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Mark Zaleski/Associated Press
Geno Smith with teammates Ryan Spadola and Kellen Winslow late in the Jets' 38-13 loss to Tennessee on Sunday.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It was last Tuesday, a day off for the Jets, and the quarterbacks had a brief break in their meeting room between film sessions. So, naturally, during those five free minutes, they chose to watch more film. In awe, they watched some of Peyton Manning's dissection of the Giants from Sept. 15, another brilliant game in a brilliant season.
Matt Simms, who backs up Geno Smith, had a reason for sharing this anecdote Monday. He said he wished he had told Smith how Manning fared in his rookie season with Indianapolis.
"Tough to believe now, isn't it?" Simms said after noting that Manning threw more interceptions (28) than touchdowns (26) as the Colts went 3-13 in 1998. "Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we go through some tough times to get to where we want to be."
For Smith, tough times came Sunday. He committed four turnovers, two interceptions and two fumbles, and the Titans converted them into 28 points in a 38-13 pummeling of the Jets in Nashville. There hasn't been much competition, but it was the worst outing of Smith's N.F.L. career.
The Jets hope that Smith will look back on this game in a decade and it will still register as the worst of his career. The same applies for this time next week.
There is now an urgency for Smith to improve. Not eventually, as Coach Rex Ryan said, but immediately. So by Monday night's game in Atlanta, Smith must figure out a way to correct all the mistakes that plagued him in Tennessee: carrying the ball with two hands, not one; revealing more awareness in the pocket; throwing the ball away or tucking in the ball to take a sack, instead of fumbling.
"My job here is to manage the football game and take what the defense gives me," Smith said. "When it's there, I've got to be confident enough to take it. But I've also got to be smart enough to know when it's not there."
That is an interesting interpretation of his responsibilities. Managing the game often carries a negative connotation, an admission that the quarterback is raw or flawed, that his team might win in spite of — not because of — his play.
The Jets advanced to two straight A.F.C. title games with Mark Sanchez assuming the part of caretaker. When the Jets deemed, incorrectly, that he was ready for an expanded role, they sputtered. Smith is operating a more quarterback-friendly offense, and with a coordinator different from Sanchez's rookie season, but already the Jets have revealed more of a willingness to let Smith throw — more often, and further downfield.
Results have been mixed. Smith has completed four passes of at least 40 yards, but he has also thrown eight interceptions, trailing only Eli Manning for most in the N.F.L.
It is only natural that every game the Jets play this season will be evaluated relative to expectations, which evolve from week to week. A month ago, a playoff berth seemed unrealistic. Then their defense battered Tampa Bay and flustered New England and pounded Buffalo. They were gifted a victory against the Buccaneers and survived against the Bills and just like that, they were 2-1. Maybe, just maybe.
Even at 2-2 and the envy of standard-bearers like Pittsburgh and the Giants, the Jets see an opportunity. Bilal Powell, tied for the A.F.C. rushing lead through Sunday, has emerged as an asset. Their defense, when not subject to a short field because of turnovers, should keep every game close.
All of which leads back to Smith, and whether a team with a playoff-caliber defense can withstand — and indeed, tolerate — many more performances like Sunday's.
"It's not a thought at this point right now," Ryan said, when asked in a conference call Monday whether he considered benching Smith, as he did the rookie cornerback Dee Milliner in the Sept. 12 loss at New England. "Not a thought."
One does not need a thesaurus to infer that "at this point" and "right now" could be construed as synonymous for "yet." Loyalty is one of Ryan's more admirable traits, but it is also one of his faults. He stuck with Sanchez through many comparable games (and worse) and was adamant in his public defense.
With Smith, Ryan has taken a different approach. Never has he anointed Smith as the franchise quarterback. In fact, in the Jets' new live-in-the-now world, Smith was barely anointed the quarterback of the present.
Determining his role in their future could become a little more complex if Smith were to have another turnover-filled game soon, be it in Atlanta, where the Jets could scale back the game plan, or the next week at home against Pittsburgh.
