Breakdown of the New York Jets’ Commanding Win vs. the Titans
The NFL has finally returned, and the New York Jets came out strong right from the start. Early in their Week 1 matchup, the new offensive scheme was evident, while the defense looked incredibly promising with head coach Aaron Glenn calling the plays. The Jets were in control on both sides of the ball for most of the afternoon before taking their foot off the gas late in the fourth quarter, leaving Jets fans with a glimmer of hope for the first time in a while. Even though stats should not be solely relied upon and not every single one reflected the Jets' strong performance, there are still plenty of metrics that support my takeaways from this game. From the new offensive scheme to Aaron Glenn's impressive defense, the Jets showed plenty of reasons for optimism in Week 1.
From the first half alone, the Jets made a clear point to establish the run game. On just their third drive of the game, the Jets ran 19 consecutive plays, taking 11 minutes and 48 seconds off the clock, which set a franchise record for the longest offensive possession, according to Amanda Vogt of the Jets. This drive consisted of 14 designed runs, 10 of which were back-to-back, and four designed passes (field goal counted as the last play). This drive completely drained the Titans defense, but none of this could have been done without the offensive line. The offensive line created running lanes and protected Geno Smith throughout the entire game. The newcomer, Dylan Parham, led all offensive linemen in the league in Week 1 with an outstanding 92.9 PFF run-blocking grade and a 93.5 PFF offensive grade. The offensive line gave up zero sacks during the game and received the fourth-best pass-blocking grade (81.6), allowing quarterback Geno Smith to operate the offense and get the ball to his receivers.
Geno Smith wasn’t asked to do much this week against the Titans, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Letting Geno play as a game manager and spread the ball around, rather than asking him to put the team on his back like a superstar, is what’s best for the team. He didn’t throw any touchdowns this week, and once again, he didn’t need to. He played efficient football, completing 79.2% of his passes, putting him ahead of all but two quarterbacks in Week 1. On top of that, Geno notably received a PFF passing grade of 88.4, ranking first in the league for Week 1. Ultimately, he was able to get the ball out to his receivers, which allowed them to create plays. For instance, on a third down during the first drive of the game, he was able to get the ball out quickly while under pressure to Omar Cooper Jr., who turned the play into a 30-yard gain. This ultimately led to the Jets scoring their first touchdown of the new season. And despite the offense playing mostly conservatively, Geno was still able to show off his arm, as he made some deep throws to his top two wide receivers, Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell. If Geno Smith can continue to play like this every week, opposing defenses will have to account for this Jets offense.
Speaking of defense, I can’t go without talking about how much better the Jets defense looked with Aaron Glenn finally calling the plays. The Jets defense held their opponent to just 10 points, and seven of those points came late in the fourth quarter, when the Jets defense started to ease up. This is the first time that they were able to hold an opponent to 10 points or less since September 29, 2024, which is another positive sign for the team. The defense was strong all around, and whether they were defending the run or the pass, they seemed to have the Titans stumped. The Jets only allowed 140 passing yards, which was the second-fewest in the NFL during Week 1. They also tied for the second-best PFF defensive grade (72.8), received the sixth-best PFF grade against the run (69.9), and the fourth-best PFF coverage grade (73.4). In addition to all of that, the Jets received a 79.1 PFF tackling grade, a grade that was the second-best in Week 1 and a major improvement from last year's season total (41.3). Head coach Aaron Glenn also sent a blitz 44.9% of the time according to PFF, jumping up from last season's rate, which was just under 30%. This could be an indication that the Jets will be sending more blitzes this season, something Glenn did when calling plays with Detroit and something I personally want to see as well. Even though the Jets didn’t record an interception during this game, extending a drought that dates back to Week 18 of the 2024 season, the defense looked much better all around, so I expect that drought to end soon.
In light of all the positives, there are still a few areas that I would like to see the Jets improve moving forward. First on that list is time management and the two-minute offense. Aaron Glenn’s time management was heavily criticized last season, and heading into halftime on Sunday, the Jets had the opportunity to add points to the board. But due to Geno Smith trying to hike the ball before Garrett Wilson could get set, the refs called a false start, resulting in a 10-second runoff to end the half. Although this wasn’t really Glenn’s fault, I would like to see him try and address this issue to prevent it from happening again during a more crucial moment. I would also like to see the team improve their disastrous kicking situation. The Jets held a kicking competition during the summer and brought in multiple kickers, but the competition ended up extending into the regular season after Jason Sanders, who had reportedly been named the starting kicker, missed two kicks in the preseason finale. Sanders eventually won the job for Week 1, where he went 3 for 4 on field goals and 2 for 2 on extra points, with his single miss nowhere near the field goal posts. Even though Sanders did hit a field goal from 52 yards, the miss was from 54 yards, just like one of his misses from the preseason finale, which raises some concerns about his leg from distance. One small thing I would also like to see the Jets get better at is stopping quarterbacks from running. While the team did a good job of containing Cam Ward, there were two instances early in the game when pressure got to Ward, but he escaped and took off for a first down. I do think that the Jets were able to improve on this during the game, though, so they may have noticed this and made the proper adjustments.
Now some people may be asking, “So what? They only beat the Titans, who are one of the worst teams in the NFL?” And while the Titans haven’t been a good franchise in recent years, neither have the Jets. The Jets have frequently struggled against low-tier opponents, so seeing them cruise past Tennessee and finally look like an actual NFL team is definitely a reason for Jets fans to be optimistic. Of course, this is only the first of seventeen games, and everything shouldn’t be taken as definitive, nor were the Jets perfect. But the Jets did show improvement from last year, which leads me to believe this season will be a lot better than last season.
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