Was Wilson’s Hot Stretch In Marquee Matchup A Glimpse Of A New Normal, Or Another Outlier?
Now let’s see Zach Wilson do it for four quarters.
Following the safety from a Kansas City holding penalty in the end zone early in Sunday night’s second quarter through the 7-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half, the Jets beleaguered quarterback played the best football of his two-plus season career. Wilson rallied New York from an early 17-0 hole to tie the defending Super Bowl champions at 20-20 heading into the final frame. In that 17:40 stretch of football time, Wilson completed 17-of-22 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson’s numbers outside of that stretch: 11-for-17 for 70 yards with a lost fumble and a sack taken, giving the Chiefs the opportunity to escape MetLife Stadium with a 23-20 victory.
Ah, but afterwards everyone wanted to talk about that brilliant interlude. And why not? The 2021 No. 2 overall pick, who was meant to watch this season from the bench but was forced back into action when starting QB Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in the opener, seemed destined for a bust in the Bust Hall of Shame following a depressing outing in the Jets’ loss to New England last week. He was statistically the worst quarterback in the league in many metrics going into Sunday’s game. Want to know how many times in Wilson’s previous seven starts he eclipsed the extremely low bar of 175 yards passing for the entire game? Once.
But this one’s now on the record—Wilson got rid of balls on time, trusted his receivers, and placed his throws accurately. Deep balls, sideline throws, back-shoulder throws tight windows—he was dealing. The Jets (1-3) operated like a real NFL offense, for a change. And, most importantly, finished off drives with points. (They possibly could have scored more if Head Coach Robert Saleh didn’t opt to kick on a pair of 4th-and-1s, but that’s another story.)
So, was that eruption an indication that a new normal will soon be upon us, or was it an outlier like the scattered few other of Wilson’s past performances that showed promise?
While that remains to be seen, here’s what we do know:
A), Wilson earned at least another start or two, starting next Sunday in Denver. Not that the signing of journeyman QB Trevor Siemian off the street to the practice squad last week had Jets fans ecstatic, but many, including me, grew ever more nauseous each time Wilson stepped on the field. We were done with Wilson, going under the assumption that an embarrassing Chiefs rout on national TV would have been the last straw. Siemian might end up being just as bad or worse, but he wasn’t Wilson. Well, the consideration for a quarterback change is now tabled. Of course, if Wilson reverts to his more common form in Denver to put the Jets at 1-4 going into a tough home game versus Philadelphia, we’re probably back at square one during that ensuing bye week.
And B), though they thought they were helping him, the Jets’ coaching staff’s coddling of Wilson only made things worse. The conservative game plans, with all the early-down handoffs into loaded boxes, virtually guaranteed that the offense would be stuck with a boatload of the more stressful 3rd-and-longs that many young QBs dread. In addition, opposing defenses squeezed the field because they knew that the Jets wouldn’t even try to beat them over the top.
No script is going to be perfect—for example, the cooked Dalvin Cook’s six touches were wasted downs, in my view--but Sunday was one game where I can’t blame Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett for playing scared with his calls. Even during the short-lived possessions, the Jets tried things to stretch the defense that they hadn’t shown all season, including a jet sweep and a flea-flicker. I won’t see the stats until tomorrow, but I’d bet that the Jets used play action more often than in any other game, especially on early downs. Wilson’s average intended air yards, per NFL Next Gen Stats, was nearly double his previous high this season.
On the downside, Wilson struggled to adjust to Kansas City’s late-game adjustments, when they lowered the temperature on their blitzes and played more zone coverage. Outside of a laser to tight end Tyler Conklin for 13 yards to convert a 3rd-and-6, Wilson couldn’t move the team once the Jets knotted the score.
Not that the loss was all on Wilson, who acted contrite in the locker room and in his postgame comments for taking his eyes off a shotgun snap that the Chiefs recovered at midfield with 7:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. For it was the Jets defense (with a little help from the officials) who allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock thereafter. While reasonable people can disagree with the holding penalty on Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner that negated a Michael Carter interception on a 3rd-and-20, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ previous 25-yard scramble on a 3rd-and-22 was inexcusable. (Yes, Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson was held, but he was on the opposite side of the play.)
When the dust cleared from Saleh’s tirade at the refs as the final gun sounded, he for once had real-life reason to be hopeful about his quarterback situation. I mean, in this mismatch for the ages, who had Zach Wilson topping the reining NFL MVP Mahomes in passing yardage and touchdowns on their 2023 Bingo card?
However, this was just one game—and not even one full game.
Photo by: Adam Hunger, Associated Press