The New York Jets will still be a creative, blitzing, difficult defense to prepare for, even without Rex Ryan.
The Jets landed Todd Bowles, the Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator who has been in high demand since Arizona's season ended. He was considered one of the top available candidates and interest was high. The Atlanta Falcons also sought a second interview with Bowles, but the Jets got their second interview with Bowles first, and didn't let him leave without the job.
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Bowles' defenses in Arizona the last two seasons were known for being very aggressive, with many creative blitzes. Despite an offense that had three different starting quarterbacks, Arizona went 11-5 and got a wild-card spot in a competitive NFC. Arizona allowed 18.7 points per game, the fifth best mark in the NFL. Bowles was interim head coach for the three games with the 2011 Miami Dolphins after Tony Sparano was fired, and Bowles went 2-1.
Bowles, who was a defensive back for eight NFL seasons (seven with the Washington Redskins and one with the San Francisco 49ers), takes over a Jets defense that ranked sixth in yards allowed under Ryan. There is talent on that side of the ball. The problem is offense. The Jets have struggled to find stability at quarterback for many, many years. How Bowles fills out his offensive staff will be key to his success.
The dominoes are starting to fall in the NFL vacancies. Rex Ryan was hired by the Buffalo Bills, and now perhaps the hottest candidate remaining has gone to the Jets. Now that teams don't have Bowles as an option anymore, the others with vacancies might start to move quickly to get the best of the remaining candidates.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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