The Wink Martindale System

Edition #508

Good morning

Happy weekend to everyone and back to gameweek. We all want this one, and we need this one to act as a springboard for the second half of the season.

Yesterday we spoke about the Giant’s offence and today we’re onto the Giant’s defence and while it’s talented and it’s played well recently, you can absolutely exploit this unit.

Just because you can, doesn’t mean the Jets will be able to. But there will be opportunities and I’m banking on another big Breece Hall game.

Today’s issue has been opened for all subscribers. We’ve picked up a lot here at TJW over the last month or two, and I wanted to open an extra edition this week to show you what you get with a paid subscription. Appreciate you guys as always.

Dalvin Cook met with the media yesterday and there is obvious frustration with his role: "Of course it's frustrating," Cook said. "I'm an honest person, man. I work. I want to play. That's just any way. And, yeah, it's frustrating. It's new for me. I come from getting the ball 20 times a game, or however many times. Of course, it's frustrating. It's something that I've been adapting to." - Cook has just 39 carries for 109 yards s without finding the end zone and his role has diminished week by week as Hall has returned to full fitness. "If you watch my career, the type of back I am, I get better and better as the game goes on," he said.

Saleh isn’t calling time on that potential 1-2 punch: "I do think he's getting his legs underneath him and I do think he's running better with more violence, and looking more like himself," Saleh said. "So, hopefully, we can continue to springboard that. It could be a good one-two punch, obviously, with Dalvin and Breece”

If the Jets get a good offer for Cook, I think they’ll move him pretty quickly. Another player who will likely get moved is Carl Lawson, and he also met with the media yesterday.

"I definitely want to play and contribute. I know I can. I've proven that. Yeah, I always want to contribute, but right now I'm with the Jets, but I definitely want to play more. I definitely want to do what I did last year [seven sacks]. ... I'm a football player, not a cheerleader."

Nathaniel Hackett was asked about what he saw whilst self-scouting the Jet’s troubles in the red zone over the bye week:

“We sucked in the red zone, and we sucked on third down. I think the biggest one has been the self-inflicted wounds. And it’s not just one person. Everyone takes turns. For us, we have to settle down, and everybody’s got to do their job, and I think that was the biggest one. It starts with me doing my job, and then having all those guys be able to do those little things, and then those things will slowly come. There have been a lot of opportunities for us, and we just have to capitalize on them.”

I’d say that’s fair considering the Jets have the 32nd-ranked offence converting just 29.41% of their trips into the red zone into touchdowns. They also have the 32nd-ranked offence converting 25% of their third downs…when you actually think about it, considering how poor we’ve been in those areas, the considering the schedule we’ve played, it’s pretty amazing we’re 3-3.

During Wednesday’s press conference, Robert Saleh was asked what the hallmarks are of a Wink Martindale defence, and this is what he had to say:

Chaos and pressure. What fascinates me about Wink’s defence is that usually when you run all the different types of coverages and pressures that he runs, usually you have free runners once and a while. Someone’s going to miss something, but they’re doing a really nice job keeping a body on the body, making sure that there are no free runners, and there’s not a lot of space in their back end. Again, they’re doing a really nice job. Those two big boys up front are tough to deal with, their linebackers are playing at a high level. The back end, they’re young, but they play smart, they play tight, (Jason) Pinnock’s doing a really nice job back there. Really impressed with that defence

Interesting to see Saleh reference Jason Pinnock, a 5th-round draft pick of the Jets in 2021. I’m still sour about him missing the cut last season considering the potential and improvement he showed at safety after converting from corner. Goes to show that every GM has their wins and every GM has their losses. This one was a big loss for Joe Douglas. Pinnock isn’t a star by any means, but he’s an incredibly versatile performer for the Giants. He plays up at the line, he plays deep, and he covers anyone and everyone. Just with how the world works, I expect him to make an impact play Sunday.

In many ways, the Wink defence reminds me a little of the Rex Ryan defence. They run countless coverages from the same formation and they bring blitzes from everywhere and I mean everywhere. It’s exotic and it’s unpredictable, and communication on the offensive line needs to be spotless, otherwise, they will get some free runners at the QB.

