NY Jets breakdown: Was Detroit loss really a ‘moral victory’?

If moral victories won championships, the New York Jets would have an overflowing trophy case by now.

The Jets picked up another “moral victory” with their 31-24 road loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 3. After going down multiple scores in the fourth quarter, they rallied to tie the game and had a chance to tie or win it at the end of regulation.

Through three weeks, the Jets certainly look improved compared to the 2026 iteration of the team. The passing game is far more prolific, the defense is sounder in certain areas, and the team looks more prepared to play each week.

How much of that, though, is due to Aaron Glenn’s coaching, and how much of it is due to the Jets simply having a better roster—especially a better quarterback?

Should the Jets really be applauded for how “competitive” they look despite their 1-2 record?

It’s easy to forget, but Glenn and the Jets received similar praise at this point last year. Their one-score early-season losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins prompted many to believe that the team was “close” to breaking through under Glenn.

Things feel a bit more optimistic with this version of the team, in terms of their overall competency, but at the end of the day, 1-2 is 1-2. Eventually, the Jets have to prove they can finish off victories at a high level under Glenn. The “competitive” narrative can only go so far if 1-2 quickly slumps to 1-5.

After all, one-score losses hardly prove that a team is “close” in a league where the majority of games are within one score. Just this past week, 12 of the NFL’s 16 games were decided by one score.

Staying within one score just proves you aren’t horrendously bad. While being “not horrendously bad” feels like an accomplishment for the Jets after 15 straight non-playoff seasons and a blowout-filled 3-14 performance last year, it is not the level of football that Jets fans have patiently waited to see.

Great coaches don’t just keep their team close; they know how to come out on the winning end of those close games more often than not. That’s what separates the coaches who can compete from titles and those who quickly flame out of the job.

Aaron Glenn is showing promise as a defensive play-caller (although even that is questionable, as the Jets’ defense beat up on two soft opponents in Weeks 1-2). He isn’t the defensive coordinator, though: he’s the head coach.

The Jets need to find out in 2026 if they trust Glenn enough as a head coach to bring him back for a third season and entrust him with three first-round picks.

Is he doing that so far? Or is the team’s competitiveness just a product of improved talent, with Glenn still holding them back?

The film answers those questions, along with revealing which players have stood out as building blocks for the franchise and which areas of the roster are the biggest issues holding the team back.

In the latest episode of Blewett’s Blitz, we answer all of your questions and more in a complete film review of Jets-Lions.