An inside look at Sunday night’s Jets-Chiefs NFL Week 4 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce vs. the Jets’ secondary
The media’s focus all week has been on who Kelce is dating. When the game starts, everyone will remember that he is also a very, very good player.
Kelce is one of the best tight ends ever to play football and always seems to be open.
The Jets have a lot of belief in their defense. This is a massive challenge for the secondary and a chance to prove they are as elite as they said they were entering this season.
Kelce enters the game with 74 career touchdowns, the third-most in Chiefs history and just two behind another legendary tight end, Tony Gonzalez.
“His football intelligence is just elite,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “He is a guy that if it is man, then he fully understands leverage. He is going to stress you to your leverage, he is going to break away. In zone, he is a master of finding the soft spots in your zones, at the same time, you got a quarterback that for a couple reasons, he doesn’t panic in the pocket, he will navigate the rush, he will buy time, and he will really fixate himself at times on Kelce and allow Kelce to get open, so it is a combination of all those things, and a really good quarterback that can deliver the ball, obviously.”
It will be interesting to see how the Jets attack Kelce.
They do not usually have a defensive back “travel” with a player and cover them exclusively, but you wonder if they will try to get Sauce Gardner on Kelce some in this game.
I think the Jets will keep this close but come up short in the fourth quarter. Zach Wilson will play better than he did last week, and the offense will put together some drives.
It will come down to whether the defense can make stops against Patrick Mahomes late. I say no.
Also, NBC will show Taylor Swift 273 times.
Chiefs 27, Jets 17
Perfect Patrick: The Jets could have used an easy opponent this week.
Instead, they have to face the best quarterback on Earth. Patrick Mahomes already has seven touchdowns this season and beat up the Bears last week with a nearly flawless game.
The defending NFL MVP could make this a long night for the defense.
Jets cornerback D.J. Reed first faced Mahomes in college when Reed was at Kansas and Mahomes was at Texas Tech. Reed actually got a pick-six off Mahomes in that game, but he knew Mahomes was heading for big things.
“Just from watching the tape back then, I knew he was going to be special,” Reed said. “He’s just a generational quarterback. His off rhythm, how accurate he is, he can literally throw the ball anywhere. He’s very accurate. His deep ball is very accurate. He’s just a gamer. He has a different mindset.”
On the run: The Jets’ ground game has vanished as the offense struggles to find an identity.
The team rushed for just 38 yards last week against the Patriots after rushing for just 64 in Dallas two weeks ago. The Jets could take some pressure off of Zach Wilson if they could get Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook rolling.
“They need to get into a rhythm, so when you get into a rhythm with whatever scheme you’re trying to utilize versus that defense, that allows them to feel it out, make adjustments,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “For us, we’re having too many three-and-outs, we’re having too many long third-down situations, where we can’t get into that rhythm, and I think that’s our number one focus right now.”
Keeping up with the Jones: The Jets were probably hoping Chris Jones’ holdout would last deep into the season. The defensive tackle missed all of training camp and Kansas City’s Week 1 game, but agreed to a new deal with the Chiefs and has played the past two games. He already has 2.5 sacks, and the Jets know he could blow up this game.
“[No.] 95’s a game-wrecker,” coach Robert Saleh said. “He lines up inside, lines up outside. When he’s rolling, he’s a very, very hard player to block, and he can single handedly take out an entire game. In all aspects of our offensive style and what we’re trying to get done, he’s a big problem.”
Prime-time players: The Jets are making their second prime-time appearance this season, and though they won the opener on “Monday Night Football,” the game also felt like a loss because of the season-ending injury to Aaron Rodgers.
Prime time has not been kind to the Jets in recent years. They had not won a game in prime time since 2018 before the Week 1, walk-off win. They also have suffered several injuries in prime time, the latest being Rodgers, but new Jets quarterback Trevor Siemian can tell his teammates how his first stop with the team ended on a Monday night against Myles Garrett and the Browns.
This is the first time the Jets will be on “Sunday Night Football” since 2011 when Mark Sanchez was under center.