Jets Week 4 Report Card: Grading Every Position After Bears Hand Gang Green a 3rd Straight Loss

New York struggled from the opening kick in a 23-12 loss to Chicago.

Find out how quarterback Geno Smith, along with the rest of the Jets' positions, graded in Week 4. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A slow start out of the gate paved the way for a 23-12 loss to the Bears on Sunday, handing the Jets a third consecutive defeat. Even though they were without nearly half of their offensive starters in the Windy City, it was another disappointing performance from Gang Green.

To make matters worse, the Bears were still without starting quarterback Caleb Williams (Grade 2 hamstring strain), and there appeared to be some favorable matchups for the Jets to exploit going in. That said, the Jets never established any momentum early on and struggled to keep pace with the Bears throughout the game, even against backup QB Tyson Bagent.

With three straight losses to their credit since a Week 1 win over the Titans, injuries and slow starts continue to plague this Jets team. Fresh off a frustrating Week 4 loss to the Bears, let's hand out some grades for each unit ahead of a Week 5 home matchup against the Browns.

Quarterbacks: D

Although the Bears have been solid against the pass to begin the season, this was a key matchup coming into the game to see what Jets QB Geno Smith could do against them. Smith finished just 8-of-15 for 119 passing yards and one touchdown, and the Jets could not sustain any momentum by punting on five of their eight drives.

Granted, he was without running back Breece Hall (quad), wide receiver Adonai Mitchell (right finger) and tight end Mason Taylor (thumb) and hardly had any reliable options to turn to, but he did post a respectable 101.8 passer rating and kept the Jets in the game with a late two-play, 72-yard TD drive in the fourth quarter.

That said, Smith's worst completion percentage (53.3%) since 2023 was nowhere near the efficiency the Jets needed from him with so many players injured.

Wide receivers: C-

The overall volume was low, with Smith completing just eight passes the entire game, but the Jets certainly looked like a team that was shorthanded in the receiving corps. The lone bright spot, however, was Isaiah Williams, who had two catches for 73 yards and a 58-yard TD in the fourth (h/t NFL), which at least gave the Jets a spark that was nonexistent for the rest of the game.

Isaiah Williams 58-yard TD!

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Aside from that, this was an opportunity for others to step up in light of the injuries, and they did the exact opposite.

Garrett Wilson only had three catches for 27 yards while Sterling Shepard was only targeted once after being signed to the practice squad just last month. Being without two of their top-three receivers did not help, as rookie Omar Cooper Jr. continues to deal with a high ankle sprain as well, but the 100 combined yards from Williams and Wilson on just five total receptions is not going to cut it.

Tight ends: F

Even though Taylor was sidelined once again, rookie Kenyon Sadiq's breakout performance in Week 3 and the overall statement from the TE group set a high bar moving forward. While the priority should have been on feeding Sadiq more and keeping him involved in the offense, that was far from the case on Sunday, with zero catches on four targets, one week after coming down with seven receptions for 105 yards and a TD against the Lions.

In fact, Jelani Woods (one reception, 11 yards) was the only TE with a catch in the game as the TE unit looked like a shell of itself in the Windy City. Again, Smith only had 15 total pass attempts the entire game, but that is no excuse for this group to have little impact and struggle over the middle of the field when the WR room was already depleted coming in.

Running backs: C

All the attention turned to Braelon Allen in the backfield as Hall sat out with a quad injury. He had been relatively quiet through the first three weeks with just 19 carries for 61 yards and a TD, but Allen was solid with 59 rush yards on 14 carries and emerged as one of the biggest winners from the game in a Jets uniform. Allen played 30 offensive snaps for the Jets, per Pro Football Focus, and averaged a respectable 4.2 yards per carry, up from his average of 3.2 for the season.

Allen didn't have enough explosiveness to take the pressure off Smith, with his longest run being just 10 yards. That made this offense essentially one-dimensional for the majority of the game and contributed to the lack of rhythm the Jets' offense was able to put together. It was an encouraging showing from Allen, but not nearly enough for a team that mustered only seven first downs and went 0-of-7 on third down.

Offensive line: D

This was another letdown from the offensive line, which was without Dylan Parham (left knee) and once again struggled to establish its will in the trenches. The Jets had just 157 yards of total offense, never found their identity from the opening kick, and could not keep Smith protected, allowing three sacks.

