2 Reasons Why the New York Jets Lost to the Chicago Bears

As a New York Jets fan it pains me to turn down an opportunity to attend a game, but on Monday night I almost wish that I hadn’t gone. The Chicago Bears were in town, and everything was in place for it to be a great game. While I obviously watched the entire game, I knew exactly what kind of night it was going to be after the first two drives for New York.

These were the 2 distinct reasons why the New York Jets lost to the Chicago Bears on Monday evening:

1. Officiating

I’ll be the first to say that I never like to blame officials for the outcome of games, but Jerome Boger and his crew were not on top of their game Monday night. After going down early 7-0, the Jets immediately gave the ball back, after a muffed punt by rookie Jalen Saunders was recovered by Chicago. On the ensuing play, cornerback Darrin Walls matched wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey stride for stride, but was called for pass interference. Walls literally played perfect coverage on the talented young wide-out, and if the officials were going to call anything, the penalty should’ve been offensive pass interference. The Bears probably still would have gone down and scored, but the Jets needed all the assistance possibly in the early-goings.

The second decisive blunder by Boger and his staff came right on the stroke of halftime. Up 17-13, the Bears had the ball on New York’s 44-yard line with about a minute and a half remaining in the half. Quarterback Jay Cutler was pressured and strip-sacked by linebacker David Harris, before DeMario Davis returned the ball for a touchdown. The officials called it incomplete on the field, before the booth reviewed the play, giving the Jets possession of the ball. The score remained 17-13 Chicago though, as opposed to a likely score of  20-17 New York, pending an extra point.

2. The New York Jets

For anyone who is a New York Jets fan or just watches the games, you have found this to be true time and time again. If I told you that Geno Smith would throw for over 300 yards and a touchdown, you’d think the team won, right? Wrong. While Geno did like very impressive at times, he still continues to make the same mistakes that make New York Jets fans wonder whether or not he will ever be the future of this franchise. Smith even completed 60% of his passes, but threw 2 horrendous interceptions as well. The first one coming on the first drive of the game.

Everything had set up for a perfect first drive for the New York Jets. On the first play, Smith ran for 11 yards and was hit out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard penalty. It looked like the team would be able to march down the field without any issues, which they actually did for most of the night. Instead, Geno Smith threw an atrocious pick on a screen-pass nonetheless, intended for Chris Johnson, that was taken back for a touchdown by cornerback Ryan Mundy. In addition to that interception, Smith also threw one in the third quarter, when the Jets were driving down the field, and in Bears territory.

The blame can’t fall entirely on the shoulders of Smith though. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg didn’t call the right plays when it counted. Following Geno Smith’s second interception, he led the team down to the Chicago 2-yard line on the next drive, but on 3rd and goal Mornhinweg called a quarterback draw for Geno Smith. While the quarterback is a good runner, it was not the time to be running that kind of play. The Jets don’t have many big-named targets, other than Eric Decker, but they do have effective receivers and tight ends. Rookie Jace Amaro and Zach Sudfeld are both 6 foot 5 inch targets, as is receiver David Nelson. The New York Jets need to be running more two tight end sets, like that of New England, when they had both Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Jeremy Kerley had himself a great night, but only he can do so much for his size.