Soak it in, New York Jets fans.
There is no better feeling than a Week 1 victory for a fanbase, especially New York’s, which has dealt with 15 straight years without the playoffs. Add in the team’s 2-8 record over the prior 10 season-opening matchups and the fact that the Jets got revenge against their former head coach, Robert Saleh, and it was a sweet opening Sunday.
Overall, Jets fans couldn’t have asked for much more in the team’s dominant 23-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans to begin the season.
One of the driving forces behind the Jets’ season-opening victory was quarterback Geno Smith. Entering the season, opinions within the Jets’ fanbase were sharply divided on Smith.
However, his showing on Sunday showed the world exactly why every fan should be optimistic about the 35-year-old signal caller.
Geno is getting Jets fans to buy in
Against Tennessee, Smith completed 19 of his 24 passing attempts (79.2%) for 215 yards (9.0 yards per attempt) and zero touchdowns or interceptions, while taking no sacks.
While it’s important not to overreact after just one game, Smith showed exactly why the Jets believe in him as their starting quarterback. With a competent offensive line and offensive weapons, he is still capable of being a solid starter in the NFL.
The most encouraging part of his game, which he flashed on Sunday, is his accuracy. He completed nearly 80% of his passes, while his adjusted completion percentage (which accounts for drops, etc.) was 87%.
The Jets haven’t had a quarterback with that level of accuracy in quite some time. Gang Green hasn’t had a QB finish in the league’s top 10 of completion rate since Josh McCown in 2017 (67.3%, fourth). Before McCown, you have to go back to Brett Favre in 2008 (65.7%, fifth).
Smith has ranked in the top 10 in three of the past four seasons, including eighth last year (67.4%). In the one year he wasn’t in the top 10 (2023), he ranked 12th with a 64.7% rate.
On Sunday, Smith looked exactly the way New York wanted to, distributing the ball efficiently across the offense with consistent accuracy.
Only five of Smith’s passing attempts hit the ground on Sunday (including an Arian Smith drop). He connected with eight different pass catchers, showing his ability to spray the ball around to all three skill positions.
Smith’s deep game is crucial to mention, too.
With the Seattle Seahawks from 2022-24, Smith was one of the NFL’s better deep passers. Just like many of his other metrics, his deep accuracy fell off with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025, but Smith showed in Week 1 that he can get back to his Seattle form if the Jets’ supporting cast helps him out.
During Week 1, Smith completed both of his deep attempts (20+ yards) for 62 yards, including a 40-yard bomb to Adonai Mitchell that was the precursor to a Breece Hall rushing touchdown to cap off the drive.
If Smith can even scratch the surface of who he was as a deep passer in Seattle, that would be incredibly meaningful for the Jets’ offense, unlocking a ceiling-raising element for the unit.
It’s the way Smith raises the Jets’ floor, though, that should excite Jets fans.
Just watching Smith do the simple things right was highly unusual for those who have watched the Jets over the last 15 years. Smith threw no interceptions, took no sacks, and consistently hit his layups, completing 15 of 18 passes under 10 air yards (with one being dropped).
Garrett Wilson can tell you firsthand how much of a difference Smith could make for this football team.
Smith was the 11th QB Wilson has caught a pass from since entering the league in 2022. Yet, Wilson has still managed to lead the Jets in receiving yards every year while surpassing 1,000 yards in all three of his fully healthy seasons.
If Smith throws with the same accuracy as he displayed on Sunday and across the last four seasons, Wilson could be in for a monster season. We saw a glimpse of that on Sunday, as he caught six of his seven targets (85.7%) for 79 yards (13.2 yards per catch).
That’s a level of efficiency the Jets have rarely seen from Wilson, who entered Sunday with a career catch rate of 59.7%, due largely to the carousel of inaccurate quarterbacks he’s played with.
At the end of the day, though this isn’t even about numbers, whether it’s for Smith or Wilson. Sunday’s offensive effort was promising because of how the entire operation looked with a steady quarterback running the show.
For years, Jets fans have been forced to sit and watch offenses that make the simple things look crazily difficult. Screen passes weren’t guaranteed to be completed. Fourth-and-short felt like a mile. Drive-killing sacks were routine. As a result, it felt like the defense needed to be perfect for the Jets to have a chance.
Sunday didn’t feel that way whatsoever. The Jets’ offense dictated the game. They stayed ahead of the chains with ease throughout the afternoon, allowing them to control the clock and keep Tennessee’s offense on the sidelines. Smith dished it out to an abundance of targets, the run game consistently generated positive gains, and there were no back-breaking sacks or turnovers.
Now, was it perfect? No. The Jets still left scoring opportunities on the table at times. After the game, Breece Hall admitted that he felt as if the Jets left 17 points on the field.
But for once, the offense just looked… normal.
That sounds like an incredibly low bar, but the Jets haven’t been able to reach it in some time. That is exactly why Jets fans should be super excited after Smith’s showing today.
Smith will not need to throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns every Sunday, playing hero ball while carrying the team on his back. His role is much simpler: distribute the ball and make good decisions.
That’s especially important after he led the league with 17 interceptions in 2025. The good news, though, is that he didn’t have a single turnover-worthy play in Week 1, according to Pro Football Focus. While it’s just one game, that’s better than the opposite result.
Smith will face tougher teams this year, and there are bound to be some rough games across the remainder of the season. Nobody should be making sweeping conclusions after just one game.
But after an offseason filled with questions surrounding whether Smith still had anything left in the tank, Sunday was about as encouraging of a start the Jets could have hoped for.
