Jets Week 4 Awards: 8 Winners After an Uninspiring Loss to the Bears in Chicago

Woof. There are not many ways to describe how poorly the Jets played on Sunday.

Gang Green needed a victory to get to .500 heading into the month of October. Instead, all three phases struggled, and the Jets lost 23-12 to the Chicago Bears in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the scoreboard said.

"Very disappointed on a number of different levels," Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. "This was about not playing complementary football. ... We have to do a better job of complementing each other, and that did not happen today."

There's certainly a lot to take in after Sunday's loss, and, as always, I have my weekly Jets awards to give out.

The "It's Over. It's Done" award: Jets' INT record

It finally happened. New York finally recorded an interception after 637 days, and 20 games.

Minkah Fitzpatrick was the player who picked off Tyson Bagent on a gorgeous jump route (h/t NFL). He has been an excellent addition to the team, even if he missed the last two games with a groin injury. New York could have gotten at least four interceptions on the day, but three were called back by penalties.

Minkah Fitzpatrick gives the Jets their first INT in 636 pass attempts

NYJvsCHI on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/CQUCl4JVnt
— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026

The good news is we don't have to ask anymore when the Jets will finally force a turnover. The bad news is what happened after that interception.

The "But What Did It Cost?" award: Every other part of Jets' defense

There isn't much positive to say about the Jets right now after a loss like that. Their offense failed to do much of anything, but the defense was easily the worst part of the game. New York's edge rushing group recorded just a single pressure in Sunday's loss. Only Harrison Phillips recorded two pressures along the defensive line in total.

Jamien Sherwood and Demario Davis both looked old and slow as they were picked apart by Chicago. New York had five turnovers recorded, but only two counted due to mental mistakes and pre-snap penalties.

Worst of all came on the final drive. Chicago held onto the ball for the final nine minutes of action and ran 18 plays. They were picked off twice on the drive, but Davis was called for being offsides on one and for a defensive hold on the other.

The Jets gave up 492 total yards (that's nearly 500 yards of offense), and over 230 yards rushing. Nothing the team did this week was good. And there will need to be a lot of questions going forward about the effectiveness of the group.

The "New Drought to Record" award: Jets' two-minute offense

Last season, Glenn made it clear that the final four minutes of every half belonged to the head coach. It is up to the coach to have his team prepared to get off the field on defense and then score points on offense before the half ends.

While the Jets' interception drought may be over, a new drought has begun.

New York has yet to score a single point in the final two minutes (h/t ESPN's Rich Cimini) of both the first half and the end of the game this season. In the first half, the Jets simply went three-and-out this time around instead of some mental mishap in the closing seconds. They didn't get the ball with a chance to score in the fourth.

Here's a chance for the Jets to end another drought -- scoring in the final minutes of a half. Eight straight games without pts in the final 4 minutes of the first/second halves. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 4, 2026

We'll talk more about Glenn in a little bit, but it's clear that the Jets offense is only hindering themselves by being unable to put up points in a no-huddle and two-minute situation.

The "They had HOW Many Plays?!" award: Bears' offense

Eighty-nine. The Bears' offense ran 89 plays during their beatdown win over New York.

The current league average is just 62 plays per game for offenses across the league. Chicago was so efficient, and New York bailed them out with multiple penalties, that the Bears were able to do whatever they wanted offensively.

It's honestly a miracle the Jets were not beaten by more. A big play recorded offensively and a few turnovers evened out what ended up becoming a blowout. Glenn has preached himself to be a quality defensive mind. While player execution was poor throughout, it's on the coaching staff that they weren't able to get off the field on that side of the ball.

Eighty-nine plays is an absurd amount. Inexcusable across the board.

The "Time's Ticking" award: Aaron Glenn

Glenn was one of seven coaches hired during the 2025 cycle. Here are the records of all seven coaches through 21 games:

Mike Vrabel (NE) - 15-5
Liam Coen (JAX) - 16-5
Pete Carroll (LV) - 3-14 (fired)
Ben Johnson (CHI) - 14-7
Brian Schottenheimer (DAL) - 9-11-1
Kellen Moore (NO) - 7-13

Glenn's record? 4-17 after the loss on Sunday. Just a note: here are the records of the coaches who were hired this past offseason.

Klint Kubiak (LV) - 3-1
Mike McCarthy (PIT) - 2-2
Jesse Minter (BAL) - 3-1
John Harbaugh (NYG) - 3-1
Joe Brady (BUF) - 3-1
Mike LaFleur (ARI) - 1-3
Todd Monken (CLE) - 3-1
Robert Saleh (TEN) - 0-4
Jeff Hafley (MIA) - 0-4
Kevin Stefanski (ATL) - 1-2 *Week 4 game on MNF*

Glenn has just one more win than a coach who was one-and-done during their first years. Five new hires this offseason nearly have as many wins.

Something needs to change. And fast.

The "How is This Even Possible" award: Jets' third-down offense

In the modern NFL—and with rules built in favor of helping offenses—teams should be pretty good on third down. No one should ever have a game in which they fail to convert on third down.

Somehow, the Jets accomplished that feat, going 0-for-7 on third down. New York only ran 32 plays on the day, and while much of that can be blamed on the defense giving up big plays of their own, it's also an example of how bad the entire offensive unit was at sustaining drives. Going 0-for-7 should never happen on an NFL field, especially with a quality starting quarterback like Smith leading the way.

That's what happened, though.

Somehow, the Jets' third-down offense wasn't the worst across the league. The Eagles went 0-12 on third down in their 24-20 loss to the Rams.

Progress? The Jets weren't as bad on third down as the Eagles? Yikes.

The "Hey, That Was A Nice Play" award: Isaiah Williams's TD catch

New York made many nice plays during Sunday's loss. Most of them were called back due to penalties.

One play that did stick was a 58-yard touchdown (h/t NFL) from Smith to Isaiah Williams. Williams blew through his one-on-one matchup and caught a nice throw. Williams finished with two receptions for 73 yards and the score, which led all receivers. The outcome wasn't in doubt when that touchdown throw was made, but it's still a nice play.

Isaiah Williams 58-yard TD!

NYJvsCHI on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/TRgGogeLyP
— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2026

I'll call out good plays when they happen.

Ok, now back to the bad stuff.

The "2025 Jets" award: 2026 Jets

Through the first three weeks of the regular season, it felt like the 2026 Jets were different than last year's team that finished 3-14. They were better offensively and defensively. Even some coaching metrics had improved.

After Week 4, though, it's fair to wonder whether this team is just the same exact one from last year. Despite all the positive looks over the last few weeks, the Jets are still 1-3 and are dealing with a plethora of injuries in key areas.

They are too often outcoached and outprepared where it matters most. Players are also making the same kind of mental mistakes we saw last season.

Until the Jets prove fans wrong and actually win football games, this will remain a bad football team. And Sunday's loss did nothing to give anyone hope that things were going in the right direction.

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