Faria's Focus Week 3: 10 Thoughts on Jets' Crushing Loss to Lions (Silver Linings, Injury Woes, Geno Smith & More)

Losses happen in the NFL to every team. For some organizations, they are minor blips on the radar of a playoff-contending season.

For others, they are the norm. If the New York Jets want to become a winning organization, losses like the one suffered on Sunday in Detroit will need to be few and far between going forward. So far this season, the Jets are 1-2, but have a point differential of plus-3. That's the second-best mark of any team with a losing record so far this season.

As with every Monday following a Jets game, it's time to go over what I saw from the team on Sunday.

And there's plenty of good with the bad to break down after Week 3. Here's what I'm focused on coming out of Sunday.

The Jets are heading in the right direction

"We're right here. Our guys know it's this gap right here that we've got to close. We're fighting our asses off to close that gap, and we will—from a coaching perspective and from a player perspective."

That was what Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said immediately following Sunday's loss. Some Jets fans have grown tired of hearing statements like this for a team that is, once again, below .500.

But even the most dejected fan from yesterday's game could feel positive growth from the loss. New York, as banged up as they were, took a team that many expect to be in the playoffs this year to the final minute. A last-minute turnover and defensive breakdown were the difference. This is also coming off a grueling overtime loss at home in which the team squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.

One thing you can unequivocally say about Glenn's Jets is that they fight for their head coach. They may not have the talent to finish at this stage of their rebuild, but I agree with the coach's sentiment that they are close.

You can see it in the way they are playing. The Jets are much better than last year, or at any point in the Robert Saleh era.

You can have your cake, and eat it too

You can be both positive that the team is heading in the right direction, while also frustrated that the organization has yet to find the secret formula to pull off upset wins like they had a chance to do in the last few weeks.

These thoughts are not mutually exclusive.

It is frustrating for a fanbase when their team tells them for the 15th straight year, "Yes, we're close. Just hold on because we're almost there!" The problem is that getting "there" never happens. And while the team should feel good about where they are in their growth, they should be very frustrated with the fact that the Jets had chances to beat two playoff contenders and squandered both chances.

I don't believe there's such a thing as moral victories. I believe there's able to find victories that are not necessarily on the scoreboard.
Demario Davis, Jets LB

Going forward, the Jets need to find a way to turn the wins that aren't on the scoreboard into ones that finally show up there.

Geno Smith is perfect QB for where Jets are

Man, did Geno Smith play well down the stretch, or what? New York's starting quarterback was excellent, especially in the second half of Sunday's loss.

Smith finished 31-37 passing (that's a completion percentage of 83%) for 321 yards and three touchdowns. He trusted his skill guys to make plays all game, and they rewarded him with excellent plays. Even more impressive was the fact that the Jets were down a starting receiver, running back, tight end, and left guard for a majority of that second half, and Smith still played well.

"I think guys stepped up and played well," Smith said. "There's always a lot of things that we can do better, and most importantly, we need to win these games.”

Geno Smith passes the ball. — The Jets couldn't have asked for a better under center than Geno Smith this season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

You want to see the offense start out more consistently than they did, but Sunday was a really good performance and shows why the Jets bringing back Smith was such a smart decision. Not only has he been really good to start the year (league-leading 75% completion percentage with four touchdowns), but he's also shown he can be a true bridge quarterback and leader for whoever ends up being the Jets' quarterback of the future.

Expect a D-lineman early in 2027 draft

If there was one major takeaway from Sunday's loss, it's this:

The Jets should 100% be on the lookout for another pass rusher in the 2027 NFL Draft. They simply don't have enough right now.

The Jets' defensive line was a massive disappointment on Sunday. They were consistently blown off the ball in the run game; they didn't contain outside zone runs and couldn't pressure Jared Goff unless the team sent in extra blitzers. Much will be made about the goose egg that David Bailey put up as a rookie (just three pressures), but I thought Will McDonald IV and Kingsley Enagbare were far worse in that game. McDonald, in particular, has been severely quiet through the first three games in a contract year.

New York's secondary gets a lot of flak for not recording an interception in 20 games—the longest in NFL history. But the pass rush has not been good enough over the last two seasons to force mistakes from quarterbacks.

It may be a "what comes first: the chicken or the egg" kind of question, but mistakes happen even with an elite pass rush. New York doesn't even have a competent one right now, and it's putting major pressure on a secondary that is good but not nearly talented enough.

Jets are nearing dangerous ground with offensive line

All offseason, the Jets offensive line was chalked up as the strength of the team. In Week 1, the unit looked that way, holding All-Pro Jeffery Simmons off the stat sheet.

Since then, they have been an unmitigated disaster. New York blew the game against Green Bay, and against Detroit, the O-line was the worst unit on the field. Smith was sacked five times; they dealt with constant pressure all game and had a miscommunication on the final offensive play that resulted in a sack-fumble.

