Will The Jets Hurt Us In Week Three? | The Cutting Edge W/JackKnife

How funny things change so quickly in the NFL. I guess that's what happens when one game can have so much value to it due to their only being 17 of them compared to other leagues like MLB (162), NBA (82), and NHL (84). A week ago from today we New York Jets fans were on cloud nine after looking impressive against a bad team. However, they followed it up with a huge tease.

Call it bias, call it what you will. The Jets should be 2-0 right now if it weren't for themselves. They played the Green Bay Packers (who were without Micah Parsons or Josh Jacobs) well at home just to give them game away in the fourth quarter to once again bring out the "same old Jets" allegations. What makes that loss even more frustrating was seeing how poorly the Packers played Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons after Michael Penix and Bijan Robinson went to town on them in Green Bay.

One thing going against the allegations is that the Jets are number one in total yards against (197.0 YDS/G) in the NFL and second in both passing (131.5 YDS/G) and rushing (65.5 YDS/G) defense. Points allowed, the Jets average sits sixth (15.0 PTS/G). Surely it gives some positive vibes, but now instead of playing the lowly Tennessee Titans and the Packers in the rain, they face off against the Detroit Lions in the Motor City, who I'm sure are angry with themselves because of how flat they came out last Thursday night against the Buffalo Bills.

Defense...prove it wasn't a fluke 

The above defensive stats showed that the Jets defense are doing things right on going up against both types of attacks. First against a team everyone expected to be poor in the Tennessee Titans, then against the Packers who are sputtering out the gate and faced off against in the rain. Well weather is certainly not going to be a factor at Ford Field this Sunday. The Jets are going to have their work cut out for them. 

Averaging 362.0 YDS/G, the Lions sit 10th in the NFL. Detroit sits eighth at 246.5 passing YDS/G, and 11th in running game at 115.5 YDS/G. But despite the Lions poor performance in Buffalo, they sit tied for fourth in the league averaging 31.0 PTS/G.

Obviously the Lions have the star power. Quarterback, Jared Goff sits eighth in passing yards (533), and tied for first in touchdown passes (six). Running back Jahmyr Gibbs is fourth in the league with 208 rushing yards, and a couple touchdowns. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is eighth in the league in receiving yards (209) and is tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns (four), and as if the other stats in this paragraph weren't scary enough, Sam LaPorta is eighth in the league in receiving yards by a tight end.

Goff has plenty of weapons to work with and the Jets defense is going to have their work cutout for them. Especially with Minkah Fitzpatrick still out. The Lions are pretty balanced in both rushing and passing, so the Jets don't have the luxury of being able to put more emphasis of one type of offensive attack than another. Now would be a great time for a statement game for the Jets defense by declawing these big cats' offense.

Jets offense needs to take advantage 

I said above why the Jets defense has to play to play to the best of their ability against a high powered Lions offense. The offense needs to do the same but for a completely reason. That reason is because the Lions defense "can't stop a nosebleed" as Bart Scott would put it. Detroit is 1-1, we know of the bad loss in Buffalo, but the Lions win was a barn burner in week one against the New Orleans Saints that Detroit pulled off after the Saints couldn't convert on a two-point conversion in overtime. 

Detroit is second to last average in the league in both yards against (457.5 YDS/G), and points allowed (35.5 PTS/G). Geno Smith hasn't exactly taken off despite him playing decent overall. Smith sits 12th in the league in passing yards with 462, but sits 21st in QBR with a rating of 55.6. Garrett Wilson sits tied at 23rd in the league with 136 recording yards while Adonai Mitchell is closely behind him in 27th with 123. The Lions have given up 621 passing yards, that puts them at the third worst in NFL.

Now may be the time for Smith to start slinging the ball to both of those wide receivers (assuming Mitchell can go, which we will touch on later) so they can finally show their potential. Not only for those guys, but Frank Reich needs to work in some more passes to tight end Kenyon Sadiq so that the passing game becomes more unpredictable to this already lowly Lions defense. 

