In front of a raucous MetLife Stadium, it was a nightmarish day for the NY Jets as they fell to the New England Patriots 22-17 and dropped their 13th in a row against Bill Belichick’s squad.
The NY Jets have a quarterback problem
Despite being 4-1 since returning from injury, it is hard to look at Zach Wilson’s performance so far this season and have faith he is the long-term answer at quarterback for the Jets (5-3).
Finishing 20-for-41 for 355 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, Wilson was a mess in this one with an outing that resembled last season’s Week 2 loss to the Patriots.
“We've got faith in ,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “He's played good football, he's taken care of the football since he's gotten back. He's shown flashes of good football. Everyone in the locker room still has his back.”
Whether it was holding onto the ball too long or throwing balls that could only be caught by people wearing white jerseys, Wilson did not put his team in a good position to win in a game that was right there for the taking.
Going forward, Wilson is going to need to learn how to flush these mind-numbing mistakes out of his head otherwise his time with Gang Green will come to an end sooner than any Jets fan would have hoped.
A rough turn of events for the Jets
Following an interception from Wilson with 48 seconds left in the half, Michael Carter II came up with a huge 84-yard pick-six that would have likely given the Jets a 17-3 lead going into halftime.
However, the play was nullified after John Franklin-Myers was flagged for roughing the passer, allowing the Patriots (4-4) to end up kicking a field goal and going into halftime down 10-6.
“Yeah he was hit too hard,” Saleh said when asked for the referee's explanation. “JFM has to be better.”
Things did not get much better for Gang Green as the Pats came out of halftime and marched down the field with a six-play, 62-yard drive to take a three-point advantage and momentum stayed with New England the rest of the way.
Whether one agrees with the call or not, it is hard to argue it did not shift the entire complexion of the game as the Patriots scored 19 unanswered points before a late touchdown from Tyler Conklin.
Not much Moore
While Elijah Moore did himself no favors with the way he has handled himself the last few weeks, to have him on the active roster only to give him 10 snaps feels like an example of the Jets biting their nose to spite their face.
“There's a lot of things behind the scenes I'd rather keep inside,” Moore said. “I'm here. While I'm here I want to do the best I can and help my teammates out.”
Moore went on to discuss his chemistry, or lack thereof, with Wilson. “I don't even know, I couldn't even tell you,” he said. “I don't get the ball. I don't know.”
At the end of the day, the Jets need all the firepower they can get now that they will be without Breece Hall for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.
With a couple of crucial games coming up, whatever beef the Jets and Moore seemingly have needs to be squashed soon otherwise they will be looking at a once-promising season go off the rails.