KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This might be painful, but let's take a look back at the positives and negatives from the New York Jets' 24-3 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs (without the benefit of film review):
UP
Darron Lee, linebacker -- Making his first NFL start in the base defense, the Jets' first-round pick made a strong impression. He showed his sideline-to-sideline speed, making six tackles (including two behind the line) and one quarterback hit. On the downside, Lee may have been involved in the underneath coverage on Travis Kelce's 12-yard touchdown reception. Either way, this was a nice day for Lee, who started for the injured Erin Henderson. Going forward, the coaches need to get the rookie on the field as much as possible.
Offensive line -- The Jets allowed no sacks and averaged 5.3 yards per rush so you can't pin this loss on the offensive line.
Juston Burris, cornerback -- The rookie didn't play a lot -- he replaced Darrelle Revis (eye) for a few plays at the end of the first half -- but he made one of the Jets' best defensive plays. He went stride-for-stride with Jeremy Maclin and batted away a deep pass from Alex Smith. It was the Jets' only pass break-up on the day. If the fourth-round pick keeps it up, the Jets will have to find a real role for him.
Sheldon Richardson, defensive end -- It wasn't a great game for the defensive line, which had trouble getting to Smith because the ball came out so quickly, but Richardson was fairly disruptive. He recorded six tackles, notched a half-sack and made a couple of downfield tackles. He flashed more than his partners, Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams.
DOWN
Ryan Fitzpatrick, quarterback -- I compared him to Joe Namath in Week 2 because of his downfield success against the Buffalo Bills. You could make another Namath comparison this week, except it wouldn't be flattering. Fitzpatrick tied Namath's franchise record for most interceptions in a game -- six. He became the fourth quarterback in the past 35 seasons to throw no touchdown passes and at least six interceptions, the first since Tom Tupa (Cardinals) in 1989. This week, his downfield accuracy was poor, as he completed only 3-for-17 (three interceptions) on passes more than 10 yards in the air. He was 14-for-18 last week in that category. Football is hard to explain sometimes. Fitzpatrick has thrown end-zone interceptions in three of his past four games after not throwing any in the previous 37. In the end, the offense committed seven turnovers in 66 plays. Yikes.
Jalin Marshall, kickoff returner -- The kid has talent, but his mistakes have resulted in points for the opposition. Marshall fumbled on a kickoff return, and it was returned for a touchdown. This was the second straight week one of his fumbles was returned for a score. "It's something that I've got to fix," he said. He's got that right.
The wide receivers -- One week after posting historic numbers, Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Quincy Enunwa combined for only eight catches for 95 yards on 27 targets. Those aren't good numbers. Decker was covered by cornerback Marcus Peters for a chunk of the game, and he was effectively eliminated from the offense. The receivers and Fitzpatrick learned a hard lesson: Some weeks you don't win the majority of the 50-50 balls. Sometimes, the other guy wins.
Coaching staff -- As you may have heard, the game plan was "sh---y," according to Todd Bowles. We'll take his word for it. The defense wasn't terrible, but it had no answers early on for the Chiefs' controlled passing attack, which involved nine different receivers. They did a nice job of running clear-out routes and hurting the Jets underneath with short passes. Maybe the Jets were so freaked out by their struggles against the long ball that they overplayed it, leaving themselves vulnerable in the short zones.