Continuing to send Smith out would signal a tacit commitment to his development while also gauging whether they must address the position in the off-season. However, they do not want to make Smith feel too comfortable, as if he could continue making mistakes without repercussion.
The Jets' options are limited, with Simms and Brady Quinn, who has been inactive for all four games, and with Sanchez not eligible to return from injured reserve until Week 11. Smith spent Monday trying to learn from his mistakes, and after watching the film he spoke of a lesson that Peyton Manning very well may have learned 15 years ago.
"It's never as good as you think it is," Smith said, "and it's never as bad as you think it is."
Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times
Kevin Garnett, who was traded to the Nets this summer, was described as a class clown and a big brother by teammates.
Even stifled behind a cold-induced rasp, Kevin Garnett's personality was irrepressible Monday, as bubbly, dynamic and intriguing as ever.
He razzed reporters for their questions during the Nets' media day at Barclays Center and then offered them expressive answers. He sounded confident and vulnerable, open and oblique. He laughed and smiled and was charismatic. He glowered.
Jason Kidd, the first-year coach, raised eyebrows earlier this month when he asserted the team did not have an identity last season. Whatever character the group did have, Kidd said, was "just vanilla."
Well, here is Garnett to change that.
"We're here to get another ring," Garnett said. "It's the only reason we came to Brooklyn." And when a reporter piped up to ask a new question, Garnett interjected, "the oooonly reason we came to Brooklyn," inducing raucous laughter inside the room.
Garnett, 37, was traded to the Nets this summer, joining a glamorous package from the Boston Celtics that also included Paul Pierce and Jason Terry. His reluctance at first to waive his no-trade clause and to leave New England for New York has been well documented, and he made clear Monday that he was still getting used to living here.
It has become clear that Garnett, however he feels about a city, will emerge as an outsize presence from it. And though he may no longer be able to carry a team on his back, he may still provide its heartbeat.
The stories about him were flowing from other Nets players.
Andray Blatche described Garnett's contribution to the players' informal off-season workouts: "As soon as K. G. got onto the court, things just" — here he snapped his fingers — "went off."
Blatche added, "The competition level was crazy."
Brook Lopez said seeing Garnett in the team weight room last week was "pretty surreal." Joe Johnson said he was realizing that Garnett, for all his intensity, was "more of a class clown type of guy." And Reggie Evans, who assumed a mentoring role last season, said Garnett would be an "even bigger, bigger big brother" to the team's young players.
The coaching staff will feel Garnett's big presence, too. Last week, Kidd and Garnett chatted about the possibility that he would not play back-to-back games during the season to preserve his legs. Asked on Monday about that talk, Garnett said, "It didn't go too well."
As the laughter subsided, he added, "I'm just being honest."
Garnett said he fully understood Kidd's position. But he would not apologize for his stubbornness.
"I just don't want to be told anything," Garnett said. "I hope that I've earned the right to have an opinion in something that I'm doing. But I think more importantly, seriously, from a chemistry standpoint, I think it's important for me to be out with everybody."
That chemistry will begin to take shape Tuesday when the Nets begin their five-day training camp at Duke in Durham, N.C. The players said Monday that the trip would give them valuable time to bond and blend, away from the New York news media.
According to a team spokesman, the Nets issued 150 credentials for Monday's event to 60 organizations. It was a marked increase from last season, one attributable to Garnett, Pierce, and Andrei Kirilenko, a high-profile free-agent acquisition.
From the various news media came similar questions about the health of an aging team; the stars sharing shots and managing egos; and the team toughness or the lack thereof.
"If you look at Game 7, we kind of were soft — that's the only way to put it," point guard Deron Williams said, referring to the first-round playoff loss to the Chicago Bulls. "I don't see that being a problem this year."
And Garnett, a 15-time All-Star, will have everything to do with changing that. The Nets now possess an archetype — a caricature, even — for the intense, impassioned professional. And being traded, he admitted Monday, has given him a new competitive edge.