Given Parham's impressive play so far, his absence was certainly felt, but there is more to this simply than just his injury.

The Jets absolutely felt Dylan Parham's absence in their Week 4 loss to the Bears. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jets only possessed the ball for 17:15, which was their fewest since 2005, and simply put together a dreadful performance. The lack of playmakers is one thing, and it was not entirely the O-line's fault that Smith held onto the ball too long at times. Still, it is hard to see this team doing much better until those issues are resolved and the offense develops a better flow.

Defensive line: F

It was difficult to find many positives regarding the performance of the defensive line on Sunday. Aside from finding some success when blitzing, it was an inexcusable outing from this group after allowing 232 yards on the ground and more than four yards per carry. Even No. 2 pick David Bailey, who was viewed as an X-factor entering the game by Sports Illustrated's Nick Faria, failed to record a pressure in 27 pass-rush snaps.

This was also an opportunity for someone like Joseph Ossai, who had a chance to erase any doubts in Kingsley Enagbare's absence (knee). He tied for the third-most solo tackles (five) on the team and had seven total, but his impact was minimal aside from that. It was one thing to allow 232 rush yards, but the fact that Bagent went off for a career-high 268 yards speaks to how poorly the Jets played up front.

Linebackers: B-

From Jamien Sherwood's forced fumble on Bears RB D'Andre Swift and13 total tackles (five solo) to Demario Davis' 10 total tackles and the only sack of the game for the Jets, there were a lot of positives to take from the linebacker corps. That said, Davis was called offside on a play that would have been an interception—one of three instances in the game where a potential interception was negated due to a penalty for Gang Green—and was constantly picked on in coverage.

Sherwood has also struggled and has slowly become a concern himself. Overall, this group performed well compared to other units, but it still had difficulty finding any answers to New York's dominant rushing attack. Some of the blame can go to the line up front not holding up its end of the bargain, but with Kiko Mauigoa (quad) sidelined once again, the LBs left some room for improvement going forward.

Secondary: C-

At long last, the Jets finally ended a 21-game drought without an interception (h/t NFL) when All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick jumped a route on a poor throw from Bagent in his first game back from a groin injury. He also led the team with 16 total tackles (eight solo) and remains the most reliable part of this unit despite a few missteps in coverage.

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

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However, the Jets had three more interceptions besides Fitzpatrick's, but all three were taken away due to penalties. Brandon Stephens and rookie D'Angelo Ponds were each penalized. Ponds ultimately stepped up for Jarvis Brownlee Jr. after he exited the game with a concussion, and Dane Belton was solid again with 14 total tackles, but the overall coverage from this group was inconsistent and still posed some concerns against a backup QB.

Special teams: C

There was some good (converting from 36 yards and 30 yards) and bad (missing the extra-point attempt following New York's lone TD of the game) from kicker Jason Sanders once again. Punter Austin McNamara impressed again with an average of 52.6 yards on five punts, including a long of 62 yards, although his other 62-yard punt was negated due to an illegal block on Qwan'tez Stiggers.

As for the returns, Kene Nwangwu averaged 27.5 yards on his two chances, while Williams went for 22 yards. Even though the opportunities were limited, the Jets were given solid field position multiple times after some decent returns, but the inconsistency from Sanders continues to be an issue.

Coaching: F

Although a matchup against the Bears served as another reunion for Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, who served on the same Lions teams as current Chicago HC and former Lions OC Ben Johnson, this was a game the Jets were completely outplayed in. From getting outgained 492-157 to allowing Chicago to run 89 plays compared to New York's 32, Glenn's defense could not get off the field at all and even struggled to contain a Bears rushing attack that leads the league in yards per game.

Even head coach Aaron Glenn's performance left much to be desired in Week 4. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As poor as the effort was defensively, OC Frank Reich's group was not any better offensively, with a lackluster pass game and no balance whatsoever to keep the Bears' defense guessing. Instead of keeping the ball moving and giving their defense a break, the offense kept stalling out and simply looked like it did not belong on the same field as Chicago, which is a poor look for the coaching staff for not having a better approach coming into the game.

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