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On December 1, 2026, the Seattle Seahawks beat the New York Jets 26-21 at MetLife Stadium (which is now FIFA World Cup Stadium).
I was looking back at my notes from that game, which involved the new Jets QB Geno Smith, who quarterbacked the Seahawks to the win that day.
And I have a few different random thoughts about Smith, and the Jets from that day, but also moving forward, related to things that took place on that Sunday afternoon in East Rutherford.
In the second quarter, Smith ran a bootleg to the left and threw a 12-yard touchdown to tight end A.J. Barner. The tight end was wide open.
These are the kind of plays Frank Reich needs to dial up for Smith as much as possible – good bootleg and play-action opportunities, playing off a commitment to the run.
Smith is a solid QB, but he’s best served by a strong running game, and a top-shelf play caller who is good at manufacturing production, really good play calling sequencing. Reich has been good at that over the years.
Something else to take away from this play. Tight ends slipping off the line and getting wide open have happened way too much over the last few years. I know this play was from 2024, before Aaron Glenn took over as Jets coach, but the problem continued last year.
Look, there are reasons the Jets could have 7-9 new starters on defense and have a new defensive coordinator (Brian Duker and Glenn) – scheme issues and personnel issues.
On this play, defensive end Michael Clemons was lined up over Barner, and behind him was linebacker Quincy Williams. Clemons didn’t drop with Barner, even a little, and maybe he wasn’t supposed to, and I’m not sure he could have, even if he was supposed – he’s not built for pass coverage. Williams bit on the play-action fake, taking him out of position.
Godspeed to the Clemons and Williams on their new teams, Indianapolis and Cleveland, respectively, but it was time for a divorce between the Jets and these players. Good for both sides.
Bottom line – Jets better cover tight ends better this year, and with an influx of a lot of talented new defensive personnel, perhaps they will.
On the game-winning TD run by Zach Charbonnet in the fourth quarter, there was a big hole up the middle, thanks in part to guard Laken Tomlinson, locking up defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
Big runs up the middle were a problem two years ago, and continued last season.
And to the credit of Glenn and GM Darren Mougey, they have done a lot to address this issue by adding massive run-plugging defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat, David Onyemata, and Darrell Jackson, three guys who block out the sun.
On a positive note for the Jets’ defense in this game, and this should have gotten more attention when in happened, because it was such an impressive accomplishment – Jets edge-rusher Will McDonald had two fourth-quarter sacks. But it’s not just that he had two fourth-quarter sacks that were so impressive, but who he did it against.
He beat each of the talented Seahawks book-end tackles – left tackle Charles Cross for one, and right tackle Abraham Lucas for the other.
This is a very good tackle combination and was a key to the Seahawks Super Bowl run last year.
This wasn’t McDonald beating the Cleveland Browns backup left tackle for four sacks last year.
The Jets need more of this from McDonald, who was kind of quiet last year aside from the Browns game, where he accounted for half his sack total last year.
One thing that perhaps hurt McDonald last year was how bad the play was around him.
The Jets D-Line did not have a very good year last year, and that is one of the reasons Mougey/Glenn added four veterans this offseason, most of whom will start – Sweat, Onyemata, and ends Joseph Ossai/Kingsley Enagbare. And then added end, David Bailey, with the second pick of the draft, who most definitely starts.
With much talent around him, and some of those cats getting extra protection swung their way, McDonald could have a nice bounce-back season this year.
Okay, time for me to disembark from the time machine.
Monday, May 4, 2026
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