Thing don't get much better for the Lions stopping the run as they currently sit sixth in most yards against, allowing 294 through two games. So not only does the Jets passing game have a chance to show it's true potential, but running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen have a chance to bounce back after a poor showing at MetLife on Sunday. 

Detroit does have on good thing in their favor on defense. Defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson is tied for third in the league in sacks with 3.0. Despite that, the Jets need to go and ball out when they are in possession. The Lions defense is limping to start the season, and while I'm not saying to underestimate Detroit, they need to be like sharks and smell blood in the water. Smith needs to ball out because Detroit's defense has no pride (HAHAHA GET IT?! BECAUSE A GROUP OF LIONS IS CALLED A PRIDE! I'M SO FUNNY AND SILLY!).

Glenn, don't get out coached again...

Head coach, Aaron Glenn makes his return to Detroit where he served as defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell for four years before taking the Jets job. Campbell is known for being full send when it comes to his team and has a reputation for going big in high risk-high reward situations. 

That's almost the exact opposite of how Glenn coached in week two or more so how he coaches in general. To put it simy, Campbell goes for the win, Glenn tries not to lose. That won't cut it if you're the Jets or really any other NFL team.

Needless to say, Glenn can't coach the way he did in the final quarter against the Packers. He and Reich are likely going to be in situations where they may have to go big or go home. Whether it be a fourth down and short, or actually using timeouts to get the ball back in with time left, Glenn is going need to not be afraid to make gutsy decisions. These are the moments where coaches show that they can be head coaches that can lead a whole staff, and not limited to the coordinator that's the right hand man. 

Injuries and more injuries

Now I certainly don't want to use injuries as an excuse for poor performance. Packer fans don't care that they're without Parsons (or Jacobs for more despicable reasons), they still want to send Matt LaFleur into the sun. This is the NFL and football is a violent game. As an unfortunate consequence of that, there's going to be a large amount of injuries.

I already mentioned above that Fitzpatrick is out for the Jets. I previously mentioned how Mitchell needs to have a big game, but he is a toss up to go on Sunday due to a finger injury. He has practiced this week with his right hand wrapped up. Possibly dealing with something very serious, but trying to play through it. Mitchell, respect it, bro.

Omar Cooper Jr. is on injured reserve, so Isaiah Williams could potentially get more touches (shouldn't have to worry about him fumbling punt returns with this game being indoors). Tight end Mason Taylor is out with a finger injury, and so is linebacker Kiko Mauigoa with a quad injury. Edge rusher Joseph Ossai is dealing with a foot injury that lists him as questionable. In the event Ossai can't go, rookie David Bailey (who just came off the injury report) is going to have to step up and show why he was drafted so high, and so is Will McDonald IV who hasn't been noticable of late. 

Prediction 

I fully expect this game to be somewhat of a barn burner. If this is not a high scoring game, I'd be stunned. I think the Jets may be able to stop the Lions in some instances, but Detroit's offense is going to be extremely tough to limit. 

I also expect the Jets offense to take more chances. Another thing that may go in the Jets favor on offense is that because Glenn coached in Detroit, he is likely very familiar with the schemes they may run on defense and can provide some insight on how to attack it. At the same time, I expect Campbell to know his former defensive coordinator and know how to attack on that side of the ball. 

Detroit is well rested after not playing for over a week. Their loss to the Bills likely served as a wakeup call to get their act together and come prepared. However, their opponents too had a wakeup call of their own. Detroit was shown that they couldn't come out flat, whereas the Jets needed to see they have to keep their foot in the gas when in the driver seat. 

Two weeks ago, I said I'm not rooting for tanking. The Jets need to build a positive culture and they can only do that by winning. For that reason, I'm going to be optimistic and predict a win for the Jets by a score of 29-27. Let's see how well this ages.

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