To a team that did not have an identity, he provides an oversize one.
REBOUNDS
Deron Williams (sprained ankle) will be on the court Tuesday but will take things slow. "I could probably go out and do everything," he said Monday, "but if I tweak my ankle, if I have a setback, then that wouldn't be good." ... Nineteen players are expected to be at training camp. Forwards Gary Forbes and Chris Johnson and guards Jorge Gutierrez and Marko Jaric were signed in the past week. The Nets already had 15 players on guaranteed contracts, though, so the new players are unlikely to make the roster.
Thirty years after it won its only America's Cup, Australia is back with a potentially strong challenge.
On Monday, Hamilton Island Yacht Club was confirmed as challenger of record for the next America's Cup by the defender, Golden Gate Yacht Club.
Oracle Team USA, which represents Golden Gate, won the Cup last week in San Francisco by defeating Emirates Team New Zealand in the biggest comeback in the competition's 162-year history.
Oracle, owned by the American software mogul Larry Ellison, rallied from an 8-1 deficit to win eight straight races and prevail, 9-8, in a match contested in extreme 72-foot catamarans.
Oracle had four Australian sailors in its crew, including the skipper and helmsman Jimmy Spithill, and several others in its support team, including General Manager Grant Simmer.
Team New Zealand also had two Australians in its crew, and Nathan Outteridge, another young Australian star, was the helmsman for the Swedish challenger Artemis Racing.
Despite all that talent, no Australian team has challenged for the Cup since 2000. The Hamilton Island Yacht Club's challenge is headed by the Australian Bob Oatley and his son Sandy. Bob Oatley, one of Australia's wealthiest people, made his fortune as a trader and then as one of the pioneers of the country's wine export industry, initially with the Rosemount winery.
Like Ellison, Oatley owns an island. Ellison, one of the world's richest men, recently purchased nearly all of the Hawaiian island of Lanai; Oatley and his family own Hamilton Island on the edge of Australia's Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.
It is a beautiful part of the world for a relaxed Sunday sail, but Oatley has long been a passionate ocean racer. A series of his yachts, all named Wild Oats, have taken line honors in six of the last eight Sydney-Hobart races, and he was part of Australia's winning of the Admiral's Cup, once the sport's premier ocean-racing event for national teams.
"Given Australia's previous success in the America's Cup, the Admiral's Cup and Olympic yachting, and as proud Australians, we think it is time for our nation to be back in our sport's pinnacle event," Oatley said in a statement released by Golden Gate Yacht Club. "The recently completed America's Cup in San Francisco has revolutionized the sport for sailors and fans, and we were excited to see how many Australians played key roles in the teams and in the regatta organization."
Iain Murray, the Cup's regatta director, is an Australian and a friend of Oatley and his family. A former America's Cup helmsman, Murray also has sailed regularly on Wild Oats. But Murray said on Monday that he was not part of the Hamilton Island Yacht Club challenge, at least not yet.
"I'm still finishing up here," Murray said in an interview from San Francisco. "I'm going home to Australia on Thursday. I'll go and talk to Bob, just see what he's thinking and go from there."
Murray said Oatley had been interested in the Cup for years.
"Bob's a very traditional yachtsman," Murray said. "It's obviously been on his mind for some time and with the excitement of what's going on and seeing all the Australians involved, he's going: 'Enough's enough. We need to do this for Australia now.' "
An Australian syndicate won the Cup in 1983 in Newport, R.I., becoming the first to beat the New York Yacht Club in the event's already long history. An American team headed by the American Dennis Conner won back the Cup in 1987 in Fremantle, Australia, against a yacht skippered by Murray.
"I think Australians, we used to operate like New Zealand," Murray said. "Australians came and sailed the boats in a very proud nationalistic way, and for Australia not to have been involved since 2000 has hurt a lot of people, so it was probably overdue and welcome to see them coming back."
