Today at 4:05 p.m. ET, the New York Jets (2-1) travel to Tennessee for a Week 4 battle with the Titans (2-1) at LP Field in Tennessee. The game can be live streamed here. Jets fans can hear all the action on WEPN, 98.7 ESPN. Titans fans can do the same on 104.5 The Zone.
Both these teams have had solid, somewhat surprising starts as they each enter the game at 2-1, though they've also been two of the NFL's most penalized clubs through the first three weeks of the season. The Jets committed a franchise-record of 20 penalties in Sunday's 27-20 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
Jets head coach Rex Ryan has instilled a program where after a player commits a penalty in practice, everyone except for that player-including Ryan--does ten push-ups.
"I want him to notice who he's affecting," Ryan said to ESPN. "He's affecting all of us. I think that's where it's like, 'Oh, OK.' After you've done a few of those, you're like, 'Really, you got a penalty again?' And they'll get on each other."
The game also features the league's leading rushers in Tennessee's Chris Johnson and New York's Bilal Powell.
Johnson has rushed for 256 yards on 69 attempts but has yet to reach the end zone while Powell has carried the ball for 226 yards on 52 tries with a touchdown. Powell mounted career-highs in carries (27) and yards (149) in Sunday's victory over Buffalo, and will carry the load for the team with Chris Ivory sidelined with a hamstring injury. Cornerback Dee Milliner will also be out due to a hamstring injury for the Jets.
Johnson, who scored a 94-yard touchdown run against the Jets last year, leads the AFC with his 256 rushing yards. Johnson and Powell could be key components to today's game.
The Titans are tied for the third-most penalty calls in the league this year with 31. Last week, Jake Locker's 34-yard touchdown pass to Justin Hunter with 15 seconds remaining notched the team's 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers after the Titans committed 10 penalties that totaled 110 yards in the game.
"We're going to harp on them, we're going to talk about them, we're going to learn from them, we're going to learn how to be smarter," coach Mike Munchak told ESPN about the penalties.
Aside from the penalties for the Jets, the team had a powerful performance last Sunday. The Jets totaled their most yardage since 2000 by putting up 513 yards and the defense registered eight sacks for the first time since 1998.
Rookie quarterback Geno Smith made some strides in his third career game last week and has shown he can air the ball out, though the amount of picks he's thrown is a problem. Smith went 16-for-29 for a Jets rookie record of 331 yards with two touchdowns last week, but he also threw two interceptions. This season, Smith is 55-for-102 for 801 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions.
Both teams with surprisingly good starts will look to improve to 3-1 when the Jets and Titans clash this afternoon.
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