Playing Like They’re Scared Of Their Own QB Bites Jets In Late Loss To Pats

Matthew Stockman/Getty The Jets got what they deserved on Sunday.

In a crucial game at division rival New England, a team they hadn’t beaten in 13 tries, Gang Green played scared of their own quarterback.

Not opposing QB Mac Jones, but their own Zach Wilson.

When that’s the mentality, you’re always at risk of one mistake that turns into a game-changing play. In Sunday’s case, it was a punt return, with New England’s Marcus Jones taking one 84 yards to the house with five seconds remaining to send the Jets to a demoralizing 10-3 defeat.

Instead of vaulting into first place in the AFC East had they won, New York now sits in the basement despite a 6-4 mark.

And that’s where they’ll continue to reside until they install a quarterback they can trust.

Obviously, Wilson isn’t it. On the possession that led to the fateful punt, the Jets took over on their own 20-yard line just inside the two-minute warning with two timeouts in hand.

You’d think such a golden opportunity to steal a tight game would have fed a sense of urgency into the team. Nope, the Jets were deathly afraid of what Wilson might do, even after a New England holding penalty negated a third-down sack and gave the offense new life.

The Jets proceeded to call two handoffs while allowing the clock to tick down for nearly a minute to 32 seconds.

Who does that in today’s NFL?

Of course, Wilson couldn’t convert the 3rd-and-1, throwing late to running back Michael Carter behind the line of scrimmage, where he was swallowed up.

The Jets wasted another brilliant effort from their defense, which sacked Jones six times for 48 yards lost, some of which proved costly to New England because it moved kicker Nick Folk further back on a windy day to make him miss two field goals.

It wasn’t only Gang Green’s defense that walked off the Gillette Stadium field visibly frustrated. The body language from Jets wide receivers Garrett Wilson and Denzel Mims spoke volumes.

Wilson, whose three interceptions were instrumental in gifting the Patriots a 22-17 victory in the teams’ first meeting in Week 8, played turnover-free this time (though two potential picks hit New England defenders’ hands). However, going 9-for-22 for 77 yards while taking 4 sacks for 33 yards lost isn’t ideal either. Once New England Head Coach Bill Belichick made the halftime adjustment of assigning a spy to prevent Wilson from doing damage with his scrambling (he dashed for 26 yards on 3 rushes in the first half), Wilson lost all sense of the field.

I don’t know what was worse—Wilson’s regression or the acceptance of such from the Jets coaching staff, as if avoiding turnovers is the only thing that matters when it comes to evaluating his performance.

Head Coach Robert Saleh said in the postgame press conference that removing Wilson during the game in favor of backup Mike White was “the furthest thing from my mind.”

Hello? The offense’s mission is to score points. If you don’t trust your quarterback to put the team in position to score, what are we doing?

This team is ready to win now but it is absolutely clear that their quarterback is holding them back, even if Wilson wouldn’t admit it in his postgame remarks. There’s time for the Jets to undergo the process of how to secure the upgrade after the season, but I’d lean toward signing or trading for a veteran who can play now (Jimmy Garoppolo?) over resetting with another rookie QB.

Going forward this season, the Jets have to stop treating Wilson with kid gloves. He’s had time to find receivers that are getting open but he’s not processing defenses properly. Patriots edge rusher Matthew Judon said Wilson tends to look down at the pass rush instead of really going through his progressions. Coaches should be able to confirm as much in real time. Any other position that underperforms to that degree would be removed. Feelings aren’t spared when it comes to what’s best for the team.

I’m dubious that White will provide solutions—he just doesn’t possess a big-league arm—but sometimes you make a change for macro reasons, to emphasize what is and isn’t acceptable.

If Saleh can’t see that, then he’s also part of the problem.