Murray said Oatley clearly was interested in recruiting Australian talent for his team. The question is whether men like Spithill, the Oracle strategist Tom Slingsby and Outteridge can be lured away from their current employers, and if so, at what price.
Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Rays shortstop Yunel Escobar tagging out the Rangers' Ian Kinsler in a rundown after he was picked off first base in the third inning.
ARLINGTON, Tex. — The first person David Price looked for after pitching the Tampa Bay Rays into the playoffs was third baseman Evan Longoria.
Price yelled after the two locked eyes, and they embraced to start the celebration.
"He just told me that he had a dream about it," Longoria said. "It was awesome to feel that emotion from him. That's what an ace does; that's what a leader of a staff does. It was awesome to watch."
Price, Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays are going to playoffs again, getting there with a victory in their final regular-season game for the second time in three years. They needed an extra game this time.
Price pitched his fourth complete game this season, Longoria hit a two-run homer and the Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2, in the American League wild-card tiebreaker game Monday night, the 163rd game for both teams.
When Price woke up Monday, all he could think about was throwing a complete game, then getting that last out and turning straight to Longoria.
"You're probably supposed to go to your catcher first, but for what he's done for us and what he's done for me personally," Price said. "I think about that type of stuff before I pitch all the time, but for it to happen today — I didn't want to text him when I thought about it. I didn't want to jinx it."
The Rays face another must-win situation Wednesday night at Cleveland in the A.L. wild-card game, Tampa Bay's third game in three cities in four days. The winner will face Boston in a division series.
Price (10-8), the reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner, had a 10.26 earned run average in four previous starts at Rangers Ballpark. He was superb in this one, striking out four and walking one. He picked off two runners while allowing seven hits and throwing 81 of 118 pitches for strikes.
"If I don't get those two outs on the pickoff moves, I have to get the next guys out," Price said. "It forces me to throw at least 10 more pitches."
Longoria's 32nd homer, off Texas starter Martin Perez (10-6), drove in two runs in the third inning and built the Rays' lead to 3-0. Longoria had three hits, continuing his stellar play in the last game of regular seasons. He is hitting .579 (11 for 19) in those finales with 7 homers and 10 runs batted in, according to Stats L.L.C.
"I wish I could explain it," he said. "I wish I could bottle it up and take it through 161 games and not have it be on the last day."
Texas had won seven in a row, needing every one just to force the majors' first wild-card tiebreaker since 2007.
Even with the return of the All-Star slugger Nelson Cruz from his 50-game suspension in the Biogenesis case, the Rangers missed a chance to get to the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.
"I'm disappointed. We didn't get it done," Rangers Manager Ron Washington said. "I've got no excuse for that."
Cruz, who had 27 homers and drove in 76 runs in 108 games before his suspension, was 0 for 4 with a strikeout while hitting sixth as the designated hitter. His groundout to shortstop ended the game.
Luckily for Manager Joe Maddon and the Rays, they were not done in by another blown call in Texas, though this one did cost them at least one run.
Tampa Bay had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh when Delmon Young, who put the Rays ahead to stay with a sacrifice fly in the first, hit a soft fly ball.
Center fielder Leonys Martin made a running, diving attempt for a catch. Replays showed clearly that the ball bounced into Martin's glove; the left-field umpire, Bruce Dreckman, looking at the play from the side, ruled the play an inning-ending catch.
Young rounded first base with his arms spread out, signaling safe. Maddon went out to discuss the call, though the conversation did not appear heated.
"Thankfully, it didn't come back to bite us," Longoria said.
When the Rays played at Texas on April 8, their 5-4 loss ended when the plate umpire, Marty Foster, called a third strike against Ben Zobrist on a pitch low and outside. The umpire later admitted the 2-2 curveball was not a strike and said he wouldn't call that pitch a strike if he could do it again. The Texas win and closer Joe Nathan's 300th career save stood.
Maddon said after that game that such calls "can't be made in a Major League Baseball game." The Rays still had a runner on base and Longoria on deck when Zobrist was called out.
