<\/p>\n
New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) celebrates with teammate tight end Jeremy Ruckert (89) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n
John Amis\/AP Photo\/John Amis<\/p>\n
New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) looks to pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n
John Amis\/AP Photo\/John Amis<\/p>\n
New York Jets tight end Kenyon Sadiq (16) runs in for a touchdown pursued by Tennessee Titans defensive end Jermaine Johnson II (11) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n
George Walker IV\/AP Photo\/George Walker IV<\/p>\n
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n
John Amis\/AP Photo\/John Amis<\/p>\n
New York Jets linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball (41) celebrates a fumble recovery on a kick-off to the Tennessee Titans, during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.<\/p>\n
John Amis\/AP Photo\/John Amis<\/p>\n
Geno Smith and the New York Jets were efficient, effective and mostly productive on offense in their season opener.<\/p>\n
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After trotting out one of the NFL’s worst offenses last year, Aaron Glenn and the Jets made several significant changes in the offseason to revamp that side of the ball. Among them: They acquired Smith, who began his career with the franchise in 2013, from Las Vegas; hired Frank Reich as offensive coordinator; bolstered their offensive line; and added a few young playmakers in tight end Kenyon Sadiq and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., a pair of first-rounders.<\/p>\n
They all helped lead the Jets to an impressive 23-10 victory over the Titans in Tennessee on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur offense, how balanced we were \u2014 running the ball, throwing the ball,\u201d Glenn said Monday. \u201cVery efficient on how we wanted to operate. The O-line was outstanding, giving Geno time to be able to create some of these explosive plays down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith, playing in his first game for the Jets since 2016, went 19 of 24 for 215 yards. He had no touchdown throws but also had no interceptions and wasn’t sacked.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he did an outstanding job,” Glenn said. \u201cListen, there\u2019s some things obviously that we\u2019ve got to clean up and get better at, but man, I think he was dang near 80% throwing the ball. He put the ball where he needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n The running game rolled throughout, with Breece Hall rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries and Braelon Allen going for 40 yards on 10 attempts. They were both key on a 19-play drive early in the second quarter that eventually stalled, but the Jets got a field goal out of it to go up 10-3.<\/p>\n \u201cThat might be the longest (drive) of my career,\u201d center Josh Myers said. \u201cIt was a long one. … It felt like we were wearing them out.\u201d<\/p>\n Other than not getting into the end zone, it was ground-and-pound offense to perfection. And that’s something the Jets expected when they brought in Reich, who returned to the NFL after two years away. He spoke all offseason about how excited he was about the offense, starting with how Smith appeared to be in his prime and being able to mix in playmakers such as Hall and Allen with wide receivers Cooper, Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell, along with a versatile tight ends group.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Reich and the Jets made it clear this offense will be much different on the opening drive. On third-and-9, Smith completed a short pass to Cooper, who turned it into a 30-yard gain. Two plays later, Smith handed to Sadiq, who ran for 3 yards and joined Cleveland’s Ozzie Newsome (1978) as the only tight ends with touchdown runs in their NFL debut.<\/p>\n \u201cWe started fast,\u201d Smith said, \u201cand obviously we kept our foot on the gas and just tried to stay even-keeled throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s working<\/p>\n The offensive line with Myers at center, left tackle Olu Fashanu, right tackle Armand Membou, left guard Dylan Parham and right guard Joe Tippmann kept things moving up front and protected Smith.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I got touched at all out there,\u201d the quarterback said, \u201cand that\u2019s always a great sign.\u201d<\/p>\n Already considered a strength of the team, the O-line also put the Jets\u2019 game philosophy on full display.<\/p>\n \u201cTough, violent, gritty,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cJust a you\u2019re-not-going-to-stop-what-we\u2019re-trying-to-do mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n What needs help<\/p>\n Third-down efficiency. About the only thing that didn’t work well for the Jets was their ability to convert on third down, going just 2 for 12 in those situations. That they went 2 for 2 on fourth down \u2014 both on the 19-play scoring drive \u2014 helped.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Stock up<\/p>\n Pass rush. The Jets sacked Cam Ward three times, including one by No. 2 overall pick David Bailey, and one each by Will McDonald and Kingsley Enagbare. The defensive front was disruptive all game and held the Titans to 68 yards rushing.<\/p>\n Stock down<\/p>\n Penalties. The Jets had eight accepted penalties called against them, including two delays of game. That’s an area they’ll need to clean up, especially against good opponents.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Injuries<\/p>\n Glenn had no immediate updates on S Minkah Fitzpatrick (groin) or rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. (ankle), who were hurt early against the Titans.<\/p>\n Key number<\/p>\n 3 \u2014 The number of offensive plays the Titans ran in the second quarter, dominated by the Jets’ 19-play drive. \u201cThat’s probably the first time I’ve been a part of something like that where you were really just a fan for most of the quarter,\u201d cornerback Brandon Stephens said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Next steps<\/p>\n Glenn thanked the many fans who traveled to Nashville and made it feel at times like a home game. New York has its home opener Sunday against Green Bay \u2014 and the response by the fans on the road reminded some players of another of the area sports teams’ legion of followers.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, they were getting the Jets chant going in the first quarter, so exciting,\u201d Myers said. \u201cI just can\u2019t help but think back to the Knicks and their postseason run last year. I know the Jets fans are going to be crazy, so I\u2019m pumped for the home game this week.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) celebrates with teammate tight end Jeremy Ruckert (89) after scoring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1000802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[1585,16518,798,10318,10062,487,127,4155,7044,7,6494,2310,1507,226,131182,2313,13940,28626,4096,1744,7583,1917,255,2321,2097,6,1513,61529,83966,27878,27876,83964,116776,116509,115180,20113,131183],"class_list":["post-1000801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-jets","tag-aaron-glenn","tag-adonai-mitchell","tag-armand-membou","tag-braelon-allen","tag-brandon-stephens","tag-breece-hall","tag-cam-ward","tag-david-bailey","tag-dylan-parham","tag-football","tag-frank-reich","tag-garrett-wilson","tag-geno-smith","tag-jets","tag-jets-analysis-geno-smith-frank-reich","tag-joe-tippmann","tag-josh-myers","tag-kenyon-sadiq","tag-kingsley-enagbare","tag-las-vegas","tag-minkah-fitzpatrick","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-jets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkjets","tag-nfl","tag-olu-fashanu","tag-omar-cooper-jr","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","tag-product-33351-ap-online-analysis","tag-product-40800-ap-new-jersey-sports-only","tag-product-40802-ap-new-york-city-sports-only","tag-product-40803-ap-new-york-state-sports-only","tag-will-mcdonald","tag-wr-omar-cooper-jr"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1000801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1000801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1000802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1000801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1000801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1000801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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