Geno Smith is back in a Jets uniform, and that’s enough to give the Lions another familiar headache on Sunday.
Detroit has seen both versions of Smith before. The first time, back in 2014, the Lions left MetLife Stadium with a 24-17 win over him in his first run with the Jets.
Smith finished that game 17 of 33 for 209 yards, with one touchdown, one interception and one lost fumble. It would also be his last season as a starter until he took over for Russell Wilson in Seattle in 2022.
What came next was the version Detroit really wants no part of. Over three games against the Lions with the Seahawks, Smith piled up 1,043 passing yards, five touchdowns and just one interception.
He also added 107 rushing yards and a rushing score. Those games were track meets, not defenses, with the Lions and Seahawks combining for 77.33 points per game.
The wildest one came in 2022, when Seattle won 48-45 and Detroit’s fourth-quarter comeback fell just short.
The next year brought another Lions rally attempt, this one pushing the game into overtime. Smith ended it anyway, going 6 of 7 for 69 yards on the winning drive and finishing it with a six-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett.
Detroit finally got the better of Seahawks Geno Smith in 2024, winning 42-29 in a game remembered most for Jared Goff’s perfect performance. Goff completed every pass he threw and even caught a receiving touchdown in one of the sharpest outings of his career.
Smith still did damage, though, going 38 of 56 for 395 yards, both career highs, while also rushing for 38 yards, tied for the 10th most of his career. The Lions limited him to one touchdown and picked him off once.
Smith’s overall numbers against Detroit are ugly for the Lions to see: he’s 2-2 against them, and his 1,252 passing yards are his most against any opponent outside his division. There’s one odd trend working in Detroit’s favor, though.
Every season the Lions have played Smith, they’ve finished above .500. The only season they missed the playoffs in that stretch was the same year they lost to him in regulation, in 2022.
Now Smith meets Detroit in a different setting and a different phase of his career. He hasn’t been the Pro Bowl-level quarterback he was in Seattle, and he’s coming off a rough stretch with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he led the league in interceptions with 17.
But his second stint with the Jets has started cleanly enough. Through two weeks, Smith is 46 of 65, a 70.8 percent clip, for 462 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
New York is 1-1 after a 23-10 win over the Tennessee Titans and a 20-17 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers. The run game was a problem in that Week 2 loss, producing just 67 total rushing yards.
That matters because Detroit’s secondary has already been leaking yards. The Lions have allowed the second-most yards in the league overall at 915, and they’ve given up the second-most through the air at 621. On the other side, the Jets have been stingy, allowing the fewest total yards in the league at 394 and the second-fewest passing yards at 263.
There’s also the Aaron Glenn factor. The Jets are being led by Detroit’s former defensive coordinator, and he knows Dan Campbell, Kelvin Sheppard and plenty of players on both sides of the ball. That familiarity could make life even tougher for a Lions defense that badly needs a clean game.
If Detroit wants to steady things and maybe build toward Brian Branch’s return - and maybe Kerby Joseph’s too - it has to keep Smith from looking like the Seattle version again. Otherwise, the Lions may need another near-perfect day from Goff just to survive Sunday.
In Other News...
Lions Fans Are Losing Faith But Still See One Immediate Chance
A rough Week 2 has clearly taken some shine off the Lions early-season buzz, at least in the eyes of the fan base. In the latest SB Nation Reacts survey sponsored by FanDuel Sportsbook, confidence in the direction of the organization slipped from the previous week, and fewer than half of respondents said they still felt good about where things are headed.
Even so, the mood is not close to panic just yet, because Detroit has an immediate chance to steady itself in Week 3 against the New York Jets. Fans may be cooling on the bigger picture after the loss, but the upcoming matchup still looks like the kind of spot where the Lions can quickly remind everyone why optimism had been running so high a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
Amon-Ra St. Brown's Bills Fallout Just Got More Complicated
The aftermath of the Lions Week 2 loss in Buffalo has extended well beyond the final whistle, with Amon-Ra St. Brown among the players hit by the NFL for postgame discipline tied to celebration-related penalties. St. Brown was fined $59,704 for multiple unsportsmanlike conduct infractions, adding another layer to a night that already left Detroit with plenty to sort through.
He was not alone in feeling the leagues reach, either. Five other Lions players also drew fines for a range of violations, including Jameson Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Penei Sewell, Tyler Lacy and Devin White, pushing Detroits total in Week 2 past $120,000. For a team still trying to settle in after a tough loss, the financial hit is a reminder that the fallout in Buffalo reached well beyond the scoreboard. [Read more 🡒]
Three Underused Lions Could Decide More Than Fans Expect Vs Jets
Through two games of the 2026 season, the Lions have gotten only modest early returns from a few players who may still matter plenty as the year unfolds. Kerry Wonnum, Jalen McCreary and TeSlaa have all been around the action without making much of a dent yet, but that can change quickly in a league where roles expand fast and one strong Sunday can alter a rotation.
Week 3 against the Jets gives Detroit a chance to see whether that quiet start was just a slow opening or the beginning of something more limited. Each of those players is in position for more playing time and a bigger statistical footprint, and for a team trying to stack wins early, even the lesser-used pieces can end up shaping how far the depth chart reaches. [Read more 🡒]