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Another week is in the books following Monday night’s action between the Chicago Bears and New York Jets. What initially looked like a potential blowout ended up being an ugly but otherwise fairly competitive game on Monday Night Football, as the Jets had a chance to tie late in a 27-19 home loss.
With this being the final game of the third week of the year, it’s naturally the most fresh in our mind. Let’s reflect on what we saw last night and see what we can take away from this contest as we gear up for week four:
These Secondaries Are Ravaged
New York entered this game without star cornerback Dee Milliner and had a safety playing corner. Chicago lost star cornerback Charles Tillman last week and had 100 players die in their secondary in this game. Seriously, both sides were scrambling during dead time to figure out where practice squad players were supposed to be lining up in their defenses. It made for an ugly affair, but in a sense, also a humorous one. This is no joke going forward for either team, though, as they will both be attacked relentlessly through the air if they can’t solve their pass defense woes.
The Jets Can’t Be Run On
New York stifled the Raiders in week one. Big deal. But then they dominated the Packers on the ground – in Green Bay. And last night they shut down Matt Forte and the Bears’ rushing attack. While their secondary is clearly in bad shape, it’s beyond clear this front line is not to be messed with. Just imagine if Dee Milliner can get healthy and New York’s pass defense could pull their weight. This NYJ defense could truly be special down the road this year.
Geno Smith Needs Help
Everyone seems to be coming down on Geno pretty hard, but a close look suggests he’s simply doing the best he can. A week after a clutch touchdown pass was negated by his offensive coordinator calling a ill-advised (and illegal) timeout, Smith had to try to beat the Bears with a banged up group of receiving weapons. Eric Decker started the game but couldn’t finish, and all Smith had beyond him was Jeremy Kerley and Greg Salas. That’s not much. Smith did throw a bad pick-six to start the game, but was otherwise fairly solid. He has super high expectations playing in The Big Apple, but perhaps they’re a tad unfair. For what it’s worth, head coach Rex Ryan did back his young quarterback following the game.
