The New York Jets find themselves in the basement of the AFC East after their Week 4 loss at home to the Detroit Lions. Gang Green is 1-3 in 2014 since winning their first game at home against the Raiders. What was thought to be a breakout year for Geno Smith is quickly fading as Smith is still making some of the same mistakes he did during his rookie campaign. His turnovers and red zone inefficiency are not only taking a toll on the Jets offensive production, but are also costing the Jets in the win column. Even though Smith was up against the number one defense in the league, he still made far too many mistakes, and these mistakes did not go unnoticed by Rex Ryan. Rex was quoted saying of the team, “We made too many mistakes obviously to win that game against a good opponent.”
The game had a promising start for the Jets as Chris Ivory led the charge rushing for 51 yards on the opening drive before the Jets had to settle for a field goal. The Jets didn’t score again until the third quarter with five straight three and out’s, something that Jets fans know all too well. While the Jets secondary stepped up and held Calvin Johnson to 12 yards on two catches, they lost track of other weapons in the Lions’ arsenal such as Golden Tate who totaled 116 yards on eight catches. The New York Jets ran the ball effectively for 132 yards combined including a 35 yard touchdown run by Chris Johnson to keep the game interesting. It was business as usual for the Jets front seven, as they held Reggie Bush and the Lions rushing attack to 88 yards on 27 carries combined. The Jets dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, so how did they lose? It all comes back to Geno Smith, who really needs to pick up his level of play if the Jets want any chance of advancing to the postseason.
For now, Rex Ryan must focus on the task at hand: the San Diego Chargers. Ryan seems to be sticking with Geno Smith after much speculation that maybe the Jets should go with Michael Vick after the game against the Lions. During his postgame press conference when asked who the starting quarterback will be next week Rex reiterated again and again that if Geno is healthy, he will be the starter saying, “I’m not gonna replace him, I feel good about Geno.”
This week could be a bounce back week for the Jets against a depleted Chargers running game. The Chargers are down to their 3rd string running back due to injuries to Danny Woodhead and Ryan Matthews, leaving just Donald Brown as their main back. With the Chargers already having the 31st ranked rushing attack, this plays right into the Jets hand because of their stout run defense making the Chargers one dimensional from the start.
The only issue for the Jets is that Philip Rivers is coming off a red hot performance through the air against the Jaguars, where he threw for nearly 400 yards and three scores with a rating of 130. The Chargers have the 5th best passing attack in the NFL and have vertical weapons that can’t be overlooked in Keenan Allen, Eddie Royal and the veteran Antonio Gates. While the Chargers passing game is thriving, the Jets may have the upper hand in this matchup despite a depleted secondary. The run game for the Chargers has been average at best this season and pretty much since the LT era.
The Chargers run game is anemic to the point that it may not even pose a threat to the “sons of anarchy”, a nickname Jon Gruden gave the Jets front seven while on Monday Night Football earlier this year. This means Rex and the boys can mix up all of their blitz packages and coverages. Rex Ryan is infamous for always showing blitz whether he means it or not, so when he does this on Sunday at Qualcomm stadium in San Diego, Philip Rivers is going to have no idea what’s coming or not coming when he calls for the snap. The Jets will be honed in on the pass and showing little respect for the Chargers run game. If the Jets can mix up their blitz and coverage packages correctly, it could be a long and frustrating day for Rivers. On offense the Jets need to play clean, especially inside the Chargers 20 yard line. The Chargers defense has shown great improvement in comparison to previous seasons. They rank fifth in the league in overall defense and are top ten in the league rankings against the rush as well as 11th against the pass.
It’s no secret there’s a huge amount of pressure on Geno Smith to perform and to limit turnovers. I expect the Jets to stay with the ground and pound like they did against the Lions last week, especially with wide recievers Eric Decker and David Nelson listed as game time decisions for this Sunday. They’ll need to run the ball effectively in order to set up the play action pass, as the Jets are going to need to score points being up against a red hot Chargers offense.
“Execute” should be the only word written on the white board in the Jets locker room this Sunday.
They have the game plan and the personnel to be a quality football team but so far they’ve been shooting themselves in the foot each Sunday. The Jets need to come out like they did on the road in week two at Green Bay and get the ball rolling on offense. However, If they come out flat in San Diego, Geno Smith is going to struggle and you’ll start to hear more Jets fan calling for Vick to step in. I see this week as a do or die game for Gang Green and a statement week for Geno Smith as the Jets find themselves only one game back from first place in the AFC East. However, they can’t afford to fall to 1-4. At this point in the season, the AFC East looks like it could be won by whatever team can go 9-7 or even 8-8. The Jets were able to go 8-8 in 2013 despite Geno’s mistakes, so imagine if Geno can clean up his act. This weekend’s road game is the most important business trip the Jets have taken so far this season, and it could make or break their 2014 campaign. Despite all of this pressure and the recent miscues, I think the Jets right their wrongs and clean things up to win a close one on the road 20-17.
