The Jets' defense through the first five weeks of the season allowed the opposition to score 30 points three times (29 and 27 in two other games). That changed last week in London when Denver, which was riding a two-game winning streak that included a victory at defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, was limited to a single TD and 13 points. The effort, impressive as it was, still wasn't enough for the Green & White to earn a first victory for HC Aaron Glenn.

Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks gave full credit to his unit's ability and sharpness to hold the Broncos to 246 total yards, their lowest output of the season, to his players' initiative off the field in a meeting.

"I think anytime you, ... when you have a meeting like that, I think a lot of things come out of it," Wilks said on Thursday. "And the biggest thing that I took is really the accountability that all the guys wanted to make sure that everyone was taking accountability. And when I say everyone, when it got back to me, I expressed to them that as coaches, we got to take accountability. We all are in this together. And it was one of those things that we all wanted to make sure that we focus on the details and everything that we were doing that particular week, that's what you saw."

Denver RB J.K. Dobbins was held to a season low 40 rush yards and the Broncos went three-and-out six times in the game. That's a stat in which the Jets lead the NFL with a 32.2% three-and-out rate (coincidentally, Denver is second). The Broncos had zero passing yards in the third quarter and no first downs. The Broncos' 71 total second-half yards were the second-fewest allowed in the league this season.

It might not be a coincidence that in the two games the Jets' defense has held the opposition to fewer than 100 rush yards (Week 1 vs. Pittsburgh and last week), edge Jermaine Johnson has been an important presence. He returned last week after missing 3 games with an ankle injury, taking 38 snaps 63%) and getting a sack, his first of the season, of QB Bo Nix.

"It was good, but I didn't do enough," Johnson said on Thursday. Addressing the challenge Carolina's offense presents, Johnson said: "They do a good job creating space at the front level. So me, as a D-lineman, take pride in not allowing that to happen. ... We let up 13 points last week, and that wasn't good enough. So now we got to work on keeping that lower and lower and get more takeaways."

Wilks' defense will face another dangerous running back this week in the Panthers' Rico Dowdle, who is currently No. 5 in the league with 472 yards on 81 carries (5.8 per). In the Carolina (3-3) victory over Dallas, the team's second straight win, Dowdle carried the ball 30 times for a whopping 183 yards (6.1 per). The previous week Dowdle gashed Miami for 206 yards on 23 carries.

"Those guys are averaging, I believe, 143 yards on the ground [142.7, No. 4 in the league], which is extremely impressive, and we got to do a great job of really trying to stop that run this week," Wilks said. "Two dynamic running backs [Dowdle & Chuba Hubbard], and they're going to tote the load quite a bit."

Jets DT Quinnen Williams said he's also been impressed by Dowdle, who he called a budding "superstar."

"Their O-line has been doing a phenomenal job across the board," Williams said. "[Last week] I think we did the necessary things to take a step forward and become the defense that we know we can become."