Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Geno Smith has shown he can play like a veteran rather than looking like a rookie. He’s going to have to forget he’s a rookie for the rest of the season. If he does, the New York Jets have a chance to go a long way.

There are still plenty of games to be played, and it would appear that Smith will probably have his share of ups and downs. Rookies usually are bothered with inconsistency, and it’s obviously a tremendous learning curve. Smith was having interception problems in previous games. His first four touchdown passes were matched by interceptions.

A three-touchdown game for Smith with no interception against the Atlanta Falcons shows he can win a lot of games for the Jets this season. Previous games also shows that he can lose some if he make too many rookie mistakes. However, Smith has shown maturity, especially when he led the Jets on the drive that set up the winning field goal against the Falcons. That has to be extremely encouraging to him, the coaches and his teammates.

Critics of Smith questioned if he could be a better decision maker and how effectively he could handle adversity. For now, his critics have been silenced.

Smith has shown that he can take the 3-2 Jets to playoff contention. Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, but Smith is playing well enough to give New York hope for the rest of the season. The key will be to keep the interceptions down, as it is with all quarterbacks. Smith has to be feeling mighty confident about that right now.

John Raffel is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter  @JohnCarlRaffel, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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