Geno, Jets' tart start will only worsen
— -- EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Forget how close the final score looked. The reeling Jets have mastered close-but-not-quite finishes, if nothing else. As of Sunday, they also look like a team that is in danger of falling down an elevator shaft, and officially trending toward the sort of controversies no NFL club likes: How long before their starting quarterback, Geno Smith, is benched for backup Michael Vick? How long after that before head coach Rex Ryan's job security is a question again, too?
As grating and full of missed opportunities as the Jets' 24-17 loss to the Detroit Lions was Sunday at MetLife Stadium, the bigger picture when you spin their 1-3 season forward looks even worse.
It's about to get even uglier around here.
And the Jets' immediate future looked that way even before Smith -- who heard boos in the second half, along with chants for Vick -- cursed at a fan on his way off the field.
"Shut up," Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson said his message to Smith's hecklers would be, though Richardson nonetheless added that Smith has to keep his composure better.
The Jets are riding a three-game losing streak, and when they look ahead, here's what the coming weeks bring: At San Diego against Philip Rivers; at home against Peyton Manning and the Broncos; at New England and Tom Brady, then home against the Bills. And even the next game doesn't look like a sure win. Buffalo, now 2-2, has already beaten Chicago.
This is not a good time for the Jets to be asking who their starting quarterback should be. But in the NFL, it never is.
Vick, who was largely supportive of Smith after the game, even slipped himself and said, "Whenever the time comes" for him to play, then quickly added, "if the time comes ..."
Referring now to the chants for him and boos for Smith, Vick added, "I have mixed emotions because I've been through that. I know what it's like. It's so unfair. You can ruin quarterbacks that way."
Smith probably has one more game to save his job, despite Ryan's insistence he still believes in him and he'll start Smith next week.
But the Jets' problems right now stretch beyond Smith. Self-inflicted mistakes remain a maddening problem. The offensive line left Smith vulnerable to several crushing hits. And Ryan perfectly captured what's wrong with his defense, which began the day ranked second in the NFL.
"They're making a lot of good plays," Ryan said. "Unfortunately, we're not making the big plays ... We're not where we want to be."
It didn't help that Smith got progressively worse as the game went along. He had another interception and a lost fumble. But a second fumble that was charged to him was actually the fault of center Nick Mangold, who snapped the ball so high Smith was lucky to even get a hand on it before scrambling and falling on it for a 17-yard loss.
It would've helped if the Jets' defense could've stopped the Lions right after Smith recovered from a five-possession stretch of three-and-outs in the first half and found Eric Decker for an 11-yard touchdown on the Jets' first possession of the second half. That narrowed the Lions' lead to just a touchdown. The MetLife Stadium crowd was howling now, and it got louder when the Lions took over the ball on their own 10 after a poor kickoff return. But then the Jets' defense gave up a 90-yard, 14-play drive to Detroit that ate up 7 1/2 minutes and began with Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford converting long, back-to-back third-down conversions to start the series.
"That was a killer," Ryan allowed.
"We've got to get off the field ... We've got to get off the field," Jets tackle Muhammad Wilkerson muttered.
It was that kind of day for the Jets. One step forward, three pratfalls back.
The Lions were missing All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson most of the game. And yet the Jets let Golden Tate scorch them for eight catches and 116 yards, although, as Ryan flatly said, "He's no Calvin Johnson."
They had a busted coverage that led to a 59-yard touchdown catch by backup wideout Jeremy Ross.
The Jets' offense, after going a demoralizing 1-for-6 in the red zone in last week's loss, began this game with an impressive drive to the Lions' 9-yard line and stalled there, settling again for only a field goal. After that, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg had another of his mysterious mental walkabouts in the middle of the game. Though Chris Ivory gained 51 of the Jets' 71 yards on that opening drive, he didn't get another carry for three possessions. He finished with only 34 yards the final 54 minutes of the game. (But at least there was a Chris Johnson sighting. He broke a 35-yard run for a touchdown. "My first touchdown," Johnson reminded everyone, as if he knows far more has been expected of him, too.)
Throw it all together, and Vick, a 12-year veteran who speaks like a man who has been through a lot, was right to say, "I'm only one person. So that doesn't mean I'm going to come in and be the savior and save the game and things are always going to go my way." With a world-weary smirk, Vick added, "You guys will be interviewing the next quarterback, asking him if he's ready."
Going to Vick now would only be a short-term solution to the Jets' long-running problem of not having a franchise quarterback for decades. But it's not the only thing that's gone wrong so far.
And it's about to get even uglier around here.
"But I don't think it's just one man," Ryan insisted. "When you contribute with your own mistakes, that's a killer as a coach.
"I always feel if you don't make the corrections, then it'll happen to you again. And don't be surprised when it does."
That's the story of the Jets' season so far.
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