Running the Ball
One strength-on-strength matchup on Sunday is the Jets rushing attack vs. the Eagles rush defense.
Behind RB Breece Hall, the Green & White led the NFL with 234 rushing yards in Week 5. The team now ranks No. 11 in the league in rushing offense, averaging 123.2 yards per game. Philadelphia, however, has the league's best rush defense and allows 61.2 yards/g.
Rams RB Kyren Williams' 53 rushing yards is the most the Eagles defense has allowed to a back this season, followed by Brian Robinson (45), Rachaad White (38), Ezekiel Elliott (29) and Alexander Mattison (28).
Hall, however, is the most talented runner the Eagles have faced so far this season. Coming off a career-high 177 rushing yards on 22 carries, the Iowa State product ranks second in the NFL with 179 rushing yards over expected, according to Next Gen Stats. He ranks No. 6 in the NFL with 387 rushing yards and his 7.2 average leads the league among backs with at least 50 rushing attempts. Hall's 6.34 yards per carry in his first 12 games are the most in NFL history.
Great Interior DL Play
This game features some of the best interior defensive line play in the NFL among All-Pro Jets DT Quinnen Williams and Eagles DTs Fletcher Cox (All-Pro in 2018), Jordan Davis and rookie Jalen Carter, who is off to a sensational start to his NFL career.
Carter, the No. 9 overall pick out of Georgia, has at least 4 pressures in each game this season. Only Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons (8) has a longer active streak of consecutive games with at least 4 pressures. Carter has generated 25 pressures through five games, which are 9 more than any other rookie DT in their first five games during the Next Gen Stats era. He also has the No. 1 PFF grade among interior defensive linemen at 91.8 and is tied for first in pressures (23) and hurries (17).
Jets Stopping QB Run
The Jets defense has been susceptible to quarterbacks tucking the ball and running over the last two games. Russell Wilson, who had 70 rushing yards before last Sunday's game, accounted for 49 yards on the ground. In Week 4, Patrick Mahomes had 51 of his 154 season rushing yards against the Green & White.
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is more of a dual threat than any signal-caller the Jets have seen this season. Hurts had 15 rushes, 72 yards and a touchdown against the Rams in a 23-14 win.
"You have to consistently challenge them with a lot of different stuff whether its fronts, stunts, picture," DC Jeff Ulbrich said. "Sometimes the front four have to handle him, sometimes you have to have another guy handle him. I think variety and at the same time, us really embracing who we are and what we do and being true to that. We pride ourselves on being physical and getting 11 players to the ball and that has to come to life, too.
"Sometimes you play a team like this and you go down deep wormholes in scheme to stop them. We've all been victim of losing the essence of our defense, the style of our team, at times, because of that. We have to makes sure that we never lose sight of what makes us special and that's the style in which we play."
