Eleven years.
That’s how long it’s been since the New York Jets started a season with two straight wins.
They have a chance to end the streak today as they host the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium.
How to watch
- Time: 1 p.m. EST
- TV: FOX
- Broadcast crew: Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma
Jets-Packers will be broadcast on FOX in the following markets:
- New York, NY
- Albany, NY
- Syracuse, NY
- Rochester, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Boston, MA
- Burlington, VT
- Portland, ME
- Miami, FL
- Fort Myers, FL
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Hartford, CT
- Green Bay, WI
- Madison, WI
- Milwaukee, WI
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Bakersfield, CA
- Alaska
For those out of market, you can watch the game on NFL Sunday Ticket.
Weather
The Weather Channel calls for 66 degree temperatures and a 99% chance of rain at 1 p.m. EST in East Rutherford, N.J. The winds are expected to be 10 mph from the southeast.
Today’s rainfall is described as having the potential to be heavy, with expectations of nearly a half-inch.
The hourly forecast shows that the chance of rain drops from 99% at 1 p.m. to 69% at 2 p.m., 65% at 3 p.m., and 43% at 4 p.m., so there is a moderate chance that the rain passes as the game goes on.
Uniforms
The Jets are hosting a “White Out” at MetLife Stadium, asking all fans to wear white. New York will be wearing their standard white jerseys and white pants, with a twist: the debut of a new all-white helmet, featuring a white shell, a white facemask, a chromatic green logo, and a single chromatic green stripe down the middle.
The Packers will be wearing their traditional green jersey with yellow pants.
Injury report
New York Jets
- EDGE Joseph Ossai (foot): Out
- RB Kene Nwangwu (back): Out
- WR Omar Cooper Jr. (ankle): Out
- S Minkah Fitzpatrick (groin): Out
- EDGE Will McDonald (ankle): Questionable
Green Bay Packers
- DT Javon Hargrave (knee/concussion): Out
- DT Warren Brinson (calf): Out
- CB Benjamin St-Juste (hamstring): Questionable
- LG Aaron Banks (knee): Questionable
- RT Zach Bako-Bewele (knee): Questionable
In positive news for the Jets, rookie cornerback D’Angelo Ponds will make his debut after missing Week 1 with a calf injury. However, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. are out after suffering injuries in Week 1. Cooper has been placed on injured reserve, keeping him out for at least four games.
Edge rusher Joseph Ossai and kick returner Kene Nwangwu will miss their second consecutive game.
For Green Bay, the Packers suffered a big loss with starting defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, further hampering a pass rush that has struggled without Micah Parsons. The positive news is that edge rusher Lukas Van Ness cleared concussion protocol and will play.
Green Bay is hoping to add starting left guard Aaron Banks back to their sputtering offensive line after its putrid Week 1 performance, but Banks, despite his questionable label, is not a guarantee to play after being limited in practice all week. Meanwhile, starting right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele was also limited throughout the week.
What to watch for
Can the Packers force any Geno Smith mistakes?
Geno Smith had no sacks or turnovers in Week 1, enjoying one of the best pass-blocking performances of any offensive line in the NFL. Now, he faces a Packers pass rush that will lack Micah Parsons and Javon Hargrave.
The Packers have struggled mightily to generate big plays defensively since Parsons went out. In five full games without him, they have collected just seven sacks and four takeaways.
Smith has a 6-0 career record as a starter when he finishes the game with zero sacks and zero interceptions.
Will Green Bay have any sort of run game?
With projected heavy rain, both teams will want their run games to take pressure off their quarterbacks.
The Jets are better equipped to do so than the Packers, as their 152-yard season-opening rushing performance more than doubled Green Bay’s measly 66 yards.
The Packers are without starting running back Josh Jacobs. That absence was felt in the opener, as their running back unit combined to force one missed tackle on 20 carries. Add in a struggling offensive line, and Green Bay’s run game had no juice whatsoever.
If Green Bay cannot run the ball, they will be placing a lot of pressure on Jordan Love’s arm in a rainy road game.
Prediction
- Jets 21, Packers 13
Just as they caught the Titans at the right time in Week 1, the Jets are catching the Packers at the perfect point of the schedule.
No Parsons, no Jacobs, no Hargrave, banged-up and struggling offensive line, on the road against a team with momentum and a fire-up home-opening crowd, rainy game—it’s a recipe for absolute disaster for a team whose greatest issue at the moment is their struggles in the trenches on both sides.
Toss in Aaron Glenn’s 3-1 record against Jordan Love and Geno Smith’s 4-0 record against Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and there is significant evidence that the Jets match up well schematically on both sides.
New York needs to seize this opportunity, and it makes football sense to believe that they will.
