After starting the season at 1-1, the New York Jets traveled to Michigan to face off with the Detroit Lions in Week 13. The Jets were looking to remain in Gang Green’s good graces as the team looked to get off to one of their best starts in recent memory. While this team is still a long way away from being a Super Bowl contender, they have been having some competitive games this season with the likes of the Green Bay Packers and now the Detroit Lions – something that would have never happened last year.
Geno Smith is a big part of the offensive resurgence. The last time he was in a Jets uniform, he was abysmal. Watching him play was worse than watching paint dry. However, this is a brand-new version of Geno Smith, and he’s out to forge a new path. Despite coming up short against the Lions, Smith finished the game with 321 yards and three touchdown passes, while also rushing for twelve yards. The Jets fell to Detroit, 31-24. So, which three Jets deserve praise?
Offense: Kenyon Sadiq, TE
Another week, another new game ball given out on the offensive side of things. While this week’s game was not good for the ground game – Breece Hall only had 32 yards on 13 carries before he got hurt – we saw a stellar performance by the Jets’ rookie Tight End, Kenyon Sadiq. Sadiq had a lot of hype entering this season, and after just three games in, a case can be made that he has absolutely lived up to that hype. Sadiq finished Sunday’s game with seven receptions for 105 yards. He also had an absolute beauty of a touchdown catch.
Kenyon Sadiq’s FIRST career TD 👏@NYJvsDET on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Hi0wg1aL4R— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
This was just his third career game after missing the bulk of training camp and preseason. Yet, his impact was evident and should be something New York leans on going forward. Going into this game without Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr., and Mason Taylor, fans hoped that the team would lean on Sadiq, and they did exactly that. The rookie was explosive with the ball in his hands and showed his ridiculous catch radius on a 24-yard touchdown grab. Geno Smith threw a perfectly placed ball down the seam, where Sadiq extended to make a diving catch with the defender right there.
There aren’t many tight ends in the league who can move as Sadiq can. When New York nabbed him with the 16th overall pick, there was plenty of excitement about the potential that he could bring. There’s no hiding the talent that the Oregon product brings, and his skill set was on full display against the Lions. The last time New York had a tight end go over 100 yards was Ryan Griffin in 2019. That goes to show how long it’s been since the Jets had a productive tight end. The Jets finally have a talented weapon at tight end, and they need to make sure they feed him going forward.
Defense: Dane Belton, S
The Jets defense as a whole didn’t have their best showing in Week 3 against the Lions. The truth of the matter is the Jets’ pass rush as a whole didn’t do a great job of getting pressure on Jared Goff, and with that extra time, the Detroit quarterback tore his way through New York’s defense. The two times he was sacked were because Aaron Glenn dialed up the pressure, and the extra rushers – Demario Davis and Andre Cisco – broke free to take Goff down.
On Sunday, in a disappointing yet promising defeat in Detroit, Dane Belton put up six tackles with three assisted tackles and was only targeted twice, allowing just one catch for eight yards. He’s constantly involved in the action, constantly filling holes when they’re there for him, and he’s playing above his pay grade, something the Jets have needed to stay afloat down a man in the secondary. He’s also been an absolute iron man, currently tied with Azareye’h Thomas and Demario Davis for most snaps on the defense with 174. He holds the defense’s second-highest tackle grade at 81.5, and fifth-highest defensive grade at 66.4.
“I saw it early in training camp – the fight that we had, the competitive nature we had”
Dane Belton says he loves the Jets’ fight: pic.twitter.com/eYgYyBHAjN
— SNY Jets (@snyjets) September 27, 2026
It’s one thing to live up to your salary. It’s another to outplay that salary by taking on increased responsibility. And it’s just icing on the cake when you’re getting in the mix of locker-room leadership and team dynamics, something easier said than done for first-year additions. Granted, it’s early. This isn’t a celebration yet. And it isn’t as though Dane Belton has turned into Troy Polamalu overnight. But the value he’s provided has not only exceeded his price tag, but he’s also largely responsible for keeping a high-end defense afloat as it nurses an injury to one of its two best players.
Special Teams: Jason Sanders, K
Another week, another disappointing Jets special teams showing. It’s getting to the point of brutality. This may be the worst that the special teams has looked in quite sometime. Nonetheless, one part of the Jets special teams that has been doing their job at a high level is kicker, Jason Sanders. Coming into the season he was a big question mark. Now, he’s become perhaps the most reliable piece for Gang Green on their entire special teams unit. He connected on his only extra point and field goal try this week, from 42 yards out.
After three weeks of playing for his job, the Jets are finally moving forward with Jason Sanders as their full-time kicker, as they recently waived Blake Grupe. Sanders had been on the Jets’ practice squad since being released in late August, and after three elevations, it was time for New York to make a decision on who their kicker would be going forward. After three straight games of solid kicking from the former Miami Dolphins All-Pro, the Jets are going to stay the course with Sanders.
In Week 2 and Week 3, the long-time Dolphins kicker was perfect on all attempts, going a perfect 5-for-5 on two field goal attempts and three extra-point tries. It makes all the sense in the world that the Jets would move forward with Sanders as their kicker. At this point, Grupe was just taking up a spot on the team’s 53-man roster. That’s a testament to how hard Sanders worked to become the starting kicker for Gang Green. He has been spot on, and deserves praise for it.
