Jets vs. Falcons: Preview, prediction, what to…
An inside look at Sunday’s Jets-Falcons NFL Week 13 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Marquee matchup
Falcons RB Bijan Robinson vs. the Jets protection
It is no secret who the Falcons offense goes to run through.
Robinson is one of the most explosive backs in the NFL. He has 853 dashing yards and 543 receiving yards this season, as effectively as six complete touchdowns.
The Jets protection is aware of he’s succesful of breaking a long one at any level if they don’t sort out effectively.
“He can break for 90 [yards],” cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. said. “That’s the type of speed he’s got. That’s the kind of juice he runs with. We’ve got to be gap sound and make sure we’re more aggressive than they are. Their O-line is pretty good when it comes to blocking for the run and blocking that wide zone scheme. We’ve got to have more than one hat to the ball. He’s a shifty guy. He can get from sideline to sideline in no time. We’ve got to be really good at rallying up on him.”
Falcons operating back Bijan Robinson AP
The Jets protection has shown huge enchancment against the run just lately.
They allowed 98 yards dashing against the Ravens last week and 65 against the Patriots.
“I know it’s a cliché, but everybody understanding, if I just do my job and have trust with the man beside me as far as gap integrity, and that’s what you’ve been seeing,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said. “Guys not trying to make plays that aren’t theirs, and when we press and try to do something that’s not there, we start getting out of our gap, and that’s when you see the explosive plays.”
Jets defensive coordinator talks with the media on Nov. 28, 2025. Bill Kostroun / New York Post
Four downs
Captain Kirk: Both groups are on their second quarterback of the season. While the Jets turned to Tyrod Taylor by alternative, the Falcons have had to start Kirk Cousins after starter Michael Penix Jr. tore his ACL and was misplaced for the season.
Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
This will likely be Cousins’ second consecutive start and third of the season.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn confronted Cousins a number of instances when he was an assistant in Detroit and Cousins was in Minnesota.
“I’ve played against him a number of years, so to me, when you look at his play-action game, which he’s been phenomenal at, he does look like himself,” Glenn said. “Man, we saw the bomb that he threw to [Darnell] Mooney, which was a damn good play for those guys. It’s just, man, he’s smart, he understands defense in totality, and he’s going to be able to guide those young guys into what we’re trying to do and to try to figure out how can they beat the coverages that we’re in.”
Breece bounceback: Breece Hall had 119 yards from scrimmage last week, the third time in the Jets’ last 4 video games he had more than 100 yards.
Jets operating back Breece Hall talks with the media on Nov. 28, 2025. Bill Kostroun / New York Post
But he had a essential fumble close to the purpose line in the loss to the Ravens that overshadowed many of the great issues he did.
Glenn and offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand both tried to raise Hall up after the error.
“I saw him after the game and I just went over to him and I said, ‘Hey look man, things happen, but you’re the reason we got down there. You got us down there, and just stuff happens at times,’ ” Engstrand said. “He knows he’s got to protect the football, and we preach it and we talk about it all day, but that’s really what I talked to him about.”
Sad sacks: While the most jarring statistic about the Jets protection has been its zero interceptions this season, an NFL file for futility through 11 video games, the Jets also are missing in the sack division.
The Jets only have 19 sacks this season. Only three groups in the NFL have fewer.
At their current tempo, the Jets would end with 29 sacks, which might be their lowest quantity since the 2017 season. Will McDonald IV has seven sacks, but no one else has more than three.
Cousins is a stationary quarterback and may very well be simpler to sack than Lamar Jackson or Drake Maye had been the last two weeks.
Ulbrich’s return: The Jets will see a acquainted face on the Atlanta sideline.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich Getty Images
Jeff Ulbrich, who spent the past 4 seasons with the Jets, is now the Falcons defensive coordinator.
Ulbrich was the Jets defensive coordinator under former coach Robert Saleh and then turned the interim head coach in 2024 after Saleh was fired.
Ulbrich’s time as head coach didn’t go effectively. He went 3-9 on the job as the Jets’ season spiraled downward.
The Falcons are sixteenth in yards allowed and 14th in factors allowed in the NFL under Ulbrich this season.
Costello’s call
The Jets have been enjoying effectively recently but they’ve confronted groups that had been merely better than them.
The Falcons are in their weight class and the Jets will win this one. I count on a bodily recreation dominated by protection.
The Jets draw back in the fourth quarter.
Jets 20 Falcons 10
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