Zach Wilson Struggles, But Jets Still Find Way to Win
Zach Wilson looked every bit the part of a quarterback who hadn’t played in a game in more than a month. The number two overall pick in last spring’s NFL Draft struggled for Gang Green, his first game back since suffering a PCL sprain in his right knee, as the Jets (3-8) won inspite of his struggles, 21-14 over the equally bad Houston Texans (2-9).
Wilson really struggled with his accuracy, and was late on a number of throws. There were moments where he would miss wide open receivers like Elijah Moore. Wilson was sacked four times, and appeared to aggravate his knee injury on a rollout in the third quarter.
Midway through the first quarter, Wilson tossed a interception on an inexplicable throw when he started to run with the football before trying to dump the ball off at the last second to running back Ty Johnson, who wasn’t looking at Wilson. The ball bounced off Johnson and into the hands Houston safety Tavierre Thomas.
The Texans quickly turned the Wilson gaff into points when Brevin Jordan caught a 13-yard pass from Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor to give Houston a 7-3 lead.
It looked like the Jets were well on their way to getting blown out of Houston when the Texans quickly tacked onto their lead on a beautiful 40-yard throw by Taylor to Brandin Cooks in the end zone to give Houston a 14-3 advantage.
With Wilson struggling in the pocket, the Jets simplified the offense, focusing more on the ground game just before the half. Granted the Jets got a huge break when the Texans were flagged for roughing the passer that spotted the ball at the 50; the story of this drive was little known running back Austin Walter, who carried the ball three times for 16-yards including a two-yard touchdown that cut the Texans lead to 14-9.
Back-up quarterback Josh Johnson came in and scored the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to three points, 14-11.
Wilson’s best drive of the day came in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
He hit Elijah Moore for 22-yards to midfield on second and seven. Two plays later, Wilson connected with Moore again for 16-yards to the Texans’ 44.
Once inside Houston territory, Offensive Coordinator Mike LaFleur called a heavy dose of running plays, mixing and matching with Tevin Coleman, Ty Johnson and Walter. Fortunately for the Jets consecutive penalties on Houston, one for using a Jets lineman as leverage on a field goal attempt, and the other for defensive off-sides gave Gang Green new life with a new set of downs at the four-yard line. Wilson rolled to his right and plunged into the end zone for the touchdown to give the Jets an 18-14 lead.
The real MVP of this game had to be the Jets defense. Much maligned for their poor play all season, the unit stood up and pushed around the 32nd ranked Houston offense.
John Franklin-Meyers had his best game as a Jet, recording two sacks, and picking off a Tyrod Taylor pass that helped set up the Jets first field goal in the opening quarter.
Quinnen and Quincy Williams, as well as Ronald Blair all recorded sacks on the afternoon for the Jets.
The Jets held Houston to 13 first downs and only 202 yards of offense. It was a dominant performance.
At 3-8 the Jets host the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday from MetLife. The Jets have never, in their history, defeated the Eagles in the regular season.
