Although the New York Jets are 0-1, there was plenty of good to take away from their opening week performance. A 32-point effort against the Pittsburgh Steelers brought quality production on offense, but there was a standout defensive showing as well.
Cornerback Sauce Gardner, in particular, was terrific. The rest of the defense struggled, yet the superstar stopper lived up to his reputation in Week 1.
He did so in a relatively new role, too: shadow corner.
Aaron Glenn Tips Cap to Sauce Gardner for Slowing Down DK Metcalf in Week 1
In his first game of the 2025-26 campaign, Gardner was assigned to Steelers star wide receiver DK Metcalf. Instead of merely manning one side of the field, he followed Metcalf wherever he went. It was a concerted effort by the Jets to minimize the impact of Pittsburgh’s most dangerous pass catcher.
Metcalf still got his, hauling in 4 passes for 83 yards. Gardner yielded just 11 of those yards, however.
Head coach Aaron Glenn, who got to play a similar role when he was in the league, loves it. He praised Gardner to kick off Week 2.
“Man, to me, it makes it really easy for the defender because you can really study and hone in on that guy that you’re going against,” Glenn said on Monday. “I know that’s exactly what Sauce did, and there are going to be some games where we want him to be able to do that. There are going to be some games where we’re going to say, ‘Play right and left,’ but it depends on the matchup [and] it depends on what we want to do on defense.
“But again, I thought Sauce did an outstanding job challenging DK, and I will say he is a tough cover. I’ll tell you that because there are a lot of other things that go into that matchup as far as the run game also being a part of it. I think you saw Sauce do a really good job as far as fitting against the run, too. We’re going to ask him to do that on a number of occasions, and it depends on the matchup for the most part.”
Gardner was one of two NFL cornerbacks to truly shadow in Week 1. The individual results spoke for themselves.
Jets’ Defense Needs Rebound Performance as a Group in Week 2
Unfortunately, the Jets’ defense struggled overall. Even with 4 sacks as a unit, it wasn’t enough to slow down the opposing pass attack. Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who just spent two seasons in New York, threw for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns. Pittsburgh came roaring back with 17 points in the fourth quarter, securing a victory the Jets seemed to have at hand.
Advanced metrics added further context. According to rbsdm.com, Rodgers averaged 0.34 EPA/play on pass attempts, good for the 84th percentile. For reference, Jets quarterback Justin Fields had one of the games of his life at a 0.38 EPA/play mark. Pittsburgh feasted on early downs, achieving 91st-percentile efficiency.
Run support was about the only thing the Jets did well. They held starter Jaylen Warren to 37 yards on 11 carries, also limiting veteran Kenneth Gainwell for 19 yards on 7 tries. Gang Green will take that seven days a week and twice on Sundays.
After ranking fourth in points allowed in 2022, New York fell to 12th in 2023 and 20th last year. Through one week of play, they sit at 30th out of 32 teams. Week 2’s matchup with a juggernaut Buffalo Bills offense won’t make things much easier.
The positive is that there isn’t a top-shelf wideout that Gardner will have to shadow. The negative is slowing Josh Allen down is so much easier said than done.
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