Jets mercifully bench Geno Smith during 3rd straight loss, switch to Matt Simms

As long as the New York Jets were winning games and he was showing some flashes of potential, quarterback Geno Smith was going to keep his job as starting quarterback. However, the losses have been piling up lately in NYC, and Smith is at the epicenter of those struggles with some historically bad play.

Trailing by 17 points to the Miami Dolphins at home on Sunday, Smith was replaced by backup Matt Simms after going 4-of-10 for 29 yards, no touchdowns and an interception in the first half. It was Smith's fifth straight game without a touchdown, a stretch that has seen New York go 1-4. Over that span, Smith was 49-of-104 for 533 yards, no touchdowns and eight interceptions.

He hasn't completed 10 passes in a game since going 20-of-30 for 159 yards, no touchdowns and two picks in a 40-point loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8. He has only one touchdown pass since Oct. 7.

With veteran Mark Sanchez on injured reserve, the Jets didn't have much in the way of support should they need to replace Smith. The backup Simms, son of Phil and brother of Chris, was an undrafted free agent with no NFL experience coming into this season. Veteran David Garrard has been around, but has not played since 2010. It looks like Ryan realized on Sunday that he no longer had a choice but to give Simms some more playing time.

Ryan was not able to say after the game who would start at quarterback in Week 14 against the Oakland Raiders. He did say that he considered activating Garrard for Sunday's game against the Dolphins, and would consider it again for next week.