The Jets threw for 321 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, got a 129.8 passer rating from Geno Smith, and lost by seven. Detroit 31, New York 24. The Lions are 2-1, the Jets 1-2, and that passing line is the most misleading number on either side of the box score.
Smith finished 31-of-37 for 321 yards with three scores and no picks. He was also sacked five times for 44 yards, which cuts the net passing total to 277. The real damage is on the ground. Breece Hall took 13 carries for 32 yards and Braelon Allen 4 for 14, Hall managing 2.5 per attempt. That's 42 dropbacks against 17 handoffs. That mix can work. It can't work when the quarterback gets hit five times, and it certainly can't work when the last dropback ends the game.
Detroit's final score came with 2:25 left, Jared Goff finding Jahmyr Gibbs on a short right pass for 11 yards and a touchdown, Jake Bates' extra point good. New York still had a chance, and still had the ball in Detroit territory. At 0:51, C. Clark sacked Smith for minus-13 at the Detroit 41, forced the fumble, and J. Campbell recovered at the Detroit 45 and returned 12 yards to the Jets 43. The Jets never ran another play. Game over at 0:00.
Garrett Wilson caught 10 of 13 targets for 107 yards and a score. Kenyon Sadiq went 7 for 105 with a 43-yard long and a touchdown. Jeremy Ruckert caught 5 for 39 and another score. Three different Jets found the end zone through the air and none of it mattered, because the run game gave Smith nothing to fall back on once the pocket started collapsing. Demario Davis did his part on the other side with 10 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit.
Detroit's chart lists Goff as both the passing and rushing leader, with Gibbs and Sione Vaki behind him on the ground and Isaac TeSlaa as the receiving leader. The Lions didn't need a signature stat line. They needed one throw at 2:25 and one takeaway at 0:51, and they got both.
New York's 1-2 is not a quarterback problem. Smith's 129.8 rating says the passing game is functioning. The 2.5 yards per carry and the five sacks say the rest of the offense isn't, and the final snap was a strip sack on a dropback the Jets had to take because they couldn't run. Keep that ratio and the rating falls with the record. My read: Detroit won this at the line of scrimmage, and until New York finds a run game, a 31-24 loss with 321 passing yards is going to look like one of its better afternoons.
