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NFL Offseason Roadmap is a series focused on the needs of NFL teams as they begin the offseason.

The offseason roadmap for the New York Jets isn't hard to follow. They need to get better, pretty much everywhere. Some areas have more urgent needs than others. A failure to upgrade them would doom the team to a 2008 as dark as 2007 while others require more modest improvements that will make the team a more potent one.

1. Offensive Line – The problems with this unit started in training camp when the team failed to settle a squabble with Pete Kendall and traded him to the Redskins. The loss of their most experienced blocker threw the line into disarray. Adrian Clarke, his replacement, was awful and offered no help to the running game or the pass blocking. Anthony Clement, the right tackle, was almost as poor and the Jets need to upgrade the talent at each position.

When you're 1-8, success becomes a relative thing. Nothing is going to save your season so you just want to see enough signs of growth down the stretch to make you believe the entire year isn't a waste. The Jets found themselves in just that position and the last three weeks have discovered that there might be a few diamonds in the rough on their defense.

Sandwiched around a disaster in Dallas have been the team's two strongest defensive games of the year. That's a positive sign as the season plays out, especially since the improvement has coincided with increased playing time for several new players. David Harris and Darrelle Revis, the first two draft picks, have gotten much of the notice but others have contributed as well. On the defensive line, C.J. Mosley has 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles since the bye week while Sione Pouha has recorded 10 tackles in the same period. That's more production than Dewayne Robertson was giving for about 10 times the price.

Throw in resurgent play from Bryan Thomas, Shaun Ellis and Victor Hobson and you've got a defensive revival. All of those guys play in the front seven and when they do their job the ripples can be felt all over the field. Kerry Rhodes spent the first half of the year unable to be the playmaker who opened eyes in 2006 but has been back in that role because the guys in front of him are doing their jobs. Corners are helped when the pass rush is working and the entire unit can show its teeth.

There are two caveats to this improved play. The first is that last week's game was against Miami, a gaping chasm of awfulness and the second is that the same thing happened in 2006. The Jets entered the bye as a subpar defensive club and played the second half as one of the best units in the league. Then they fell flat on their face to start this season so it's much too soon to start counting any chickens. They've stopped laying eggs, though, and that's a start.

Like skinning a cat, there are a lot of ways to play winning defense in the NFL. You can follow the 2000 Ravens blueprint and lead the league in every major defensive category. If that's not for you, there's the 2001 Patriots model. The Pats finished 25th in the league in total yardage but allowed the sixth least points per game. As you'll recall each team won the Super Bowl that year.

Eric Mangini was a defensive coach on that Patriots team so when he says that he's been a part of defenses that "have allowed plenty of yards" he doesn't mean it as a negative. The problem is that along with a lot of yards the 2007 Jets are allowing plenty of points. They are 28th in yardage and 27th in points, have allowed points on all ten opposition red zone trips and are allowing teams to convert nearly half of their third downs. Tom Rock of Newsday thinks that the team needs to scrap the 3-4 defense before things get any worse.

The Jets need to abandon the 3-4 as long as they have their current roster. If, during the upcoming offseason, they'd like to return to the 3-4 and make the necessary personnel adjustments, fine. It would be costly but fine. At least then, Jets fans would be able to get a fair sense of the scheme's potential.