Chiefs vs. Jets: Top 5 takeaways from Week 13 matchup

The New York Jets are now 5-7 after a hard fought win in Week 13. Here are the top five takeaways from their Week 13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

In their Week 13 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Jets came out on top thanks to sticking to the fundamentals and executing a solid game plan. They adjusted when needed to beat their opponent and were able to stun the Chiefs.

The Jets broke their two-game losing streak and have good momentum heading to Denver next week. They need to bring that tough-minded mentality and play complete football from start to finish next week.

With the victory, the Jets can rest for the week and get ready to face the struggling Denver Broncos. In this game, there were improvements but still, need to clean up some areas. It was a step in the right direction to improve this team to start the new month of December with a win. They will have to build on this victory to continue making this season worth mentioning.

This is a great opportunity for the Jets to continue to keep their playoff hopes alive. Let’s take a deeper look at this Week 13 matchup.

Next: 5. Josh McCown has his best performance of the year

5. Josh McCown has his best performance of the year

Quarterback Josh McCown is like night and day in his performances week in and week out. In Week 13, however, he was able to have an excellent performance and lead his team to victory.

McCown was able to go 26 for 36 in passing and threw for more than 330 yards with no interceptions. He finished the game with a 92.7 quarterback rating which is a good number. McCown was able to make the Chiefs frustrated by managing the game well.

In the second half opening drive, McCown and the offense held the football for more than six and half minutes. McCown and the offense will need to build on this performance to keep their playoff hopes alive. It will be a huge task but it can get done against a feisty Denver defense.

McCown just looked confident in his play calling and was sharp with the football. He normally makes dumb mistakes but today he was sharp in his passing and was firing the football all over the field. He was attacking the weak secondary of the Chiefs all game long and stepped up when his team needed it.

Next: 4. Jets defensive front has a sub-par performance

4. Jets defensive front has a sub-par performance

Even though Alex Smith had a big day in the passing game, the defensive front made him earn it all game. They made Smith feel very uncomfortable and made very good adjustments in the second half to limit his damage.

With putting pressure on Smith all game, the defense caused him to throw passes on the run and he overthrew a good amount of them. He was sacked twice in the game which allowed certain drives to stall for the Chiefs.

Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Jordan Jenkins stepped up in a big way. They also had multiple batted down passes which helped to stall Chiefs drives. It was like night and day for how the front four of the Jets played from the first half going into the second half.

The front four of the Jets slowly have come along and have been making their presence felt. They have been doing a lot for the past few weeks and it is starting to show. It just needs to be a complete game by the secondary as well.

Next: 3. Wide receivers finally have a big game

3. Wide receivers finally have a big game

The Jets wide receiver corps of Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse, and rookie receiver Chad Hansen showed up when their numbers were called upon. These three players combined to total up 287 yards of the 488 yards in total offense.

For two consecutive weeks, Anderson and Kearse had back to back 100-yard games. They both have come alive and had made big plays especially on 3rd down conversions. They both had nice plays as Anderson had a key 26-yard reception to set up a score and Kearse had a huge 51-yard reception that set up the game-winner for the Jets.

Hansen also had two big third-down conversion receptions that kept the momentum going. If they can continue this success, they will improve the passing offense even further.

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They need to be a physical group these final four games especially with the next two on the road. The opponents secondary for the teams they face are very good so it is time for them to step up in a big way and make sure they are a consistent group.

Next: 2. Defensive secondary has a horrific performance

2. Defensive secondary has a horrific performance

Just like how it has been all season long, the Jets had a dreadful performance when it came to their defensive secondary which has been one of their biggest problems. Three costly penalties and many missed coverages allowed the Chiefs receivers to be wide open. Head coach Todd Bowles can only do so much in preparing them so they can’t continue these foolish penalties.

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Clearly, the secondary of the Jets is the weakest part of the team. They need to fix these issues they have if they’re to make any key defensive stops. If they don’t fix these issues they have than opposing quarterbacks will continue to pick them apart for the final four games of the season.

Obviously, it will take time for the secondary to work as a cohesive unit, but yet again they lack in the fundamentals of coverage, sticking to assignments, and executing. They need to work on their footwork, and hand usage with an emphasis on communication.

Every single game they need to play bump and run and not give up a cushion for the receiver to execute their route. When it matters the most, the secondary continues to give up too many big plays which the Chiefs easily took advantage of with multiple 20 plus yard touchdown catches.

Next: 1. Jets offense has a breakout game

1. Jets offense has a breakout game

Unlike previous weeks, the Jets offense looked very explosive and established long successful drives. Again, the execution on Sunday was a complete 360 from what Jets fans saw a week prior. The Jets offense held the football for over 42 minutes and 49 seconds which has to be one of the longest in quite some time.

The Jets established 488 yards of total offense, which is something to be very exciting about. They had very few penalties in the game and two of the five penalties were on the offensive side of the football.

Offensive coordinator John Morton opened up the passing game and attacked the weak Chiefs secondary. When the run game wasn’t working he just went away from that and just stuck with the passing game. They stuck to what was working and continued to be successful all game long.

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In the third quarter, the Jets offense held the football for over six and half minutes long to start the second half. They made sure they kept the defense rested and also took their time with the football. They went 4 for 5 in the red zone which is an 80 percent conversion rate and on third down conversions they were 13 out of 20 which is a 65 percent conversion rate. Overall, with a journeyman quarterback under center, the Jets offense can only continue to improve  thanks to everything they bring to the table.