Quinnen Williams explains how 49ers RB Jordan Mason was able to run all over the Jets defense in Week 1.
The New York Jets did not have a strong start to the 2024 NFL season. New York could not keep pace with San Francisco, falling 32-19 despite leading at the end of the first quarter. The Jets struggled to find a rhythm on offense, and more surprisingly could not hold up as a defensive unit.
Jets star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams recently talked about why New York struggled to bottle up Jordan Mason, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner.
“He was amazing, man. We watched him on film, running hard, downhill like all San Francisco running backs, they’ve had in the past,” Williams said. “They hit the hole hard and they run it like they're supposed to. In the outside zone, they’re hitting the point immediately and hard. In the inside zone, they’re hitting the point immediately hard. It was an amazing job by them and an amazing job by him.”
Mason ran all over the Jets defense in relief of Christian McCaffrey. This goes to show how effective the 49ers scheme is at creating space in the run game. It is scary to imagine what CMC could have accomplished if he were active.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh gave a ton of credit to the 49ers for the dominant performance.
“Defensively, credit to San Francisco, they did a great job running the ball and were efficient in the passing game,” Saleh said. “Even in the second half when we feel like we made some adjustments in the run game…they were explosive.”
Saleh was complimentary of Jordan Mason's performance as well.
“They have a stable of good running backs and are very good up front,” complimented Saleh. “From an efficiency standpoint, they beat us up front plain and simple.”
Should Jets fans be worried about their defense following Week 1's loss to the 49ers?
This is a great story for Jordan Mason and 49ers fans. Meanwhile, many Jets fans are wondering if they should be concerned about their defense's performance in Week 1.
Jets CB Sauce Gardner was certainly not pleased with his unit's performance in the season opener.
“Obviously it's frustrating,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said about the loss, per SNY.com. “We got to be a lot better, we got a lot to clean up. It's Week 1. We got a long season ahead of us.”
Gardner believes that the defense's third-down efficiency is a major area of improvement moving forward.
“We gotta be better, especially on third down,” Gardner said. “We got them to third down, and whether it's third down and short, third down and medium, quite a few times. [We've] got to execute. We got to make sure we get off the field.”
Jets fans should not read too much into the defense's struggles during Week 1.
The 49ers are a tough opponent, so it should not be a shock to give up a ton of points to them. Additionally, the Jets struggled on offense for much of the game, which put their defense in a tough situation.
