The New York Jets were down 24-10 and made a tremendous comeback behind the arm of Geno Smith and touchdown catches from Garrett Wilson and Jeremy Ruckert.
But, a late touchdown from Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs put the Detroit Lions (1-2) back in front with just under two minutes to play.
The Jets (1-2) drove deep into Detroit territory, but Geno Smith was sacked, fumbled and the Lions (2-1) recovered to seal the victory, 31-24, and send New York home with another hard-fought, but tough loss. The Jets are now 1-2 on the season and will get ready for their second consecutive road game in Week 4 when they face the Chicago Bears, who will be without quarterback Caleb Williams.
With that, here is Jets Wire's report card for the team's Week 3 loss
to the Lions:
Passing Offense: B+
You couldn't have asked for a better game from Geno Smith on Sunday as the veteran threw for 321 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Jets were down two receivers on the afternoon in Adonai Mitchell and Mason Taylor, but Garrett Wilson and rookie Kenyon Sadiq more than picked up the slack. Sadiq finished with seven receptions, 105 yards and a gorgeous diving touchdown to give the Jets the lead in the second quarter. Wilson had 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown of his own that set up the game tying two point conversion.
It wasn't a flawless performance however as Smith was sacked five times, including a strip-sack that sealed the victory for the Lions. It wasn't entirely Smith's fault as Braelon Allen badly missed a blitzing Chuck Clark. Last season, being down by two touchdowns felt like a death sentence because of how bad the quarterback play was. It's refreshing to have a quarterback capable of getting this team back into the game.
Rushing Offense: D
For the past two years, I have watched Breece Hall mope around after losses and send cryptic messages on social media either questioning his role in the offense or looking to get paid like a top running back. GM Darren Mougey obliged by making Hall one of the highest paid running backs in the league this past offseason. But, after a strong first week against the Titans, Hall has been anything but an elite running back and had another disappointing performance against the Lions.
Hall finished with 32 yards on 13 carries and couldn't get anything going all afternoon. Over his last two games, Hall has carried the ball 29 times for 61 yards and avergaging a little over two yards per carry. That's simply not acceptable production for the contract he received. Hall did leave this game late in the fourth quarter with a thigh injury, but by then, the Jets were playing from behind and had abandoned the run.
Braelon Allen carried the ball 14 times on four carries, but will be remembered more for the missed block on Lions safety Chuck Clark that sealed the win for Detroit. The Jets as a team ran for only 58 yards on 19 carries.
Passing Defense: C
The Jets struggled against Lions quarterback Jared Goff as he completed 25 of 32 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. While Andre Cisco did have a nice sack on a safety blitz, he did let up a 49 yard completion to Lions receiver Isaac TeSlaa that led to the game winning touchdown from Jahmyr Gibbs. The defense failed to intercept a pass and unfortunately, the streak continues for another week.
Demario Davis had the other Jets sack on the afternoon, but, it was another quiet day from Will McDonald, who didn't generate much pressure and only finished with one tackle. While they did allow a touchdown to Amon-Ra St. Brown, the secondary did a good job overall containing both him and Jameson Williams. Both Lions receivers combined for eight receptions and 68 yards on 12 targets.
Rushing Defense: C-
In all fairness, the Jets did a good job not letting Jahmyr Gibbs run all over them in the first half. However, it was a completely different story in the second half where Gibbs scored all three of his touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving) and finished with 99 yards on the ground.
Special Teams: C-
Chris Banjo's unit has regressed over the last two games, allowing some big returns that led to touchdowns. Last week against Green Bay, poor tackling on Sky Moore's punt return led to the game-winning field goal in overtime for the Packers. This week, Jacob Saylors returned the ensuing kickoff, after the Jets took the lead, 44 yards that ultimately led to St. Brown's touchdown to give the lead back to Detroit. Jason Sanders was perfect on the afternoon, hitting a 42-yard field goal and his lone extra point. Isaiah Williams and Jamaal Pritchett were mostly ineffective on kick returns.
Coaching: B
The Jets faced a Detroit Lions team coming off a 10 day rest and played hard for most of the afternoon. There really isn't much to nitpick about with Aaron Glenn's decision making. The Jets had another opportunity late in the first half to try and tie the game and were moving the ball well. But, penalties to Dylan Parham and Malik McClain killed any scoring chance the Jets had right before the half.
Give credit to Frank Reich for his aggressive play calling and putting the ball in Geno Smith's hands to get the Jets back in the game. The Jets were down a few key players on offense, but Kenyon Sadiq and Jeremy Ruckert combined for over 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Jelani Woods had an excellent catch to keep a drive alive and Sterling Shepard, added to the active roster this past Friday, had a huge two-point conversion to tie the game. Everyone contributed today and it's clear these players love playing for this coaching staff.
Reich needs to do a better job getting out to faster starts on offense as the Jets punted on their first three drives of the game. They also had some brutal penalties at the worst times that resulted in stalled drives. Reich also needs to figure out a formula to get the running game going to avoid being a one-dimensional offense. We'll know more about Hall's injury later this week, but it may be a good idea to not only get Braelon Allen more involved, but Isaiah Davis as well.
Every loss hurts, but the Jets never quit and progress has definitely been made compared to last season. Sooner or later, some of these close games will start to go the Jets way.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Report card: Jets lose 31-24 to Lions in Week 3
