The Chicago Bears have the opportunity to test the New York Jets deep down the field in Week 8
The New York Jets have been a pretty stout pass defense. They have a glaring hole in the slot, but they have worked around that with strong safety play and good outside cornerbacks.
However, the injuries are starting to pile up for them on both sides of the football. This is leading to their defense starting to trend down a bit. While they have found ways to get by without much help in the slot, they are now down two free safeties.
Early into the season, Doug Middleton was relied on to start with second-year free safety Marcus Maye injured. Middleton held down the ship admirably, and the Jets defense did not see a drop-off.
However, when Maye came back, they started to see a rise in play. Unfortunately, Maye suffered another injury against the Indianapolis Colts, and the team had to go back to Middleton.
Middleton did not even finish his first start after coming back into the mix. He suffered a season-ending injury and was placed on the IR this week. That is going to leave the team with Terrance Brooks, who has played 69 defensive snaps all season.
This could be a potential issue for the New York Jets. Marcus Maye is expected to come back this season, so they are not going to change much. They are going to hope the next man up mentality comes through and we see an improved performance from Brooks.
That does mean that he could be put into a spot or two where he is forced to make a play. Given that he is playing free safety, most of his high leverage situations come with him being a last line of defense. If the Chicago Bears can win the matchup with the inexperience Brooks, they should be able to move the football down the field.