M.L.B. intends to use expanded video review next year, though balls and strikes will not be subject to review.
The Rangers beat Tampa Bay in A.L. division series in 2010 and 2011 on way to their only two World Series. It was the second year in a row their season ended in a do-or-die game at home — they lost to Baltimore in the first A.L. wild-card game last October.
"I'm happy that we don't have to play them anymore," Longoria said. " It's fitting we had to go down this road. It feels really good to be able to leave here celebrating instead of with our heads down."
In 2011, the Rays had to overcome a nine-game deficit in the final month of the season and were down seven runs in their 162nd game. They got to the playoffs after Longoria's game-ending homer in the 12th inning beat the Yankees.
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Wesley Hitt/Getty Images
Karl Klug stripped the ball from Geno Smith and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
NASHVILLE — All that is new and supposedly improved about the Jets this season — the starting quarterback, the offensive philosophy, Rex Ryan's coaching staff — was viewed at LP Field on Sunday with a fair amount of skepticism: the theme music to "The Benny Hill Show" accompanied their pregame stampede out of the tunnel.
Alterraun Verner accounted for three of the Jets' four turnovers, snaring both of Geno Smith's interceptions and scooping up Smith's second-quarter fumble. Smith and the Jets' receivers thrived last week against Buffalo's cornerbacks, but they could not handle the Titans' physical secondary.
That is how many rushing yards gained on 31 attempts by the Titans, who ranked among the N.F.L. leaders in attempts, but it was nothing but a Pyrrhic victory for the Jets. Jake Locker shredded the Jets for three touchdowns on 18 of 24 passing, and even his backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick, added a 77-yard scoring pass to Nate Washington.
The Jets finished September at 2-2, which was a reasonable projection when the season started. Now that they enter a demanding phase of their schedule, will they be able to duplicate — or exceed — that performance and keep pace in the A.F.C.?
Titans quarterback Jake Locker left the game with a hip injury but not before he threw for three touchdowns, including a damaging 16-yard pass to Darrin Walls with 2 seconds left in the first half.
That is how fans here remember the Jets — a bumbling, blundering outfit whose dysfunction and ineptitude converged in a blooper-filled debacle last December — and, to be fair, their perception is not without merit.
Instead of summoning a victory that would establish their credibility and validate their early-season optimism, the Jets stumbled to a 38-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans, a defeat that, like last year's, was defined by the struggles of their quarterback.
It was Geno Smith, not Mark Sanchez, who committed turnover after turnover, four in all, three in the first half and none that could be justified by a reasonable explanation. There were two fumbles and two interceptions, and the Titans scored a touchdown after every one. The Jets trailed by 10 points after the first quarter, 18 at halftime and 25, the final margin, for much of the fourth.
"I never expected for the game to turn out like this," Ryan said, and his wrath afterward spared no one.
Not a defense that conceded four passing touchdowns and a 56 percent success rate on third down. Not an offensive line that buckled under pressure that players swore they knew was coming, yielding five sacks. Not the cornerbacks, who Ryan said must learn to compete better when the ball is in the air. And certainly not Smith, who drew perhaps the harshest criticism of all.
A few times, Ryan has alluded to lessons he learned from his handling four years ago of Sanchez, and one of them might be his willingness to overlook Smith's rookie status and deliver sharp, public rebukes of his performance.
It happened in training camp, when Ryan described Smith's play during one error-laden practice as brutal, and it happened again Sunday, when he rejected the notion that Smith's penchant for turnovers — 10 in four games — was a normal, if hardly desired, aspect of the development of a first-year quarterback.
"How many times do we have to make that excuse, though?" Ryan said. "One of these days, we're going to learn from them. It better be soon."
Soon is a nebulous ultimatum — by next week? Two weeks? Three? Smith is in no imminent danger of losing his job, but he does recognize the importance of taking responsibility for his actions. He spoke to several players afterward and, according to linebacker Antwan Barnes, told them, "It won't happen again."
