A loss would put a big blow to the resurgence of the Jets’ defense

Defensively, the Jets’ turnaround from last season to this season cannot be overstated.

They’ve been horrible in 2021, ranked last in the league in both most points allowed (504) and most yards allowed (6,670). This season, the Jets have the fifth-fewest points in the league (282) and the fourth-fewest yards (4,899).

There’s no doubt that the Jets, because of their aggressive defense, would be a team no one wants to play in the playoffs – if they can even make it happen.

That’s what linebacker, team captain and Pro Bowler CJ Mosley has been eating lately. It pains him to imagine the playoffs happening without the Jets.

The problem is this: They enter Sunday’s game in Seattle on a four-game losing streak and need to win their last two games (with a loss at New England) to qualify for the playoffs.

“For the past few weeks, the main thing that’s put me in a sour mood is thinking about being home on the couch watching the playoffs with our defense not playing it,” Mosley told the Post. “There’s so much work we’ve done, everything we’ve done this year to improve our defence. We have the stats to show it, and it’s going to hurt a lot if we watch TV during the playoffs and see other defenses there and not ours, playing teams we know we can play against.

“Only one way to solve this problem and that is to run our business, not look at the big picture and take it one day at a time.”

Go beat Seattle.

“We have to get it,” Mosley said.

The defense’s recent spell has been about zero margin for error. The offense has produced four touchdowns in the last four games, putting the defense in a position to throw shutouts.

Two games ago against the Lions, it was a 51-yard TD with 1:49 left by a little-used tight end that safety Jordan Whitehead forgot to cover, which was the difference in a 20-yard loss. -17. Last week, it was a 96-yard drive by the Jaguars that was the centerpiece of a 19-3 loss.

“We understand that because of the standard that we’ve set, that kind of stuff, giving up on that long drive won’t be tolerated, won’t be accepted,” defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins told The Post. “We understand who we are and how great we can be, and giving up that conduct was unacceptable.”

Defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, like Mosley and Rankins, refused to accept any excuses for the slip-ups in the past two games.

“It’s our job to get out of the field and give the attack a good position on the pitch,” he said. “That 96-yard drive was completely on us. We had saved them and just made mistakes. Things like that just can’t happen. We just have to be better.”

Said Mosley: “You look at the numbers from last year and you can say, ‘Wow, we’ve improved by leaps and bounds with what we’ve achieved this year.’ It’s easy for us to say, “Hey, the offense needs to score more” or, “We only allowed one touchdown and one field goal.

“If we feel we’re that good let’s stop them getting another placement, don’t give up on this big game. Let’s try to be perfect every game. Some people can watch it because we need more aid [from the offense] or we can see it as, ‘Hey, we’ve got all the help we need, let’s try to do better.’

“That’s our mentality, trying to take our defense to the next level.”

On Thursday, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich echoed Mosley’s sentiments about how wasteful it would be for this defense not to have a chance in the playoffs.

“This defense absolutely has expectations to dominate every time we’re on the field, regardless of the circumstances,” Ulbrich said. “We’re playing this game to go to the playoffs, to win everything, to win the Super Bowl, absolutely.”

Ulbrich and his players said the standard that has been set this season is not the one that has been displayed in the last two games.

“For the good things we’ve done in the last two games, there’s absolutely no man in this whole defensive room who is happy with our efforts and feels like that’s our standard,” he said. he declares. “They believe there is another absolute place we can go when it comes to this. They recognize the fact that we have improved, but we are not yet the defense that we can be. Yes, we are playing well, but there is another place we can go.