Sunday | 4:25 ET
Monday night’s season opener proved to be a nightmare scenario for the New York Jets. Aaron Rodgers tearing his achilles after playing only 4 snaps with his new team has to be one of the biggest letdowns in recent memory in the NFL. Perhaps the most painful aspect for Jets fans is that the defense was still good enough to carry the team to victory against the Bills. On defense, the Jets are elite. With Rodgers behind center, who knows what New York could’ve accomplished in 2023. They will head to Dallas this Sunday to face the Cowboys, who are coming off of a Sunday Night Football beatdown of the Giants. They looked as good as advertised Week 1, and look to keep the train rolling.
If you like defense, this is the game for you. It showcases arguably two of the best three defenses in the NFL. The Jets are going to have a difficult time scoring against Dallas, who ranked 2nd in PFF pash rush, coverage, and overall defensive grade Week 1. This was no fluke either, as they finished 2nd, 11th, and 12th in those same metrics last season. Micah Parsons, who projects to be one of the top candidates for DYOP, will be shedding the New York’s weak offensive line and chasing around QB Zach Wilson all day. Don’t expect the Jets to do much of anything through the air. The only chance that they have is through the running game. RBs Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook have to have productive games to make up for the downgrade at quarterback.
On the other side of the ball, the Jets defense is just as good, if not better than Dallas’. They finished 3rd in both PFF coverage grade and pass rush grade last year, and 1st in coverage grade in Week 1. CBs Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed Jr. have made Metlife stadium a no-fly-zone, and that’s not even mentioning S Jordan Whitehead, who intercepted Josh Allen three times in Week 1. QB Dak Prescott will have to stay grounded an avoid getting loose with the football. I expect Sauce to shadow Cowboys WR Ceedee Lamb for the most part. The Jets played the most quarters coverage in the NFL last year, so the Cowboys will have to pound the run game and sustain long, methodical drives if they are going to score touchdowns against this defense.
I think that the score will stay tight for a while, but the Cowboys will break away in the end. With Zach Wilson facing such a difficult challenge, the Jets defense will probably be spending a lot of time on the field. It will eventually catch up to them.