Jets Come Back, and So Does Fitz
Well that was fast.
It’s been five days since Geno Smith was named the Jets starter by Coach Todd Bowles. Now it’s safe to say that not only will he not be starting for the Jets, he also may never put on a Jets uniform again. On Sunday, after starting for the first time in over a year, Smith suffered a torn ACL when he landed awkwardly on a sack midway through the second quarter of their game against the Baltimore Ravens. Bowles was left with no choice but to turn to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who led the offense right down the field on his first drive, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Matt Forte. Fitzpatrick wasn’t great on Sunday, but he did his job in relief, and had some choice words for the organization afterwards.
“The biggest thing in this game in order to last is to have belief in yourself,” said Fitzpatrick in the postgame press conference. “When the owner stops believing in you, the GM stops believing in you, and coaches stop believing in you, sometimes all you have is yourself.” He later followed up by saying, “Going forward I’ll be pissed off.”
Fitzpatrick’s words seemed like a shot at the organization, as he appeared angry, rather than his usual calm and collected demeanor that people are used to seeing. His words didn’t seem to sit well with Bowles either.
“If pissed off is going to stop the turnovers, I’m more than happy to have him play pissed off,” Bowles said to reporters Monday morning, clearly referencing Fitzpatrick’s eleven interceptions this season, a number that Fitz has had trouble escaping this season.
Lost in the quarterback carousel and the media frenzy that ensued is the fact that the Jets won this weekend, and they looked good doing it. It wasn’t pretty in the first quarter, as rookie Punter Lachlan Edwards couldn’t handle the snap on a punt that resulted in a Ravens recovery in the end zone for a touchdown. That and the usual 53-yard bomb, this time to Mike Wallace, put the Jets in a 10-0 hole early, but they answered back. Late in the first quarter, Geno hit Quincy Enunwa over the middle, and Enunwa turned upfield and outran the entire Ravens defense for a touchdown, a sight that had evaded Jets fans for far too long.
Matt Forte (22) looked back in top form as he eclipsed 150 total yards and found the end zone twice.
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Justin Tucker tacked on a couple of field goals for the Ravens and the Jets scored on Fitz’s throw to Forte, ending the half with Baltimore leading 16-14. However, the second half was different, and it was something Jets fans have been looking for all season. Joe Flacco looked uncomfortable in the pocket, and the combination of Bowles’ blitzes and the pass rush of the front four left Flacco fleeing the pocket and being hit several times. With the run game totally bottled up, the Ravens were forced to be one-dimensional, and the Jets defense capitalized. Twice, defensive tackle Steve McClendon pushed center Jeremy Zuttah back into Flacco, blowing up the play and creating pressure. Additionally, with Wilkerson out with an ankle injury, Sheldon Richardson assumed his rightful place on the defensive line, not at linebacker or corner or whatever it is Bowles was trying to do with the 300-pounder. Richardson lived in the backfield, whether it was stopping Terrance West or getting to Flacco, as he had eight tackles, three for loss, and a sack.
Not only did the front four dominate the line of scrimmage, something Jet fans had expected to see this year, but the secondary came to play. Sure, Mike Wallace had ten receptions for 120 yards, but the secondary held their own, bouncing back from a string of embarrassing weeks. Buster Skrine jumped in front of a Joe Flacco pass to Breshad Perriman, running it back all the way down to the three. On the next Ravens possession, Flacco was looking for Perriman again over the middle, but the throw sailed high, and Gilchrist was there for the Jets’ second interception of the game. That led to a Forte rushing touchdown, and the Jets took an eight-point lead that they would never relinquish. Seeing the Jets defense finally live up to the billing this week was encouraging, and while it doesn’t alleviate the need for change, especially in the secondary, it was refreshing to see New York do what they failed to do all year. They got to the quarterback and created turnovers, doubling their season total in interceptions. Most importantly, they made adjustments. The Jets pitched a shutout in the second half, and after an abysmal second half record this year, it proved to be instrumental in holding on to the lead. Hopefully the Jets can carry this momentum going forward.
Buster Skrine (left) picks off Joe Flacco to end his record streak of attempts without an interception.
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
The talk of this team has been the quarterback for weeks, but Geno’s injury, tragic as it was, makes the solution apparent, at least for now. While many Jet fans wants to see Bryce Petty, he shouldn’t be thrown into the mix just yet. He has yet to take any first-team reps, and he hasn’t been practicing long due to his shoulder injury. Hackenberg has been the fourth-string guy all season, and based on the way they’ve been treating him, it’s hard to believe he’ll see the field at all. Having said that, Bowles did say he hasn’t determined which guy will be the backup this week, but what’s clear is that Fitz is the starter again, and love it or hate it, Jets fans are going to have to live with it, at least until the bye week. With the Browns, Dolphins, and Rams coming up, this team could feasibly be sitting at 5-5 going into the bye week, and if that’s the case, don’t expect to see Petty or Hack on the other side of it either. There are still a lot of questions surrounding this team, but this win kept everyone’s fingers slightly away from the panic button – at least for now.
