In comparison with the surprising optimism of the first two weeks of NFL season, weeks three and four weren’t great times to be a Jets fan. However, compared to my extremely low expectations coming into the season, these weeks weren’t too bad — despite going 0-2.
The loss to the Detroit Lions was grueling, similar to our week two matchup against the Packers, and week four was a complete letdown. Some of last year’s woes returned, most notably, Aaron Glenn’s failure to execute a 2-minute drill, and injuries to Breece Hall and Adonai Mitchell stunted our offensive growth. Still, let’s look at the bright side: The games were watchable, which is something I couldn’t say last year.
Week 3: Jets vs. Lions
Once again, Gang Green fell short in a heartbreaking fashion. I was on my toes this entire game. The first half was characterized by a defensive battle, and the second half became an offensive shootout. The Jets’ defense boasted a league-low 197 yards allowed per game, and the team showed its strengths in the first half. While Detroit’s defense hadn’t been strong during the first two weeks, they stood strong against Geno Smith and company. Neither offense could get anything going, but there were also no turnovers — it was simply a back-and-forth game of defensive stops for the first 20 minutes.
With nine minutes left in the second quarter, the Jets began an impressive drive that closed with a crazy touchdown catch from rookie TE Kenyon Sadiq. The Lions responded with a touchdown by Amon-Ra St. Brown, leaving the Jets with less than two minutes until halftime. Here, Aaron Glenn once again showed sloppy time management, unable to get even a field goal despite a pretty decent starting field position.
The second half was a different story. The Lions came out with an explosive drive and ended in a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown. After this, it became back-and-forth scoring rather than back-and-forth stops. Geno Smith headed the Jets’ impressive two fourth-quarter touchdown drives. Smith ended the day 31/37 for 321 yards and three passing touchdowns. As a fan, I am thoroughly impressed with his poise and leadership this season. And though he lost a fumble on the final drive, sealing the Lions’ win, he took full credit postgame, deflecting negative attention from his offensive line.
For me, the most painful results of this loss were Breece Hall’s injury and the non-call on a potential helmet-to-helmet with Garrett Wilson that took him out of the final play. As I said in my review of weeks one and two, I feel much more confident behind Breece than Braelon Allen. Braelon is talented, but he isn’t explosive like Breece. Also, though our final play was an offensive line collapse and not a lack of targets for Geno to throw to, it still hurts the team having G5 on the sideline. If the penalty was called, we would’ve been further up the field and, therefore, would’ve had a closer shot at the end zone.
This was still the most hopeful I’d been coming out of week three in a long, long time. We looked like a real, competitive football team.
Week 4: Jets vs. Bears
Against Chicago, we saw a return of the dreaded “Same-Old-Jets.” When Caleb Williams first went down a few weeks ago, I thought that this matchup might not be too bad. Case Keenum’s impressive Monday Night Football showing made me a bit uneasy, but I felt good going in after Ben Johnson named Tyson Bagent as the starting QB. While Bagent gave us our first interception since the 2024-25 season, he did what the Bears needed: he managed the game. He didn’t lead any passing touchdowns, but with the monster Kyle Monangai performance, that wasn’t necessary. He kept his offense on the field for nearly 43 minutes, exhausting the Jets’ defense.
You didn’t think that was all I was going to say about ending our interception-less streak, did you? That was a long time coming. I can’t help but wish it was T’Vondre Sweat’s — if only the penalty didn’t take that one away. I’m more than happy with Minkah Fitzpatrick getting that one for us in his first full game as a Jet though.
The defense wasn’t bad overall, but our offense’s failures translated to the horrible possession domination by the Bears. I don’t know any defense that could thrive in those conditions. We still had some impressive goal-line stops, and would’ve had more than one mere interception if not for some unfortunate penalties. I still feel confident in their abilities.
And wait, where was Isaiah Davis? I think it’s ridiculous that he didn’t appear for even one snap, given Breece Hall’s absence. We weren’t able to get the run game going at all, and we still didn’t try to diversify it. Also, once again, we didn’t utilize Garrett Wilson nearly enough. Coming off his great game against Detroit, it’s bizarre for him to have had only three catches. Frank Reich, please remember he’s not only good for deep passes and contested catches. Get him involved in more simple plays once in a while.
I’m not nearly as optimistic as I was in my last set of takeaways, but again, I can’t be too mad at what we put out against two impressive teams.
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