Geno Smith wore a Superman T-shirt during interviews Monday afternoon at his locker. It may be a little premature for Smith to have that magic “S” on his chest, but he gave Jets fans reason to believe on Sunday he could be the hero they’ve been waiting for.
Smith threw for 331 yards and had two long touchdowns in the Jets’ 27-20 victory over the Bills. Of course, he still has some Clark Kent in him. He threw two interceptions, bringing his season total to six, which trails only the Giants’ Eli Manning (eight) in the NFL.
The Jets expected the rookie quarterback to make mistakes, but the defense has been able to minimize them. What has been a bit of a surprise is Smith’s big-play ability. He completed four passes of more than 40 yards on Sunday. The Jets had not had a game with four plays of 40 yards or more since 1991.
“Well, [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] does a phenomenal job of taking what the defense gives us,” Smith said. “They pressed us a bunch so it was necessary for us to go downfield and for guys to win downfield and they did so. That’s all we try and do every week — take what they give us, be efficient and when the chances are there, obviously take them and complete them.”
It was a refreshing sight for Jets fans, who have been begging their offenses to be more aggressive. Here’s something that puts the aggression of Sunday in perspective: the Jets’ four passing plays of 40 yards or more were two fewer then they had all of last year and one more than the three they had during the entire 2011 season.
Mornhinweg had Smith go long 10 times in the game. He completed six of those passes for 247 yards and the long touchdown throws to Stephen Hill (51) and the game-winner to Santonio Holmes (69) showed this offense’s home-run ability.
Coach Rex Ryan said the Bills’ approach enabled them to take the shots down the field. The Bills loaded up the box to try to stop a Jets running game that went for 182 yards. With the Bills focused on stopping Bilal Powell, Smith could go over the top.
“If the defense presents you certain looks, then absolutely [go deep],” Ryan said. “To get those opportunities to block it up, it starts with protection and then to win the 1-on-1 matchup outside. We had plenty of them.
“When you’re running the football as effective as we were, that’s going to give you those opportunities as well.”
Smith’s performance was one of several big ones from Jets offensive players. The team had 513 total yards, the most since Dec. 24, 2000 when they had 532 against the Ravens with Vinny Testaverde at quarterback. It was the first time the Jets ever had a 300-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher (Powell) and two 100-yard receivers (Hill and Holmes) in the same game.
“That was a tremendous performance by our offense,” Ryan said.
The game against the Bills is an encouraging sign for this offense, which now ranks 10th in the NFL. But you can’t overlook the struggles they had in their first two games and the turnover issue. The
Jets have committed eight turnovers and are -6 in turnover differential. Only the Giants (-9) and Steelers (-9) are worse.
“It just can’t happen,” Smith said of his two interceptions Sunday. “[I] don’t want to get into any specifics but, I mean all in all, we have, I have, to find a way to eliminate those. It comes with time and patience, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get there in some point and time.”
Smith said he got an earful from Monrhinweg on Monday when they watched the film, but Ryan was encouraged by what he saw from Smith.
“When it wasn’t there, he didn’t try to create as much. He got rid of it,” Ryan said. ”He threw four or five balls that he just launched out of bounds just because he was going to avoid the disaster play. I was encouraged by that.”