Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Karl Klug stripped the ball from Geno Smith and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
NASHVILLE — All that is new and supposedly improved about the Jets this season — the starting quarterback, the offensive philosophy, Rex Ryan's coaching staff — was viewed at LP Field on Sunday with a fair amount of skepticism: the theme music to "The Benny Hill Show" accompanied their pregame stampede out of the tunnel.
KEY PLAY/PERFORMANCE
Alterraun Verner accounted for three of the Jets' four turnovers, snaring both of Geno Smith's interceptions and scooping up Smith's second-quarter fumble. Smith and the Jets' receivers thrived last week against Buffalo's cornerbacks, but they could not handle the Titans' physical secondary.
NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 78
That is how many rushing yards gained on 31 attempts by the Titans, who ranked among the N.F.L. leaders in attempts, but it was nothing but a Pyrrhic victory for the Jets. Jake Locker shredded the Jets for three touchdowns on 18 of 24 passing, and even his backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, added a 77-yard scoring pass to Nate Washington.
TALKING POINT
The Jets finished September at 2-2, which was a reasonable projection when the season started. Now that they enter a demanding phase of their schedule, will they be able to duplicate — or exceed — that performance and keep pace in the A.F.C.?
- BEN SHPIGEL
Wade Payne/Associated Press
Titans quarterback Jake Locker left the game with a hip injury but not before he threw for three touchdowns, including a damaging 16-yard pass to Darrin Walls with 2 seconds left in the first half.
That is how fans here remember the Jets — a bumbling, blundering outfit whose dysfunction and ineptitude converged in a blooper-filled debacle last December — and, to be fair, their perception is not without merit.
Instead of summoning a victory that would establish their credibility and validate their early-season optimism, the Jets stumbled to a 38-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a defeat that, like last year's, was defined by the struggles of their quarterback.
It was Geno Smith, not Mark Sanchez, who committed turnover after turnover, four in all, three in the first half and none that could be justified by a reasonable explanation. There were two fumbles and two interceptions, and the Titans scored a touchdown after every one. The Jets trailed by 10 points after the first quarter, 18 at halftime and 25, the final margin, for much of the fourth.
"I never expected for the game to turn out like this," Ryan said, and his wrath afterward spared no one.
Not a defense that conceded four passing touchdowns and a 56 percent success rate on third down. Not an offensive line that buckled under pressure that players swore they knew was coming, yielding five sacks. Not the cornerbacks, who Ryan said must learn to compete better when the ball is in the air. And certainly not Smith, who drew perhaps the harshest criticism of all.
A few times, Ryan has alluded to lessons he learned from his handling four years ago of Sanchez, and one of them might be his willingness to overlook Smith's rookie status and deliver sharp, public rebukes of his performance.
It happened in training camp, when Ryan described Smith's play during one error-laden practice as brutal, and it happened again Sunday, when he rejected the notion that Smith's penchant for turnovers — 10 in four games — was a normal, if hardly desired, aspect of the development of a first-year quarterback.
"How many times do we have to make that excuse, though?" Ryan said. "One of these days, we're going to learn from them. It better be soon."
Soon is a nebulous ultimatum — by next week? Two weeks? Three? Smith is in no imminent danger of losing his job, but he does recognize the importance of taking responsibility for his actions. He spoke to several players afterward and, according to linebacker Antwan Barnes, told them, "It won't happen again."
"All I can do is put my trust in him," Barnes said, adding, "He said he's got to do better, so I believe in him."
This was considered a game the Jets could win — or at least a game they had to win to prove their bona fides. All season they have teetered between agony and ecstasy, with their first three games decided by all of 11 points. Sometimes, luck and explosive plays can offset penalties and turnovers, as they did last Sunday against Buffalo, but it cannot occur every week.
There were no long gains to balance Smith's lack of awareness, and there were no defensive stands to compensate for the Jets' offensive ineffectiveness. They spoke of enhanced focus, confidence and discipline after outlasting the Bills in a 20-penalty fiasco, and yet all evidence suggested the contrary. They committed 10 more penalties Sunday, with some stalling drives or negating third-down conversions, and they also failed to force a turnover for the third straight week.
The Jets are, in many ways, fortunate to have a record as good as 2-2 with a minus-10 turnover margin. Smith, who completed 23 of 34 passes for 289 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to Jeff Cumberland, said he forced the throw on his first interception, which came on his first pass of the game. He called his first fumble "reckless." His second fumble could be considered an adaptation of Sanchez's infamous butt-fumble here that, staying true to the original, produced the same deflating result.
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