Geno Smith has no excuse but to carve up the Lions' defense in Week 3

Heading into Week 3 against the Detroit Lions, the New York Jets are quite the underdog. It's not for no reason, considering Detroit is playing at home and has been a playoff-caliber team over the last few years under Dan Campbell.

The Jets, on the other hand, have less of a reliable track record. Yeah, they've been competitive in their first two games of the 2026 season, but their recent history isn't exactly as strong as the Lions' has been.

Regardless, this is the NFL, and anything can happen on any given Sunday, and this matchup is no different. Despite the perceived talent gap, the Jets can beat this Detroit team if they're able to take advantage of one major weakness.

New York Jets need to take advantage of the Lions poor pass defense

One of the biggest surprises for the Jets of the 2026 season so far has been the solid play of veteran quarterback Geno Smith. After a down year with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, where he was one of the league's worst signal callers, he's looked competent through two games.

Heading into Week 3 against the Lions, Smith could look to take his comeback to another level. Although it's still early in the season, Detroit boasts one of the league's worst pass defenses. Through two games, they've given up an average of 310.5 passing yards per game, second-worst to the Indianapolis Colts.

In Week 1 against the New Orleans Saints, second-year quarterback Tyler Shough carved up Detroit's defensive backs to the tune of 410 yards. If the trigger man with only 11 career starts under his belt can pull that off, Smith surely has the chance to be productive as well.

The Lions faced Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, and their secondary didn't fare much better there either. Allen completed 20 of 31 passes for 248 yards, but the game script didn't call for much passing in the second half as Buffalo nursed a multi-score lead.

Smith isn't Allen, but again, this secondary should look like food to any quarterback going up against them.

It also doesn't hurt that Detroit is missing two key starters on the back end. Safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch are still on the Physically Unable to Perform list and aren't eligible to play in the Lions' Week 3 matchup.

If Smith can't get the Jets' passing offense going inside Ford Field on Sunday, there will be some serious questions to answer about how good this team will be in 2026.

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