NYJ
DETThe Jets closed out 2025 by losing their final five games by an average beatdown, and now Sunday, September 27 they walk into Ford Field to face a Lions team that spent its whole offseason building for exactly this kind of matchup.
This one's built around two very different quarterback situations. Geno Smith is back in New York via a trade that pushed Justin Fields out the door, and head coach Aaron Glenn is reportedly coaching for his job after last year's collapse. Across the field, Jared Goff enters his second season under a new play-caller after the Lions lost Ben Johnson to the Bears, with former Cardinals OC Drew Petzing now running the show in Detroit.
New York spent its offseason trying to surround Smith with more juice, drafting Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr. and adding Adonai Mitchell, who reportedly built real chemistry with Smith during OTAs. Detroit, meanwhile, is nursing some real questions on defense, with Kerby Joseph (knee) and Brian Branch (Achilles) both unresolved and Sam LaPorta working back from a back issue that kept him limited into minicamp.
None of that offseason optimism changes what showed up on the field to close out 2025. The Jets lost their final five games of the season, and it wasn't competitive down the stretch. The Lions weren't exactly steady either, dropping three of their last five, including a 24-29 loss to the Steelers and a 10-23 loss to the Vikings, before salvaging the finale against the Bears.
