The start has been promising for the veteran quarterback and his team.
There has been plenty to be impressed with regarding quarterback Geno Smith and the New York Jets’ offense throughout the first three weeks of the season.
Amid all of the questions that Smith faced earlier in his career, including his time with the Jets when he simply wasn't great throughout the first couple of seasons of his career, as well as more questions being asked with the Las Vegas Raiders as recently as last year, it feels like some things are changing for Smith.
He's done a great job through the first three weeks of this season, and there's something to be said for that. His ability to put up big numbers without turning the ball over has been the most impressive, as he's thrown for 783 yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and has a top-15 QBR in football, according to ESPN.
As for how he's making history in New York, it gets even better. Smith is the only quarterback in team history to do what he's done throughout the first three games, and while the Jets haven't exactly had great quarterback play, the numbers are still very impressive.
“It was only the second time in his career that he passed for more than 300 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing at least 80 percent of his passes. The last time he did that was in 2014 — with the Jets. He now holds two of the only three instances of this happening in franchise history; the other was by Ken O’Brien in 1986.
“Further, Smith is the only Jets quarterback in team history, per Pro Football Reference, to accumulate at least 700 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions and 70 percent completions through his first three games — and that stipulation still holds even if you drop the yardage down to 500 and the completion percentage to 65. If you remove interceptions from the equation, only three other Jets QBs have accomplished that through three games: O’Brien, Chad Pennington (2006) and Boomer Esiason (1993),” Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic wrote.
I'm curious to see if Smith can keep playing this type of football as things get even tougher through the rest of the season.
While the first three weeks have been great, defenses will only get better, the weather will get worse, and other factors will come into play.
History suggests Smith will turn the ball over at a decent rate, but he's made some good decisions early on, and that's a promising sign for a Jets team that needs to limit them as much as possible.
