5 Bold Predictions for New York Jets in Week 5

The New York Jets are sputtering out of control faster than expected at the quarter mark of the 2014 NFL season. Despite being just one game removed from first place in the suddenly mediocre AFC East, the 1-3 Jets are in an extremely unfavorable position.

The Jets have been here before. They're being written off as pretenders less than halfway into the season.

They've definitely earned that notoriety this time around, especially considering the ugliness that has ensued over the course of the past three seasons. The Jets simply do not look like a quality football team, and it's not just because of their anemic offense.

New York's defense is its backbone, but head coach Rex Ryan's unit seldom gets a crucial stop when it needs it most.

The Detroit Lions' 14-play, 90-yard touchdown drive beginning midway through the third quarter of what was then a one-score game crushed the Jets' spirits.

Gang Green had zero chance of winning that game after that. Their offense was not going to mount a two-touchdown comeback in the fourth quarter.

Detroit converted three 3rd-and-longs to keep that gut-punching drive alive. Rattled second-year quarterback Geno Smith could only watch on in anguish, internalizing a plethora of mistakes that disabled his team's chances of winning for the third time in three weeks.

It won't get any easier for Smith and the Jets this Sunday against the explosive San Diego Chargers. The following slideshow illustrates five bold predictions for Jets' Week 5 action.

5. Chris Ivory Gets 20 Carries

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The Jets' only chance of winning on Sunday is to hand the rock to power back Chris Ivory as many times as possible.

Gang Green currently ranks as the second-best rushing offense in the league, averaging 151.3 rushing yards per game. Ivory has been a big component of that success, averaging 5.5 yards per carry on 50 rushing attempts this season.

For whatever reason, the Jets have failed to get Ivory enough carries. He's averaging just 12.5 rushing attempts per contest despite clearly being the Jets' most consistent weapon on offense.

If the Jets are going to pull off the upset in San Diego, they need to get Ivory the ball 20-plus times. This isn't rocket science. Ivory moves the football downfield. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that positive yards typically result in more points on the scoreboard than incomplete passes and zero-yard stuffs from Chris Johnson at the line of scrimmage.

Ivory, not Smith or Johnson, is the Jets' key to success.

Handing the ball off to Ivory will better enable the Jets to sustain drives while also taking pressure off Smith. It's an absolute no-brainer at this point.

4. Nick Folk Drills 5 Field Goals

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The Jets flat-out don't score touchdowns. They refuse to. According to Team Rankings, they rank 29th in the NFL with a microscopic 35.7 touchdown conversion percentage in the red zone this season.

That figure is considerably worse than their 2013 mark (50 percent). The Jets offense was seemingly designed to become more efficient in the red zone this season, considering the offseason acquisitions of Johnson and Eric Decker.

That simply hasn't happened, and it likely won't happen on Sunday either. The Chargers rank fifth in the NFL in points allowed, surrendering just 15.8 points per contest through the first four weeks of the season.

That trend should continue in Week 5, given the Jets' glaring inability to push the ball past the goal line. Place-kicker Nick Folk will prove to be the Jets' lone source of offense, drilling five field goals to satisfy fantasy football owners.

To date, Folk has been the Jets' highest-scoring player. There is no logical explanation for why that will change this week.

3. Secondary Continues to Struggle

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The Jets' secondary officially ranks 10th in the NFL in opposing passing yards allowed, giving up a moderate total of 228.0 yards through the air per game.

Don't be fooled, though. It's been much worse than that.

General manager John Idzik failed to supply Ryan and his coaching staff with a competent band of cornerbacks during the offseason, a head-scratching decision that has severely handicapped the Jets' front seven.

The carousel of safety-turned-cornerback Antonio Allen, Darrin Walls, Dee Milliner and Kyle Wilson has proven insufficient. The Jets are one of just two teams (New Orleans Saints) that have failed to generate an interception in the 2014 season.

Gang Green has also allowed nine receiving touchdowns in four games, ranking 29th in the league in that category.

These issues were inevitable before the season began, and they only figure to get worse against one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL in Week 5.

2. Philip Rivers Throws for 4 TDs

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The murderer's row of stout opposing quarterbacks the Jets have been faced to deal with in the early going will reach new heights on Sunday.

Chargers signal-caller Philip Rivers ranks third in the league in completion percentage with a 70.1 mark through four games (minimum 94 attempts).

Rivers has thrown for 1,155 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception for a league-best 114.5 passer rating.

In a nutshell, he's the Jets' worst nightmare.

The combination of New York's glaring lack of capable coverage corners and Rivers' passing prowess is a formula for disaster. The Jets stand no chance of minimizing the damage on Sunday. This game could get ugly in a hurry.

Rivers is more than capable of tossing four touchdown passes against the Jets. For Gang Green to avoid that from happening, they'll unleash immense pressure on the Pro Bowl QB.

They'll be hard-pressed to do that, though.

Rivers has been sacked just five times all season.

1. Geno Smith Will Be Benched

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Despite flashing some signs of progress in the season's first two contests, Smith is not the Jets' long-term answer at quarterback. His decision-making skills are null. His ability to read defenses is practically nonexistent. His instincts in pressure situations are reprehensible.

He just isn't that good.

The Jets are a bad football team largely because of the man that leads them on offense, and it doesn't figure to get better anytime soon.

Ryan and Co. have stood by Smith, declaring confidence in their starting QB during Sunday's postgame press conference. But how much longer can the Jets continue on with this politically correct madness?

When Smith commits two costly turnovers in the first half of the Jets' imminent loss to the Chargers, Ryan's hands will be tied. It'll be time to bench Smith in favor of Michael Vick—at least for one half.

The Jets have hope. The division lead is somehow within grasp despite all the turmoil they've endured through the first four weeks of the season.

But you can't win a division with a 4-12 record. Right now, that's the direction the Jets are headed in with Smith under center.

Prediction: Chargers 34, Jets 15