The Jets' defensive line made a statement in its 17-12 win over the Cleveland Browns with 8 sacks – a season high and tied for the most by a Jets defense in a single game this century.
Rookie edge rusher David Bailey recorded 3 sacks, getting to Browns QB Deshaun Watson twice in the first half and again in the fourth quarter. Five other Jets — edge Will McDonald IV, DL Jowon Briggs, rookie DL Darrell Jackson Jr., S Dane Belton and CB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. — each had one.
"Their [head coach] AG [Aaron Glenn] did a good job of just rolling the dice, switching it up and bringing different pressures, different looks," Watson said. "When you have a veteran group that has played a lot of football, you can do things like that."
Bailey also had a team-leading 7 combined tackles, 4 QB hits and 3 TFL in his fifth professional game. He's the first rookie this season with a multi-sack game this season and is the fifth player in the NFL to register 5 sacks within their first five career games since sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982.
"His ability to bend the edge, his ability to dip, lean, use power in that land and be able to rip up and make plays on the quarterback. His ability to make a move and then rush with power," HC Aaron Glenn said about what impressed him from Bailey's performance.
According to Next Gen Stats, Bailey generated 9 pressures on 28 pass rushes against the Browns (32.1% pressure rate), which are tied for the most in a game by a rookie since 2024.
Here's a closer look at each of Bailey's three sacks with some insight from the rookie.
Sack #1 -- First-and-10 From Cleveland's 26
The Jets forced the Browns behind the sticks on the first play of their second possession. Watson stood in the shotgun, but fumbled the snap — rain steadily fell all afternoon — recovered the ball, but at that point it was too late.
"I was coming from the right side, great interior pressure and great pressure from the opposite edge [Kingsley Enagbare]," Bailey said. "Basically we did a great job collapsing the pocket and it was kind of just anybody's game. The quarterback just kind of fell my way."
It was a loss of 6 yards for Bailey's first takedown of the game. The Jets had 5 defenders in the box (Bailey, Briggs, T'Vondre Sweat, Harrison Phillips and Enagbare) and the Browns lined up in 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs, 2 WRs).
WR KC Conception ran a slant route up the middle of the field, but Watson had no time to get the ball out to him — CB Brandon Stephens was in coverage anyway.
Sack #2 -- Third-and-7 From Cleveland's 40
The Jets were creative with how they attacked Watson. Brownlee was used to blitz and, on this third-down call, where Cleveland needed 7 yards to move the chains and lined up in 11 personnel with three WRs out wide, Bailey was left free.
"Great call by [DC Brian] Duker. I think we had a six-man pressure and they just couldn't pick all of us up," Bailey said. "I just came off the edge, one-on-one with the quarterback."
Browns RT Tytus Howard took on Brownlee and Bailey had a clean lane to Watson. He tried to step up in the pocket but he had nowhere to go.
"I was happy for David because I knew the setup we kept giving them the whole time and the rush look was just messing them up and I kept coming down," Brownlee said. "They could just never pick the blitz up from me blitzing so I knew that specific time when he blocked me I knew DB was going to be free off the end."
Bailey wrapped Watson up for a loss of 7 yards and the Browns were forced to punt, giving the Jets the ball back with about six minutes left in the first half.
Sack #3 -- Third-and-30 From Cleveland's 35
Despite starting the drive with a 30-yard explosive play, two penalties called on the Browns and a Brownlee sack for a loss of 10 yards, Cleveland was 30 yards behind the line to gain on third down.
Bailey only pushed back the Browns 8 yards farther with his third sack of the day,
"Kind of similar to the first one," Bailey said. "Great job by the D-line, great interior push. Quarterback couldn't step up, just kind of chased him from behind."
The Browns had WR Isaiah Bond, Jerry Jeudy and Denzel Boston all run routes deep down field, but because of the coverage in the secondary, Watson didn't have an open target.
It was Bailey's fastest sack of the game, reaching Watson and taking him down 3 seconds after the snap. According to Next Gen Stats, Bailey has recorded 26 pressures and 9 quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), which are both the most among rookie pass rushers.