"All I can do is put my trust in him," Barnes said, adding, "He said he's got to do better, so I believe in him."
This was considered a game the Jets could win — or at least a game they had to win to prove their bona fides. All season they have teetered between agony and ecstasy, with their first three games decided by all of 11 points. Sometimes, luck and explosive plays can offset penalties and turnovers, as they did last Sunday against Buffalo, but it cannot occur every week.
There were no long gains to balance Smith's lack of awareness, and there were no defensive stands to compensate for the Jets' offensive ineffectiveness. They spoke of enhanced focus, confidence and discipline after outlasting the Bills in a 20-penalty fiasco, and yet all evidence suggested the contrary. They committed 10 more penalties Sunday, with some stalling drives or negating third-down conversions, and they also failed to force a turnover for the third straight week.
The Jets are, in many ways, fortunate to have a record as good as 2-2 with a minus-10 turnover margin. Smith, who completed 23 of 34 passes for 289 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown to Jeff Cumberland, said he forced the throw on his first interception, which came on his first pass of the game. He called his first fumble "reckless." His second fumble could be considered an adaptation of Sanchez's infamous butt-fumble here that, staying true to the original, produced the same deflating result.
Dennis Eckersley earned his Hall of Fame credentials as a pitcher capable of dominating both the start and finish of games.
Eckersley is one of only two pitchers in major league history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season. For his career, he had 197 wins and 390 saves pitching for the Oakland Athletics, the Boston Red Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a member of the Athletics in 1992, Eckersley became the ninth pitcher in history to win the Cy Young and most Most Valuable Player awards in the same season. He helped the Athletics win four American League West titles, three A.L. pennants and the 1989 World Series. Eckersley was named the A.L. Championship Series most valuable player in 1988. He threw a no-hitter against the California Angels in 1977. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.
Eckersley, 58, is a baseball analyst for TBS. The network will televise the A.L. wild-card tiebreaker, the National League and A.L. wild-card games, up to 20 N.L. and A.L. division series games and the N.L. championship series.
What teams will meet in the World Series and who is your choice to win it?
Dodgers versus the Red Sox. I pick the Red Sox.
What player do you think will have a big postseason?
Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. I think his dominance will continue in the postseason.
Do you consider Mariano Rivera the greatest closer ever? Goose Gossage (link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/sports/baseball/07seconds.html) has said Rivera is the best modern-day closer although he didn't pitch multiple innings as many relievers did in the past.
Yes, I think he's the greatest of all time. No one has or ever will have his dominance and consistency. He never had a bad year. What also puts him over the top is his postseason success. That will never be duplicated, ever.
Would you advise Matt Harvey to have Tommy John surgery or try to rehab instead?
He should have the surgery. He should fix it once and for all. You don't want to have a lingering problem and risk losing or wasting more time.
Should players who used performance-enhancing drugs make the Hall of Fame?
No, but the larger jury of baseball writers will make the ultimate conclusion.
Do you like the expanded use of replay?
I like the expanded use of replays. You'd be surprised at the amount of plays that would have been changed. Let's get it right.
You started and closed. The Reds have thought about making Aroldis Chapman, their star closer, a starter. What are your thoughts?
Don't mess with success. His velocity may go down as a starter and make starting more difficult. Stick with closing.
Who do think is a pitcher that will have a big year in 2014?
Jose Fernandez with the Miami Marlins. He already had a great coming-out year, and I expect an even greater year next year.
Game on the line, what hitter did you not want to face?
George Brett. He was the greatest gap-to-gap hitter I ever faced.
Your favorite memory?
Catching the ball in my glove for the last out of the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series. It was extra special because it was my only World Series win. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, growing up a San Francisco Giants fan and then had the best years of my career with the Oakland A's.
Any regrets?
Yes. Does the pitch to Kirk Gibson give you any hints of my regrets?
If you were not a baseball player, what career would you have chosen?
Hollywood (laughs).
