Geno Smith (222782)
Credit: Bill Moore

The Jets had a four-game losing streak and had either lost their way or were surely off road, way deep in the direction of that wide, unpaved, dimly lit path where defeat and bewilderment can take you.

It was only their third home game this season, but with a 1-5 record, there were empty seats at MetLife Stadium Sunday, indicative of a New York Jets fan base pissed about only having one win, and Geno Smith now starting at quarterback, replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had not been getting the job done at his position, although there’s been enough blame to go around for each of those five losses.

Smith, who turned 26 earlier this month and hadn’t started since the end of December 2014, his sophomore season, played well for his 2016 October debut. Four-of-eight for 95 yards and one touchdown in a quarter and a half. It was a short-lived, abbreviated, abruptly ended game for Smith because of a season-ending ACL injury at the 8:33 mark on a shotgun play in which he was sacked for an eight-yard loss, putting Fitzpatrick back out onto the field on the Jets’ next set of downs. It gave Fitzpatrick an opportunity to redeem himself and a platform from which to publicly air his unhappiness about being benched.

“The biggest thing in this game, to last, is to have belief in yourself, because when the owner stops believing in you, and the GM stops believing in you, and the coaches stop believing in you, sometimes all you have is yourself,” said Fitzpatrick after starting Sunday’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens as the team’s backup. “That’s kind of something I’ve dealt with before, and something I’m dealing with now.”

Todd Bowles, the Jets’ head coach, responsible for benching Fitzpatrick, said, “I have no problem with him venting his frustrations.” But his direct reply to the Fitzpatrick comment reflects the reality of football, sports and business in general.

“This is a show-me game,” Bowles stated. “It’s nothing about belief or non-belief. People get assigned to do jobs and they do them. If I don’t do my job, or the general manager doesn’t do his job, and the quarterback doesn’t do his job, and the team doesn’t do its job, eventually they’ll replace us all. It’s a show-me game.”

It took Fitzpatrick, 33, who had thrown for only five touchdowns, topped off by 11 league-leading interceptions in the Jets’ first six games, one and a half quarters to return to the starting position. It took 22 regular season games for Smith to get another start, 88 quarters.

“That’s how stuff works,” said Smith, who ended the first quarter with a short pass to receiver Quincy Enunwa, which he converted into a 69-yard touchdown run to end the first quarter. “I’m just happy that we won. I’ll be fine, but we’ll see how it goes.” Smith made the comment before the results of his test were confirmed.

“As an athlete, it’s a part of the game, and you have to understand, people get hurt,” said Bowles. Referencing Smith’s broken jaw before the start of last season, he added, “He caught bad breaks two years in a row. Obviously, I’m sure he’ll bounce back from it, but it’s a tough part of the business.”

For the 2-5 Jets as a team, bouncing back is the major issue right now. The Kansas City Chiefs came from a 1-5 start last year to make the postseason. Will the Jets build off Sunday’s 24-16 win, score, manage turnovers, maintain pressure on defense? They have to take it game by game. 

They’re playing the Cleveland Browns on the road, a team that has not yet won a game this season. If the Jets don’t win against the only 0-7 NFL team, they’re done, the season’s done, meaning football is done. There’ll be no more redemption, no more second chances, and there’ll be a lot more people venting than Fitzpatrick—and a lot less belief.