The Real Test Begins For the Jets | The Cutting Edge W/JackKnife

Fun time is over

If you're a New York Jets fan like myself, this week was great. We got to bask in a victory to open the season, and for once be on the right side of a "revenge game" of a former member of this team. Suck it, Saleh!

The Tennessee Titans served as an appropriate measuring stick. Gang Green came off of a historically bad season and came out sharp to beat the Titans, not simply because Tennessee was bad, but because the Jets actually executed their plays on both sides of the ball and limited their mistakes. 

It was nice to be in first place for four days up until the Detroit Lions forgot they had a game in Orchard Park and got walloped by the Bills. Hey, Dan Campbell! You and the team miss the flight to Buffalo?!

However, this was the Titans they beat, my friend and colleague, Zach Danielz, put out a power tier list earlier this week and I was relieved that the Jets were not in the SUPER ASS category, but were raised to Cowboys (wait, what?). The Titans served as a measuring stick to show the fans, "Hey, we aren't as bad as people think we are." Now the Jets return home to the depressing air conditioner that is MetLife Stadium, and they face a team that actually has playoff aspirations in the Green Bay Packers. Will this new measuring stick show us that the Jets can actually compete or will it show us they still have a lot of work to do?

Packers looking for bounce back

The Packers are one of the teams you should be hate watching this year if you're a Jet fan (even more reason to hope for a Jet victory). Reminder, they traded their first pick of this season to the Dallas Cowboys in the Micah Parsons deal, and depending on who finishes worse between Dallas and Green Bay, the Jets will get that first pick. 

But that's besides the point.  If you did hate watch Green Bay last week, you'll see that they had a total meltdown against the Minnesota Vikings at US Bank Stadium. They obliterated Kyler Murray only for Carson Wentz to come save the day. We've obtained footage of JJ McCarthy while this was taking place. 

The Packers at one point lead the Vikes 22-10 only for Minnesota to score 29 unanswered points and win 39-22. While Green Bay's defense couldn't get it done and they had some costly penalties, Jordan Love completed 21 of 42 passes for 387 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.  The Packers receivers certainly had good numbers, including Christian Watson catching six passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, Matthew Golden caught six for 97 yards, and Tucker Kraft caught three for 65, but they couldn't move the ball on the ground as they only mustered up 66 rushing yards. 

The defense is certainly looking to rebound (they didn't have Parsons and still won't this week) and those offensive numbers certainly show they have some upside on that side of the ball, which should have Jet fans concerned with their secondary issues. Looks like another week without an interception. Oh, and the secondary issues got worse.

Injuries

You know why those secondary issues got worse? Minkah Fitzpatrick, the veteran safety that Darren Mougey brought in this year to bolster up the passing defense to hopefully end Gang Green's interception drought, is on the injured list. Fitzpatrick hurt his groin early in week one against the Titans. He's been ruled out for the home opener and is considered week-to-week.

To make matters worse, Omar Cooper Jr., the rookie the Jets drafted out of Ohio State and had a clutch catch on third down in Nashville, is also out and week-to-week with a calf injury. 

Also going down was edge rusher Joseph Ossai, and Wide receiver/kick returner Kenny Nwangwu. There might be some hope though for corner back D'Angelo Ponds to make his debut this week. If he does, he will certainly have his hands full against that dangerous Packers receiver core. 

Will the Jets trust Geno?

Geno Smith played an economic game against the Titans this past week. He did not need to do anything crazy, especially the way Breece Hall and Braelon Allen were running the ball. 

Smith only completed 19 of 24 passes for 215 yards, no touchdowns, but no interceptions. Again, not bad, just had to manage the game and not go crazy. How will Frank Reich call the game against a team that obviously has higher standards. Parsons or no Parsons lined up against the offense, Green Bay's offense could potentially turn up the heat on an injured and inexperienced Jets secondary. 

Matt LaFleur is looking for his team to redeem themselves this week and if they do keep up their good passing game, Reich can't afford to be too careful by handing the ball off and hoping for the best from Hall and Hallen. If those two continue to play well, great, Breece has done it before, but if Love and Packers receivers make life hell for the Jets secondary, then Reich and Smith are going to have to try to turn this game into a high scoring shootout. Yes, the game plan worked against a meek Titans team, but I'd expect the Packers defense to be much angrier and ready to stop the run after their let down last week, and if Reich wants to still run the ball down their throats, he's going to have to put a reasonable fear in Green Bay that they will be beaten in the air, and the only way you can do that is by throwing the ball to Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, and Kenyon Sadiq. 

Prediction 

The three key factors of this game I pretty much touched on above. How will the Jets hold up against the Packers pass attack? How will Gang Green answer their injury big? Will Geno Smith be given more opportunities to throw the ball? If they are able to answer any one of those three challenges well, I think the Jets will at the very least be in the game. 

One factor I didn't mention though is the crowd at MetLife. Will Jet fans be excited and make the building as loud as it was like in week two, 2009, against the (lol they lost the big game six times) Patriots, or will the shades of green that fill the stadium have a disproportionate amount of yellow with some cheese heads on top? We saw how loud the stadium can be on Sunday Night when the New York Giants beat the Cowboys. We see how optimistic Big Blue's fans are for the future. How loud the stadium will be for the Jets on Sunday will show just how optimistic we are as a fan base for the future. I know Woody Johnson is hoping this "white out" is successful, but he's also the reason why fans of this team get so demoralized. 

Obviously I am pulling for the Jets to win, but I think the Packers take this one by a score of 27-19. I hate moral victories. This playoff drought has made me sick of them. But if the Jets could keep it within a one possession game, I guess at the very least we as fans can come out of it saying "they held their own." Well they also held their own against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week one last year. Screw that. I'm expecting an albeit competitive loss, but I hope they prove me wrong (with a win of course, not getting blown out). 

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