5 things to watch as Jets face Chiefs in Week 4 of 2023 NFL season

The Jets will be a heavy underdog on Sunday night, as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs come to MetLife Stadium for a Week 4 matchup.

The 2-1 Chiefs, who enter off a blowout win against the Bears, are expected to be one of the best teams in the NFL this season, so the Aaron Rodgers-less Jets will struggle to keep pace.

Coming off losses to the Cowboys and Patriots, the Jets will need to play better on both sides of the ball to make this game competitive.

Here are the biggest stories to watch as the Jets look to snap their two-game losing streak...

Can Zach Wilson survive another rough performance on national television?

With two straight losses that saw the Jets score just 20 total points and struggle to sustain drives, Nathaniel Hackett’s offense has not looked good with Wilson at the helm. In front of a national television audience and a Jets home crowd that has already lost patience with Wilson, he will be under pressure to get something going early.

One issue with Wilson is that he’s not taking any chances down the field. Hackett clearly needs to take the training wheels off and allow Wilson to take some risks. After having some success in hurry-up mode on Sunday, perhaps the Jets could explore pushing the tempo a bit more.

Ordinarily, you’d think that the Jets would have to generate a lot of offense to keep pace with the high-powered Chiefs, but they only scored 37 points in their first two games. However, they look to be hitting their stride as they exploded for 41 in Sunday’s win over the Bears.

Can the Jets’ reshuffled offensive line have better results than last week?

The Jets made three changes to their offensive line on Sunday and this didn’t seem to help the offense much, as Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook averaged fewer than two yards per carry between them and Wilson was under constant pressure.

However, a review of the film reveals that the initial protection up front was usually good, and Wilson brought a lot of problems upon himself by holding the ball for too long. The running game struggles were also partially attributable to Wilson, as he caused one play to be stuffed for a big loss with a bad audible and saw stacked boxes all day due to his lack of downfield threat.

If the Jets operate with the same five up front, as expected, they’ll hope to start building some chemistry -- and that this will lead to more offensive success. They’ll need to focus on limiting the disruption from All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Will Gang Green be able to win the turnover battle?

With Wilson at the helm, a lot of teams simply take a conservative approach, hoping the Jets will struggle to score points and turn the ball over to give them good field position.

That’s unlikely to be the case with the gun-slinging Mahomes operating in Andy Reid’s creative and expansive offensive system. The Chiefs have turned the ball over six times already this season, and if the Jets can create some turnovers of their own, this could create the kind of momentum swing that could get the offense going.

It’s telling that the Jets won their first game, when Jordan Whitehead intercepted three passes, but lost their next two as they failed to create a turnover.

Can New York exploit Jawaan Taylor’s struggles?

Having signed a long-term deal worth $20 million per year in March, Jawaan Taylor has had a rough start to the season. The 25-year old has been consistently lining up too far in the backfield or dropping back into his stance too early on passing downs. As a result, he’s been flagged for eight penalties and benched a few times already, with some analysts suggesting he could have been penalized even more than this.

When actually blocking, Taylor has done a good job, as he hasn’t given up a sack all season. However, he clearly needs every advantage to feel confident of staying in front of his man and could be impacted if forced to hone his technique. So the Jets should make an effort to rush aggressively off the blind side.

With his primary backup, Prince Tega Wanogho, just placed on injured reserve, the Chiefs aren't well-equipped to cope if this becomes an issue again.

Will the Jets be able to stop Travis Kelce?

There will be a lot of attention on Travis Kelce this week with music star Taylor Swift expected to be in attendance to support him. The Jets would be wise to pay plenty of attention to Kelce, too, as he’s arguably the Chiefs’ most dangerous weapon.

Over the past two games, the Jets have given up three touchdowns to backup tight ends, including Pharaoh Brown’s back-breaking 58-yarder on Sunday. They should, therefore, perhaps be more wary of Kelce’s backups, instead.

Noah Gray and Blake Bell are listed behind Kelce on the depth chart, although Gray missed practice time this week due to an injury, so Bell might be the man to watch.