Durkin: Bears Preparing For Jets Pressure Packages
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) An offense's advantage is that they know the snap count and where the ball is going. A defense's advantage is they can re-align themselves before the ball is snapped.
Jets coach Rex Ryan has made a career out of creating pre-snap conflict among opposing protection schemes, which has led to post-snap disruptions.
The Bears' offensive brain trust is keenly aware of the challenge posed by the Jets defense and are still figuring out how they will protect quarterback Jay Cutler Monday night. Chicago coach Marc Trestman talked about some of the challenges this week.
"The multiplicity of the defense," Trestman said. "They're coming from everywhere. Overloaded blitzes, different fronts, multiple coverages. He really does an excellent job of creating a lot of uncertainty, not only for the quarterback, but just in terms of determining who your line's going to block and who your back's going to block and so forth."
The Jets do all they can to tilt the math in their favor by sending more blitzers than their opponents can pick up.
"This defense has brought more zero blitzes (maximum blitzes with no safety help over the top) in the first two games than we saw all last year," Chicago offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer said. "So it is a one-on-one battle. But you have to get it off fast enough before the quarterback gets hit. Because they blitz one more man than you can protect."
The Bears are keen on analytics, and Trestman shared more specifics about the amount of max blitzes the Jets have used this year.
"They brought everybody 25 times for instance — 10 times last week," Trestman said. "So that's a lot of bringing the house and putting your safeties in a position where they've got to cover the whole field and your corners. That doesn't mean they'll do it to us. Last year, they probably ran 20 the whole season and they've already run 25."
However, bringing this much pressure can backfire. If the defense is unable to get home with their blitz, they're exposed with no help over the middle of the field, and Cutler sees some chances for the Bears offense.
"There is (opportunities down the field)," Cutler said. "There's always going to be big-play ability when you leave the middle of the field open."
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.