Jets get reality check as Bears completely dominate in ugly loss

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CHICAGO — The Jets may talk about how they’ve been competitive in every game and how that has to be considered progress after going 3-14 a year ago.

They may argue that they should be 2-2 at worst and maybe even 3-1 right now.

Yet, at the quarter pole of the 2026 season, the Jets are 1-3 after Sunday’s 23-12 loss to the Bears at Soldier Field.

The Bears (3-1) can make a point that they should have won Sunday’s game 43-12 instead of 23-12 with the way they utterly dominated the Jets.

Chicago outgained the Jets 492 to 157 in total yards, produced 34 first downs to seven for the Jets, and 232 rushing yards to 59 for the Jets.

Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent, out of Shepherd University in West Virginia and who hadn’t started a game since 2023, badly outplayed Jets quarterback Geno Smith.

Smith, who’d played three crisp and clean games in the first three weeks (having completed 75.5 percent of his passes), looked completely out of sorts Sunday, finishing just 8-for-15 for 119 yards, 58 of which came on his only touchdown pass.

Bagent, meanwhile, finished 25-for-34 for 268 yards.

Considering the numbers, the Jets had to be ecstatic to enter the halftime locker room trailing only 13-3.

Through the first 30 minutes of what was a somewhat bizarre first half, the Bears ran 46 plays to only 12 for the Jets. The Bears amassed 274 total yards to just 34 for the Jets, 17 first downs to two for the Jets.

The Jets had more penalties in the first half than first downs.

Chicago ran the ball 29 times for 112 yards in the first half.

While Geno Smith was 3-for-8 for 18 yards and didn’t look sharp at all, Bagent, who started in place of Caleb Williams (out with a hamstring injury), was 16-for-22 for 170 yards.

The only positive to come out of the first half for the Jets was safety Minkah Fitzpatrick ending their record-setting interception drought when he picked off Bagent in the second quarter. It was the first interception for the Jets in 21 games, spanning 535 passing attempts, since Ashtyn Davis had one in the 2024 season finale.

The Fitzpatrick pick set up the only Jets points of the first half, a 36-yard Jason Sanders field goal.

The Bears took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard scoring run by former Rutgers running back Kyle Monangai on fourth-and-goal with 23 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Bears appeared to have taken that 7-0 lead earlier, on their first possession, when D’Andre Swift appeared to have scored on a fourth-and-goal run from the Jets 1-yard line.

But the replay review showed that Swift’s elbow was down after the initial tackle by Jets cornerback Brandon Stephens.

The Bears took a 10-3 lead on a 30-yard field goal by Cairo Santos with 2:29 remaining in the first half, and they made it 13-3 on a 30-yard Santos field goal on the final play of the half.

The Jets, determined to make something of the opening possession of the second half, drove the ball to the Chicago 33-yard line before Smith was sacked by Devin Bush for an 8-yard loss on third down, pushing them out of field goal range.

A forced fumble by Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood on Swift gave the Jets possession on the Chicago 28-yard line with 8:46 remaining in the third quarter.

But again, the Jets offense could muster only a 30-yard Sanders field goal out of the turnover, cutting the Bears lead to 13-6 with seven minutes to go in the third.

The Bears made it 20-6 on a 5-yard scoring run by Monangai with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter.

A 21-yard Santos field goal with 10:03 remaining gave Chicago a 23-6 lead.

At that point in the game, Chicago had run 71 plays to 30 for the Jets, gained 432 yards of offense to 59 for the Jets and had 28 first downs to five for the Jets.

The Bears had 41 rushing attempts for 201 yards. Bagent was 22-for-29 for 231 yards.

The Jets added a garbage-time touchdown on a 58-yard Smith scoring pass to Isaiah Williams with 9:16 remaining. After the Sanders extra point missed wide right, the Bears lead was 23-12.

Before that two-play, 72-yard drive, the Jets had run 31 plays for 99 yards.