NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An inside look at Sunday’s Jets-Titans NFL Week 1 matchup at Nissan Stadium:
Titans WR Calvin Ridley vs. Jets CB Sauce Gardner
Ridley was one of the biggest free-agent signings this offseason, landing a four-year, $92 million contract from Tennessee.
He had three catches for 50 yards in his Titans debut last week, and the Jets know what he is capable of doing.
“He is a true [No. 1 receiver],” coach Robert Saleh said. “He’s elite, an elite skill set as a receiver and obviously a guy who can make you pay.”
There is no guarantee we’ll get Ridley vs. Gardner often on Sunday, but they should match up some.
Gardner had another strong game in coverage against the 49ers, despite missing nine plays in the second quarter after getting the wind knocked out of him.
The Jets moved around Gardner a bit last week.
He moved to cover George Kittle at one point and was following Brandon Aiyuk later in the game.
The Jets could chose to have Gardner travel some with Ridley on Sunday.
“I mean we’ll do that a little bit,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said of having Gardner follow a receiver. “We have a special talent in No. 1, and Sauce, he can do some things that are so unique and special. We’ll try to take advantage of them as best we can, and unfortunately things like that get lost in a game like that sometimes, but I thought he did an extremely good job in coverage, he really did.”
The Jets looked bad in their opener at San Francisco.
Can they rebound at Tennessee?
I think the Titans are better than most people think, particularly on defense.
I have a feeling the Jets offense is going to struggle to move the ball here, and the Titans will be able to run the ball to drop the Jets to 0-2.
Titans 20, Jets 17
Running Rodgers: Quarterback Aaron Rodgers answered some questions last week about how he would look at age 40 and coming off a major surgery.
Rodgers made some beautiful throws and engineered two touchdowns drives.
He was not forced to move around much, though, because the pass protection as good.
It will be interesting to see if the Titans pass rush can get to Rodgers this week and whether he can escape it.
“I’ve always played with the ability to extend plays,” Rodgers said. “Now it’s changed. The ability has been less about the opportunity to run for, you know, 400 yards in the season or high 300s, and more about extending place to throw. But, you know, I did a lot of that in practice. I did some of that in the joint practices, so I didn’t have to [against the 49ers], the protection was so good.”
Fit the bull: It is not often that a position coach gets a lot of attention in the leadup to a game, but Titans offensive line coach Bill Callahan is not your usual position coach.
Callahan has 46 years of experience and is considered to be one of the best O-line coaches ever.
When his son Brian was hired as head coach of the Titans this year, the older Callahan joined his staff.
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Callahan had been the O-line coach for the Browns, and Cleveland had success running on the Jets in each of the past two years.
In 2022, the Browns gained 184 yards rushing, and last year they had 127 yards on the ground.
After last week’s mess in San Francisco, the Jets will have to match wits with Callahan and his running attack, which is led by Tony Pollard.
Looking for options: Early in last week’s game, the Jets offense was nearly entirely run through Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall.
It is understandable to lean on those two young stars, but the Jets need to find other options in the offense.
Tight end Tyler Conklin was only targeted once by Rodgers. The quarterback acknowledged this week he needs to get others involved.
“I’d love to get [Conklin] involved and [Jeremy Ruckert] involved and [Xavier Gipson] involved and Mike [Williams] involved. A lot of that’s just play,” Rodgers said. “You have 49 plays. You only have a certain amount of opportunities.”
A test of will: One area that feels like a total mismatch in the Jets’ favor is their pass defense against Titans quarterback Will Levis.
The second-year QB had a rough first game last week, throwing for just 127 yards and two interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, essentially losing the game for the Titans.
The Jets defenders expect to feast on him.
“[Levis is] a talented athlete and can throw the ball pretty well,” Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson said, “but just watching film and just understanding some things about him, especially when he comes out, he’s one of those guys that, when things aren’t going his way, he kind of can panic a little early.”