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New York Jets: Defense Could Help Ryan Fitzpatrick Keep Starting Job

By Maurice Moton

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Here’s a quick message to the New York Jets: If it’s not broken don’t try to fix it, and there’s nothing broken about a 2-0 record.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t resemble Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers when engineering a scoring drive, but he’s good enough for the win.

A widespread debate swept through Jets blogs, message boards and bars across the New York area on whether the Jets were better off with Fitzpatrick than Geno Smith running the offense.

Gang Green’s offense doesn’t operate like a smooth machine, but it’s hard to envision Fitzpatrick throwing three interceptions and getting pulled off the field before halftime. Yes, that happened to Smith last year.

Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets start the season 2-0, a record the team hasn’t achieved since 2011 when cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie roamed the secondary in their first stints with the team.

Speaking of the defense, its going to help Fitzpatrick keep his job over Smith for the near future. The Jets have allowed 17 points and forced 10 turnovers in two games. The re-infusion of talent on the back end, bringing back Revis and Cromartie with the fresh hiring of Todd Bowles, makes general manager Mike Maccagnan look clever.

Analysts touted Bowles for his schemes as the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals in 2014:

Jets fans already know what Revis and Cromartie are capable of when paired together in the secondary. Bowles didn’t hesitate to bring Cromartie over from the Cardinals with him.

Cromartie played through a knee injury, but Revis forced three turnovers alone in Week 2. Revis Island turned into a moving peninsula recovering two fumbles and intercepting quarterback Andrew Luck on Monday Night Football.

The Jets defense held the Colts under 100 rushing yards and sent a flustered Luck to the podium after a 20-7 loss, per ESPN’s Mike Wells.

“Turning the ball over. Fumbles and interceptions. A pretty glaring issue.”

“It starts with my play,” Luck said. “Turning the ball over. Fumbles and interceptions. A pretty glaring issue.”

The contest seemed one-sided, but the Colts had opportunities to win the game late with a somewhat stagnant Jets offense stalling to strike a dagger in the heart of the Colts defense.

Kicker Nick Folk pushed a kick too far right, and Fitzpatrick threw a few passes into double coverage in attempt to capitalize on Colts cornerback Vontae Davis’ absence.

The score could have spiraled out of hand in favor of the Jets long before the fourth quarter, but the offense failed to finish a few long drives in Colts territory. Fortunately for Fitzpatrick, the defense stood tall against whom the NFL deemed the next best quarterback of the new generation.

If the Jets defense holds up, Smith may not get his job back this season. Jets fans are conditioned to believe Smith would have found a way to throw away the win against the Colts with some ill-advised throws. We’ll never know, and if you ask some people, it’s best that the Jets don’t find out going forward.

Bowles doesn’t have an allegiance to Smith. The Jets acquired Fitzpatrick on Bowles’ watch as the head coach. Now, the Jets sit atop of the AFC East tied with the New England Patriots at 2-0. Why should Bowles shake things up for a quarterback he inherited?

Wins are hard to come by, and it’s the bottom-line outcome in the NFL. Right now, the Jets have ball rolling with Fitzpatrick. A switch to Smith could alter chemistry in the locker room and throw a winning team off balance. Injuries don’t usually jeopardize the starting job of a winning quarterback, but Smith went 3-10 as a starter in 2014.

Let’s go back to the original debate. Are the Jets better off with Fitzpatrick or Smith? Right now, they’re winning with Fitzpatrick.

What did former Jets head coach Herm Edwards say? “Hello, we play to win the game.”

Let’s close that debate topic, for now.

Follow Maurice Moton on Twitter for Jets news and updates.

All statistics are provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com and Pro Football Focus unless otherwise noted.

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