Confusing Brady is goal, not sacking him

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The plan for Peyton Manning was surprisingly simple, and it worked: The Jets didn't really care if they got to Manning to bring him down, they just wanted to befuddle and frustrate him.

They won't roll out the same exact game plan against Tom Brady and the Patriots' offense Sunday; that's suicide against a good quarterback. But the goal is the same - to confuse Brady as they did Manning, to get Brady uncomfortable and frustrated, as they did to Manning.

"New England's a passing team, but they run it real good," Shaun Ellis said. "With Peyton, they just run to keep you honest. For us in that game, it was mainly, 'We want you to run.' We gave them the run looks because we wanted them to run it. It was just a matter of trying to get the ball out of his hands as much as possible so he doesn't have control of the whole game."

So the Jets might not feature as many "light boxes," sets in which they had only six men up and dropped five into pass coverage. They did that plenty against the Colts, especially on third-and-short situations, and the line was able to make a few key stops.

With the Patriots and with Brady, getting him out of rhythm is the goal, just as it was with Manning. Brady has better and more varied weapons - BenJarvus Green-Ellis and change-of-pace Danny Woodhead in the running game, a deep threat (Deion Branch), an underneath threat (Wes Welker) and two field-splitting tight ends (Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski).

The Patriots have options. So do the Jets.

"You have a lot of things you can try, but you kind of have to try all of them to see which one's working," Trevor Pryce said. "If you get in a mode where you're always blitzing, a good QB knows that. If you're always playing coverage, a good QB will know that. You have to kind of throw the kitchen sink at him, throw nothing at him, throw some stuff at him. There's a game, and there's a game within the game, and that's what he's good at."

The Jets' defensive players have been on the defensive at times this season about how often they've gotten to the quarterback, but they proved Saturday that sacks aren't the biggest thing. They also proved it, to a certain extent, in the two regular-season meetings with the Patriots.

On Sept. 19, the Jets sacked Brady once. Jason Taylor executed a textbook spin move on Pats left tackle Matt Light with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter and the Pats in the red zone; Taylor's blindside sack knocked the ball loose and Bryan Thomas recovered, sealing the Jets' 28-14 win.

In Foxborough, Mass., on Dec. 6, the Jets sacked Brady three times. The final was 45-3 Patriots. Brady was barely bothered as he carved up the defense.

"Sacks don't guarantee you victories," defensive line coach Mark Carrier said. "It's about putting pressure on the quarterback, making his life uneasy, taking him out of his rhythm. If sacks come from that, so be it."

So count Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine - who said he had to contradict Ryan plenty on Saturday to keep Ryan from returning to his aggressive style of defense - to give Brady as many different looks and schemes as possible.

Maybe even a more passive pass rush, one that relies on fewer guys up front to do more.

"As much pressure, trying to throw off the timing, get bodies all around him, don't give him good throwing lanes," Carrier said. "There are things we try to do to make sure the throws aren't easy."

Said Ellis: "We've just got to go out and play the way we're capable of playing. Make plays, don't get on our heels. Let us control the game. If it gets close, we can control the game on defense."