get the numbers and the stats out of whack. So, we got to eliminate those. It’s better execution, better calls, all of it.”
O-line shuffle: The Jets were dealt another blow to their offensive line last week when right tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Saleh kept it a secret who would take Vera-Tucker’s spot this week, but Max Mitchell is the leading candidate, who stepped in last week in Denver.
The loss of Vera-Tucker is a big one.
Mitchell struggled in training camp at right tackle, and the Jets opted to move Vera-Tucker from guard to tackle after Duane Brown was injured rather than playing Mitchell at tackle.
That tells you how confident they are in him.
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