The Giants blitz 41.6% of the time and that’s the third-highest rate in football. Compare that to the Jets who blitz 18.3% of the time, the second-lowest rate in football. Here they have #41 Micah McFadden come on an LB blitz after having #5 Kayvon Thibodeaux crash inside at a certain angle as to tie up both left tackle and left guard. When it works, it’s extremely effective at disrupting and causing turnovers.

You can also see that the plan is to overwhelm in terms of numbers and there is obvious speed and talent with this NY defensive front line.

But it doesn’t always work.

Here’s the thing about blitzing, you live and die by it. We all remember that from the Rex Ryan days. The Giants try and overload the right side of the line but Tony Pollard does a great job slowing it down enough to give Dak the opportunity to find CeeDee Lamb. The Giants aren’t a great coverage team, but their ability to create pressure masks some of the deficiencies.

The reason the Giants blitz so much is partly just down to the coordinator and the system, that’s what Wink Martindale is all about. But part of it is because they struggle to create pressure, even when they do bring the extra man.

Remember, the Giants blitz at the 3rd highest rate in football, yet they generate pressure just 21.4% of the time, which is good for 20th in the league. The Jets blitz as mentioned just 18.3% of the time (2nd fewest) but generate pressure on 28.5% of snaps, the third-highest rate. This highlights the absolute gulf between not only the systems but also the ability to create pressure while not sacrificing coverage assignments.

The Giants aren’t a bad coverage team, but you shouldn’t be afraid of throwing against this unit. They’re 11th in terms of passes completed against (62%), 14th in passing yards allowed per game (214.1), 26th in terms of average yards gained per completion (11.5), 25th in terms of defensive interceptions and 15th in terms of passes broken up (29). But if they can’t get pressure and their 4.7 sack% is 29th in football, then the coverage won’t hold up for long, especially against refined route runners like Garrett Wilson.

Just like the Denver game, this could be a big night for Breece Hall. The Giant's run defence is allowing 137.3 yards per game, which is ranked 27th in football. They’re also allowing 5.0 yards per attempt which is the third highest in football, so this is not a case of volume hurting them. The 10 touchdowns they’ve allowed on the ground is also the 3rd highest in football and their expected points contributed by the rush defence is the 6th worst in football at -12.06, meaning they’ve well below expectation.

They’ve played some pretty tough running teams like San Francisco and Dallas, but the Jets with Breece Hall have the potential to be a dominant unit.

The Giants have performed better in recent weeks, especially against the Bills. But the Bills can be predictable in the way they play, and at 4-3 they’ve proven to be very beatable, including by us. If the Jets turn up, we’re good to go.

This week I’ve got two full quotes I wanted to share, both from special teams coordinator Brant Boyer

On Irv Charles

You know when you lose two guys like that who we count on heavily, it was good to see Irv respond. He was here I think every single day of the offseason. He’s done everything that we’ve asked him to do. He’s one of the hardest workers in this building. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s a threat in every phase. He does a hell of a job blocking, he does a hell of a job holding people up, he’s a punt block threat, he does everything as a gunner that we ask him to do, and he’s so big and he’s so physical, that he’s a hard matchup for anybody as a linebacker or anybody. He’s done exactly what we’ve asked him to do. He’s been fantastic so far and I see nothing but him just getting better and better and better as he gets more reps.

On Bryce Hall

Bryce Hall, I want everybody to be very, very clear with this, Bryce Hall was a starter and I haven’t been able to use him when he was a starter, right? Now he is not a starter anymore and now I am able to use him, there is not a player, and I am not even kidding that I respect more than that kid, because to go from a starter to going to a back up to having to play special teams and to buy in the way he is bought in and he has never, not one time since I have been here, he has never not one time since that kid has been here has he ever put his head down, has he ever not practiced the way he should, has he ever complained about it, anything like that, I have the up most respect for him and what he has done here, I really have.