And the worst was easily Olu Fashanu. The former first-round pick gave up three sacks in Sunday's loss and was beaten repeatedly. When talking to the New York Post after the game, Fashanu was apologetic, knowing he struggled:

Right now it’s too early to say. I haven’t watched the film. I know for myself individually, it wasn’t good enough. At the end of the day, my job is to keep Geno up, and I didn’t do that today. All I can do is watch the film, look at what I did wrong and attack the next week.
Olu Fashanu, Jets OL

Oh, and Dylan Parham was carted off after Sunday's loss. The offensive line needs to get themselves into gear. Otherwise, this could turn into a very long season.

Coaching did not lose Jets the game

I'm fair and honest when it comes to this coaching staff. There were mistakes made by the group, but in no shape or form did the Jets' coaches lose that game.

Much will be made of the Jets failing to score in the final two minutes of both the first half and at the end of the game while driving, but those weren't based on decisions by the coaches. Those were failings by the offensive line, including penalties and miscommunications.

You would like to see the offense get going earlier, and I think play-calling can sometimes play into that, but the Jets also couldn't block anyone. When your trenches are faltering, as they did in Sunday's loss, it doesn't matter who the coach is: you're going to have a hard time winning that game.

Overall, I thought it was a well-coached and well-planned game by Glenn. His team just didn't have enough.

Defensive expectations must be fair with added context

If you look at the stat sheet, the Jets' defense had a really rough game. They gave up 30 points, 381 yards of offense, over six yards per play, and couldn't get off the field on third down. None of those numbers show a unit that played well.

But context needs to match the expectations.

The Jets walked into Sunday with the league's top defense. They shut down a Packers offense that has been historically great, but woeful to begin the 2026 season. The Jets still don't have the kind of superstar talent needed to keep a team like the Lions in check. In fact, if you took a straw poll on the best 10 players in the battle between New York's defense and Detroit's offense, most people would pick 10 Lions on their own.

The point is that New York was at a severe talent disadvantage yesterday: one that coaching wouldn't have been able to figure out, especially with the defensive line getting blown off the ball like they were.

I won't say the Jets' defense had a bad game, but they held the Lions' elite offense in check for a half. That's pretty much more than anyone (including me) thought they would be able to do with the lack of talent around. I still think this group is heading in the right direction.

Even if giving up a four-play game-winning drive was inexcusable at the end.

Garrett Wilson + Kenyon Sadiq = dogs

That is exactly what the Jets expected when they drafted Kenyon Sadiq with the 16th overall pick this year. The Oregon product was unblockable, becoming the Jets' fourth right end in team history to finish with 100 receiving yards in a game and the first since Dustin Keller. Sadiq finished with seven receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Kenyon Sadiq makes a diving TD. — Kenyon Sadiq's full athleticism was on display during Sunday's clash with the Lions. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Not to be outdone, Wilson was dominant as well. The Jets' top pass-catcher made 10 catches, including two insane ones that resulted in a touchdown, while finishing with 107 receiving yards. Wilson did suffer a head injury, so that's something to keep an eye on.

But it's clear that the Jets' passing offense can work with this collection of talent. Sadiq is a tight end/receiver hybrid, and Wilson is almost un-coverable when he's making plays, as he did on Sunday.

This is a group that will only get better as the season goes on.

Injuries could derail major progress this season

The Jets have made progress this season, but there's an obvious reason the team might not be able to continue to match what they've done to begin the year.

Injuries.

The Jets walked into Detroit banged up and left the city in even worse shape. Before the game, the Jets were without their starting tight end, safety, defensive tackle, and kick returner. They had a rookie receiver on IR and had their best deep threat out with a finger injury.

On Sunday, the team left with their best running back, left guard, and top wideout all dealing with injuries. In the case of Breece Hall, his apparent hip injury will need more testing to determine its severity.

“I don't know (the severity) yet," Hall said. "I felt something when I was running, and then got tackled and planted, and then felt something else, so we'll see.”

No bueno. The Jets can hang with teams like the Lions and Packers right now with these injuries. Any others, though, and the organization may simply run out of bodies.

Jets need even more from rookie class

The 2026 rookie class has flashed some major highs so far this season. Bailey, despite a quiet afternoon, has two sacks and leads the team in pressures. We've already mentioned Sadiq being a dog. Even Omar Cooper Jr., the team's third first-round pick this year, had a great 30-yard reception before going down with an ankle injury.

New York will need more, though. Darrell Jackson Jr. could have made a big run stop early in the game, but he whiffed; the defense around him collapsed, and the Jets gave up a touchdown. Bailey had a chance at a sack on the Lions' final drive, but couldn't get to Goff fast enough.

These are plays that (you hope) the rookies will eventually make throughout their careers. With so many injuries, though, this class is going to need to mature a lot faster than some people may feel comfortable with.

Fair or not, it's how this group will be judged.

Get Jets On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google