The Jets’ 1-3 start now comes with a performance that looked alarmingly familiar in the worst way. Against a Bears team working with its third different quarterback in three games, New York spent Sunday getting pushed around, outmaneuvered and, for long stretches, completely erased.
Chicago’s offense controlled the game from the jump, and the numbers tell the story of just how one-sided it became. The Bears ran 89 plays to the Jets’ 32, pounded out 232 rushing yards on 54 carries and got 268 passing yards from Tyson Bagent, who completed 25 of 34 throws. A few turnovers and some fourth-down stops kept the scoreboard from getting even uglier early, but the Jets were still buried by the kind of slow squeeze that never let up.
That collapse started with a defense that entered Week 4 ranked second in the league, allowing 258 yards per game. By the end of Sunday, that number was bound to look very different.
Ben Johnson’s group had its way with Aaron Glenn’s defense, and the only thing that really slowed the Bears was a handful of mistakes. Otherwise, it was death by a thousand cuts.
New York’s offense didn’t offer much resistance either. Geno Smith followed up his strong Week 3 showing against the Detroit Lions with a rough day in Chicago, finishing 8-of-15 for 119 yards and one touchdown. The line does have one important asterisk: a 58-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams came when the game was basically already decided, which means the stat sheet flatters Smith more than the tape probably should.
The Jets also kept running into the same wall at the end of halves. For the fourth straight week, they got the ball with roughly two minutes left before halftime and a chance to grab points.
For the fourth straight week, they came away empty. This time it started with a six-yard Braelon Allen run, then two incompletions, and a punt back to Chicago with 1:50 remaining.
Frank Reich has to find something better there.
Garrett Wilson was another obvious miss. After being made a clear priority against the Lions, he barely got used against the Bears.
New York targeted him just four times, and he finished with three catches for 27 yards. When the offense is this stagnant, those numbers are not enough.
The pass rush wasn’t any better. The Bears’ offensive line deserves credit, but the Jets still needed more from their edge players and got almost nothing.
Demario Davis was the only Jet to register a sack, and New York managed just two quarterback hits on Bagent. David Bailey, Joseph Ossai and Will McDonald IV were basically invisible.
What made the loss sting most was the way it unraveled after halftime. The Jets’ previous two defeats at least showed some fight - a close battle with Green Bay and a comeback attempt in Detroit.
This one had none of that. It felt flat, lifeless and much closer to the kind of performance that could define a lost season than the kind that can help salvage one.
In Other News...
Jets Backfield Question Just Got More Uncomfortable For Aaron Glenn
Isaiah Davis has become one of the quieter mysteries in the Jets backfield, and the timing has only made it more noticeable. Even with Breece Hall sidelined for a recent game because of injury, Davis did not get an offensive snap, while Braelon Allen handled all 14 carries in the loss to the Chicago Bears. For a third-year running back on a team still sorting out its rushing workload, that kind of usage raises obvious questions about how the Jets are viewing the depth chart.
Aaron Glenn has not publicly explained Daviss absence from the offense, and Davis himself has not addressed the lack of touches. In a backfield already under scrutiny, the silence only adds to the unease around how the Jets are managing their running backs and whether they have enough trust in the options behind Hall. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Fans Have A New Reason To Revisit That Chippy Lions Loss
The Jets already had plenty to stew over from that chippy loss to Detroit, and the leagues latest accountability report added another layer to it. On Wednesday, the NFL fined Lions receiver Jameson Williams $23,417 for unnecessary roughness after helmet-to-helmet contact in the game against New York, a reminder of how heated that matchup got and how often the Lions were walking a line.
Williams has now been fined multiple times this season, including earlier penalties for taunting and illegal celebrations, and he was not the only Detroit player on the report. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Penei Sewell and Jahmyr Gibbs also drew fines for celebrations and vulgar acts, giving Jets fans a fresh reason to revisit a game that already carried more edge than the final score suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Rookie Already Facing A Tough Climb In Quiet Secondary Battle
D'Angelo Ponds entered the Jets with the kind of draft pedigree that usually brings immediate attention, but his first months have been defined more by delay than momentum. The 2026 second-round pick was slowed by a calf injury that cost him training camp and the preseason, and when he finally made his debut in Week 3, it was in a very limited role with only four snaps. For a rookie trying to carve out a place in a defense that values reliability, the early path has been anything but smooth.
Aaron Glenn has made it clear that nothing is being handed out in the secondary, where every role has to be won the hard way. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. has taken the starting nickel cornerback job by performing well enough to hold it, leaving Ponds to keep working from behind while the Jets sort out the rest of their defensive backfield. There is still time for him to get involved, but for now the climb remains steep and the competition around him is not easing up. [Read more 🡒]