The Jets were short a lot before kickoff. Breece Hall, Mason Taylor, Adonai Mitchell and guard Dylan Parham were all inactive, so the backfield went to Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis, Isaiah Williams moved up to WR2 behind Garrett Wilson, and Kenyon Sadiq played through his back injury at tight end. Linebacker Kingsley Enagbare (knee) was inactive too. Chicago's problems were mostly in the secondary, with Anthony Johnson Jr. and Cam Lewis out and Braxton Jones on IR at tackle. The Bears were favored at home even after the quarterback change.
Look at the line score and you can see how the Jets lost this one. Chicago led 7-0 after 1 and 13-3 at the half. New York's only points through 3 quarters were 2 field goals. The Bears went up 20-6 going into the 4th. The Jets' last 2 losses came down to the final possession. This one was over long before that.
Chicago's defense held Philadelphia to 7 last week and this was more of the same. A Jets passing game that put 24 on Detroit had nothing to show for it until the 4th quarter, even with Minkah Fitzpatrick back at safety on the other side and the Bears missing 2 regulars in the secondary. Smith couldn't finish drives with Hall, Taylor and Mitchell all out, and every possession that stalled in Bears territory ended with a kick. The Jets got 6 points in the 4th, but by then they were down 14.
Chicago didn't need anything fancy. It scored touchdowns in the 1st and 3rd quarters, added 6 in the 2nd and a field goal in the 4th, and on a short week with a backup quarterback that's enough to win comfortably. If there's a complaint, it's that the offense stopped producing late. One field goal in the 4th let the Jets score in 3 straight quarters and make the final look closer. The injury news wasn't over, either. Jets corner Jarvis Brownlee Jr. and defensive end Braiden McGregor both showed up as questionable on the report during the game, which is a lot more injuries for a team that was already this short.
So the Bears are 3-1, and the season keeps swinging: 59 at Carolina, 3 against Minnesota, and now 2 straight solid wins with backups at quarterback. The Jets are 1-3 and have lost 3 straight, and this was the first of those losses that wasn't close. Smith's passing hasn't been the problem. The problem is the 4 offensive starters they're missing, and that's what kept them out of the end zone in Chicago.