Late in the Jets-Bills game last Sunday, Buffalo tight end Scott Chandler scored on a 33-yard reception.
This touchdown (with the extra point) tied the game at 20.
On this play, the Jets blitzed both linebacker DeMario Davis and safety Jaiquawn Jarrett from the right side. Neither player got to the quarterback.
Chandler snuck behind Davis and Jarrett (and Calvin Pace) and was wide open. Pace was covering the short-area zone, but passed off the tight end to the coverage behind him.
However, nobody was there.
As Ted Marchibroda once said, “When you blitz, one team’s band is playing at the end of the play.”
It’s a risky strategy, that often works, but sometimes comes back to bite you.
“You live by it, sometimes you die by it,” said Jets defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman. “It’s worked for us. Being aggressive and being an attacking defense is better than being a bend and don’t break. I’ve never been one of those guys to sit back and get cut up. You still bleed and if you’re going to die, die all at once. Don’t die slow.
“There’s times you play in the National Football League, those other guys get paid too, I mean they have some talented players as well, so [a big play] happens.”
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