Getty New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks Zach Wilson and Kenny Pickett embrace after the Week 4 matchup.
In a total roller coaster of a game in Pittsburgh, Zach Wilson and the New York Jets came out on top after a game-winning touchdown drive from the second-year quarterback and the NYJ offense.
The final Jets possession was a 10-play, 65-yard beauty that ate up three minutes and 18 seconds of clock. “The objective was to not give [the Steelers] any time if we could,” head coach Robert Saleh voiced after the game, and his offense was nearly perfect in that regard scoring with exactly 16 seconds remaining on the scoreboard.
So, how is it that a Jets unit that shot itself in the foot with penalties and struggled to block for most of the game came through when it mattered most? Well, it took confidence and guts and according to teammates, that mentality stemmed from Wilson himself.
Zach Wilson’s Message: ‘Let’s Go Score a F****** Touchdown’
When the game is on the line, you want your leaders to exude confidence — breathing life into their teammates. According to rookie running back Breece Hall, that’s what Wilson did at the start of the final seven-point march.
“Let’s go score an effing touchdown,” Hall relayed, although wide receiver Corey Davis later confirmed that the “effing” was really an F-bomb.
Davis also gave his own little twist on the quote. “Let’s just put this mother-f***** in,” the veteran told reporters, adding that Wilson didn’t put it like that but he did drop the one expletive that Hall revealed. “We made it happen,” Davis concluded — after catching the first Jets touchdown strike of the most recent comeback victory.
They sure did, and the ice in Wilson’s veins was a major part of that. ESPN’s Rich Cimini stated that “Zach Wilson was 1-of-11 with an interception when pressured” over the first three quarters. In the same tweet, the beat reporter noted: “He was 2-of-2 under duress on the game-winning drive. Overall in the 4th [quarter]: 10-for-12, 128 yards, 1 TD.”
The New York Post’s Brian Costello added that Wilson’s QB rating was 138.9 in the final quarter, which included two touchdown drives.
“We’re never going to just shut down or give up,” Hall voiced later in his interview, “we always got that fight [and] we could come back from, we feel like, any deficit.”
Winning breeds confidence and as Saleh always says, a young explosive bunch playing with confidence is a scary thing in the NFL.
Zach Wilson’s Message to Fans After Week 4 Win
Wilson gave the PG version of his pump-up speech when he was asked about it during his postgame press conference.
“Really it was kind of the whole game,” Wilson answered, “just kind of trying to give those guys some juice — tell them to keep fighting, keep going, we’re battling all this together — and they did.”
Whatever the young quarterback said, it obviously worked. The Jets looked dead in the water when the Steelers took a 20-10 lead and then all of a sudden, the offense willed them back.
“I think there was so much growth in just those last two minutes as an offense for us,” Wilson told reporters. “It was awesome.”
The blossoming team leader also had a message for the fanbase after the victory. Wilson stated on video: “Wow. What an exhausting, exhausting game. It was so fun. Excited for this team, the growth, the learning experiences. To come out with the dub was huge. Appreciate you guys, Jets win.”
Subject: Jets Win
Sincerely,
@ZachWilson
It wasn’t always pretty but in the end, Wilson brought life back to this franchise here in Week 4 despite the ups and downs of the game. “[It was] some of the most fun I’ve had playing football,” Wilson admitted with a smile. What a truly magnificent thing.