New York Jets finish Week 1 with No. 1 defense in NFL

The Jets held the Oakland Raiders to only 25 total rushing yards thanks in large part to the large men up front like Muhammad Wilkerson.

READ MORE:

For the first time since 2008 an NFL team leads the league in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed in a single week – that team is the 2014 New York Jets.

Despite only beating the Oakland Raiders 19-14, a 5 point difference, the Jets thoroughly dominated the Raiders for almost the entire game.  For starters, the 1st Raiders TD was the result of an INT thrown by Geno Smith deep in Jets territory, allowing the Raiders to only need about 30 yards to get the TD.  And on the second TD, the Jets were in Prevent defense after taking a 19-7 lead in order to wind down the clock.

Raiders RB Maurice Jones-Drew had -1 yards on his first 8 carries.  He only managed to reach 11 total yards on the game thanks to a 12-yard run late in the game while the Jets were in Prevent.  That 12-yard run was the only running play of over 6 yards in the entire game.

In the passing defense, Raiders rookie QB Derek Carr – making his NFL debut – completed 20 of 32 passes for 151 yards.  While these numbers seem fairly impressive it does not tell the story how Carr was almost exclusively making short passes and letting his receivers run with the ball.

For Jets head coach Rex Ryan, considered one of the best defensive minds in the NFL and possibly in NFL history, it isn’t even the first time he has achieved this feat.  As defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008, his team with future Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Ed Reed as well as Pro Bowlers Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs had several such weeks.

While the Jets did not get the Grand Slam by also leading the league in fewest points allowed, they did tie for 4th with the Lions and Panthers.  Only three other teams allowed fewer points than the Jets this week – the Texans, Vikings and Titans.