A lot of times you’ll hear a head coach in the NFL tell his players that as long as the team takes care of their own business, they’ll win. It doesn’t matter what the opposing team does, just stick to the gameplan, execute, play smart, and the rest will take care of itself.
That all sounds nice and logical, but the truth is there is a coach on the other sideline saying the exact same thing, and both can’t really be true.
The fact is that what the other team does will matter, and sometimes they’ll make a play that just makes you throw up your hands and say, “There’s nothing we could’ve done about that.”
So today’s Question of the Day is:
Which Jets player poses the greatest threat to a Detroit Lions victory on Monday night?
My answer: Defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
If there’s one way for the Jets to win this matchup, it will be to limit the Lions’ offensive efficiency, because otherwise, it will be unlikely Sam Darnold and the Jets can keep up in a shootout on Monday night—even with Detroit’s defense looking downright awful in the preseason.
Williams will be the key player for the Jets to disrupt Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense. Williams, a former sixth overall pick, has quietly lived up to his draft status. Though he only has 12.0 career sacks in three seasons, Williams has been extremely valuable as a run stuffer.
We’ve seen poor offensive line play completely throw off the Lions’ offensive tempo before, and Williams is the kind of guy who can do that. Additionally, his versatility allows him to line up just about anywhere on the line, meaning New York may want to test rookie Frank Ragnow’s chops by throwing Williams over him.
We know the Lions are going to try and run the ball with their newfound commitment to the ground game. Williams poses the greatest threat to that, and so the Lions must be focused on neutralizing him above anyone else on that Jets defense.
Your turn.