Jets show their glaring weakness on defense that will have other teams on their schedule salivating

A lot was made about the Jets off season moves and rightfully so. But games are won and loss in the trenches and while the Jets certainly did a lot to improve their offensive line, their defensive line might have been the forgotten in the shuffle.

Sure, Quinnen Williams is still an elite player, but after him, it’s a light bunch. The Jets signed oft injured Javon Kinlaw who isn’t a big run stuffer. Solomon Thomas is a nice rotational player and UDFA Leonard Taylor III was inactive tonight. With the Jets being so thin at DT, both in size and depth, the 49ers took advantage.

The Jets seem built to play with a lead, able to cover receivers deep and get to the quarterback with their pass rush (in theory), but all of that is rendered useless when teams are able to run the ball at will. Essentially the Jets want to be exactly what the 49ers are. An offense that relies on the run and short passing game to wear down opposing defenses and a smothering defense of their own.

Even without All-World do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey who was a surprising late inactive due to a calf injury, the 49ers ran all over the Jets with Jordan Mason, which of course also led to openings in the passing game. The 49ers won 32-19 and Mason ran 28 times for 147 yards and touchdown.

Let’s get this out of the way, because it is going to be the easy narrative this week, Haason Reddick would not have made much of a difference in this game. He is a great player and a phenomenal pass rusher, but the Jets issues were on the interior of the line and Reddick plays on the outside. Reddick is an upgrade, but he was not the answer to the Jets’ issues on Monday Night.

The Jets are missing a defensive lineman that could have made a difference tonight, but it isn’t Reddick. It is Leki Fotu, who the Jets signed from the Arizona Cardinals this offseason who is a big body up front and eats up blockers.

Fotu was certainly missed up front as the Jets run stuffing defensive tackle, but he might not have made too much of a difference with the way the defense tackled. The 49ers are a great team, but the Jets looked like a high school JV squad in their tackling. And it was at all levels of the defense.

With all of that being said, for now I would give the defense the benefit of the doubt that these issues will be fixed. Robert Saleh and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will get the issues fixed on the defensive side of the ball.

And they better get it fixed in a hurry. The Jets have an “easy” part of the schedule coming up at the Tennessee Titans, versus the New England Patriots and then the Denver Broncos. All three of those teams will look to run the ball and not rely on their young or journeyman quarterbacks.

Losing to the 49ers in San Francisco is not worth panicking about. Losing any of their next three could mean trouble for a team with a deep playoff run in their sights.