EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Jets defense stood tall on Sunday against one of the most explosive offenses in the league, holding the Philadelphia Eagles to a season-low 14 points and having four takeaways in the surprising 20-14 victory.
Jalen Hurts threw three interceptions in the loss, his first three-interception game in two years (the last one was also at MetLife Stadium). Hurts was held to just a 59.5 passer rating against the Jets defense, by far his lowest of the season.
The Jets defense have faced Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen in their first six games. They walked away 2-1.
"Through these first six weeks, we have played a gauntlet of quarterbacks. I know we haven't won them all, but we've embarrassed all of them," Jets head coach Robert Saleh said after the game. "Just really, really proud of the defense and their resolve.
"I thought Brick (Jeff Ulbrich) and the staff had an excellent game plan down four of our six corners. I thought our d-line was good in terms of keeping that kid in the pocket. He's a handful (Jalen Hurts). Their O-line, their receivers, I thought our guys battled all the way through. Proud of them."
Saleh certainly has a point when looking at the numbers of Mahomes, Allen, and Hurts in the three games his defense faced them. Allen threw three interceptions in Week 1 against the Jets while Mahomes threw a pair of interceptions in Week 4 -- all at MetLife Stadium. Hurts, Mahomes, and Allen have combined for three touchdowns and eight interceptions against the Jets defense this year -- and they are three of the five best quarterbacks in the league.
Allen, Mahomes, and Hurts have completed 65% of their passes against the Jets defense -- and 70% against everyone else. They average 6.2 yards per attempt against the Jets and 7.7 against everyone else, along with 26 touchdowns to just nine interceptions in games they don't play the Jets.
Allen, Mahomes, and Hurts are 75 of 116 (64.7%) for 719 yards with three touchdowns and eight interceptions combined against the Jets (61.7 rating). Whatever the Jets are doing to confuse opposing quarterbacks, it's working.
The Jets also had four of their six corners out, with two practice squad call ups on Saturday. They still were able to handle Hurts.
"I put (senior defensive assistant/cornerbacks coach) Tony Oden up there with everybody in terms of his ability to coach and get people to where they need to be," Saleh said. "Our coaching staff did a really nice job. There is no fear. I've always said, 'You go tell a backup that he's a backup and that he doesn't deserve to be a starter.' Those guys came out there.
"I thought Craig James was fearless. He had a huge pass breakup in the endzone. Had a couple of nice tackles. Tae Hayes has only been here a couple of weeks to learn our system, which is complicated from a zone standpoint. It's not like you're coming out here playing man. He has to learn it all. Kudos to that group.
"Like I said, four of our six corners were out this week. Even at the end, (with) Michael Carter II missing a lot of time in the fourth quarter, and the guys still pieced it together and managed to put together a good game."
