Speaking at his usual Thursday press conference, Marty Mornhinweg was asked about the similarities to the defenses run by the Cowboys, Dolphins and Jets. Mike Nolan, who came from the same Baltimore system as Rex Ryan, runs the Dolphins D and Rob Ryan, Rex's brother, runs the Dallas 3-4.
"Rob and Rex, well and Miami, all three...Baltimore, that stuff, all three are very similar in structure; however, every individual that runs it goes his own way just a little bit due to personnel, due to just their own philosophical...but it's all based on the same thing. So they're very similar, they each do quite a few different things than each other as well within the same sort of schematic base I would say."
Since the bye week, the Eagles two highest point totals have come against the 3-4 defenses run in Dallas and Miami. They hung 34 on the Cowboys and 26 (with a safety in there) on Miami. Does that give us a hint as to what they may do against a similar defense this Sunday?
That's tough to say, but this Jets defense is not the fearsome unit we've seen in years passed. They're right in the middle of the league in terms of points allowed and are in the bottom half in sacks. They're also middle of the pack in run defense, but they're #6 overall against the pass. It's certainly not a bad defense, but it's not as good as Miami and probably only marginally better than Dallas.