Isn't it time, at 1-6 with the season in peril, that Rex Ryan's defense — the unit he's always most proud of — makes a stand Sunday against a Bills team that comes to MetLife Stadium having lost its top two running backs to injuries last week and is playing its backup quarterback?
The Jets defensive players think so.
"We're still looking to play that complete game that we haven't played yet, and I think Sunday would be a good start for us,'' defensive lineman Leger Douzable said Thursday. "I really like the game plan we have. I think we're really confident that this could be the complete game that we need to play to win.''
There are, however, many brushfires for the Jets to put out before their defense delivers that first complete game.
Ryan is fond of referring to the NFL defensive rankings, touting wherever his defense is ranked on the list, which is usually at least in the top 10. The problem is this: Stats don't win games, and the Jets defense this season represents Exhibit A.
Sure, the Jets defense is ranked No. 9 overall, a number based on yards per game yielded. That number is a mirage. It is fraudulent.
That number has nothing to do with the fact that only six teams in the league have allowed more points per game than the 26.4 the Jets are giving up on average.
That number has nothing to do with the Jets ranking 27th in third-down defense, allowing opposing offenses to convert first downs at an obscene 46.6 percent rate.
That number does not reflect the critical points the defense has yielded in the final two minutes of the first half of four games already this season. See the games against the Packers (a TD with eight seconds remaining in the half), Lions (a TD with 22 seconds remaining), the Chargers (a TD with 51 seconds remaining) and Patriots (a field goal as time expired).
That No. 9 defensive ranking also masks the fact the Jets' defense has forced an NFL-low four turnovers in seven games, which has them on a pace for nine, which would break the 2006 Redskins' record for fewest in a season.
The Jets defensive players insist the emphasis continues to be on forcing turnovers and that they'll eventually come — perhaps even in bunches. There are, however, only nine games remaining, which is limited time for bunches to occur.
"The moment you start freaking out about those things and start putting those things in your forethought, that's when you get a complex about it,'' linebacker Jason Babin said of the turnover drought. "I think everyone's done a great job here of not doing that and approaching it week-to-week and not thinking about the elephant in the room.''
As for the end-of-the-half woes, the common denominator, according to the players, is lack of focus and self-inflicted wounds — two things that are simply inexcusable, especially when they've turned into a trend.
"It has been things we've done to ourselves more than what opposing teams have done to us — assignments, alignments, fundamentals,'' Babin said. "When you beat yourself, that's what frustrates guys the most.''
The Jets, it seems, have already endured enough frustration in seven games to last a season.
No one is more frustrated than Sheldon Richardson, whose enthusiastic disposition reminds you of a golden retriever running free in the park.
"I hate losing,'' Richardson said, "more than I love winning.''
And when the team has often lost on its six-game losing streak because of defensive deficiencies, that adds to Richardson's angst.
Asked what he does to balance his innate enthusiasm with the anger and frustration that has been building all season, Richardson said, "Pray.''
"If I'm stressed out and my mind is racing and I can't go to sleep and [it's] 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, I just let God take the wheel and pray on it,'' he said. "I've got gray hairs in my beard, man. This is stressful.''
