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The Jets defensive line was superb in the Jets loss to the Denver Broncos. If Sione Pouha isn’t in Hawaii after the season, the game should be canceled. Mo Wilkerson looks like a major steal in the late first round.
The Broncos first run went for no gain, and a big reason why was Wilkerson got by a Bronco lineman, blew the play up in the backfield, and this forced RB Willis McGahee into the waiting arms of OLB Garrett McIntyre.
Fast forwarding to the end of Denver’s first possession – on fourth-and-one, David Harris stopped McGahee for no gain. A big reason for the success of this defensive stop was that Mike DeVito’s penetration messed up the play.
On the first play of the Broncos second drive, DeVito stopped FB Spencer Larsen on the line.
On the second play of an early second quarter possession, Pouha stopped Lance Ball on the line. The powerful Tongan, who bench presses 500 pounds, tossed center J.D. Walton aside to make the play.
On the Broncos first carry of the second half, Pouha stopped McGahee on the line. I can’t reiterate enough how
brilliant Pouha’s performance was in this game.
On the first play of the Broncos second series of the third quarter, Pouha’s Polynesian brother (they are very close), Ropati Pitiotua, stopped Ball for no gain. Pitiotua has come back wonderfully from a torn Achilles, and has been a nice contributor. He’s 6-8, 320 pounds tough and relentless. On the very next play, Ropati chased Tim Tebow to the sideline, and he ended up throwing an incompletion to Eric Decker.
On the play right after the Joe McKnight’s third quarter fumble on a kickoff return, Wilkerson stopped a McGahee run up the middle for a loss of one. What you have to like about Wilkerson is he’s very, very athletic for a 315-pound player. He showed this in Denver, the way he dealt with their tricky option offense, adjusting his body so well to deal with the constant ball trickery.
The Broncos late TD run, the D-Line probably could have played a little better, but they were running on fumes at this point with so little help from the offense and the rarified air of Denver, so I’m going to cut them some slack.
The Jets have some issues right now, but their defensive line isn’t one of them.
Led by Pouha, they were impressive in Denver.
Pouha led the team with seven tackles. 3-4 nose tackles don’t usually lead their team in tackles, often doing the dirty work to allow others to make tackles. But Pouha was a machine in Denver, totally dominating Walton – McGahee finished with 18 yards on 12 carries.
And what a difference DeVito makes. They missed him when he was out with a knee injury. Mike Mayock of the NFL Network is right; he’s one of the most underrated players in the league.
The Jets need to give both Pouha and DeVito better contracts in the near future. They are both underpaid and undervalued.