Getty Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes speaking with New York Jets QB Zach Wilson after an NFL game.
After the New York Jets’ 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, Patrick Mahomes went out of his way to give Zach Wilson his flowers.
“He played his ass off,” Mahomes said of Wilson in the post-game commentary on NBC. Mahomes said he has been watching him for a while and he came away extremely impressed.
.@PatrickMahomes on #Jets QB @ZachWilson, ‘he played his ass off’ said he was proud of him + came away very impressed after the game talking w/ @melissastark on @SNFonNBC #KCvsNYJ #TakeFlight #ChiefsKingdom
Wilson Received a Lot of Praise After Jets-Chiefs Game
The praise of Wilson didn’t stop with Mahomes.
Superstar Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones called Wilson “special” after the game.
“Yeah, he played really well, people tend to forget he’s a first round quarterback, No. 2. That kid is special. I’m not the one to bash a kid because they have a couple of bad games. I think it’s important to give a guy respect. The kid is special,” Jones explained.
“If you give him a little time, he can dot you up. He’s fast man, he’s very shifty, he escaped a bunch of plays. Yeah, he’s been playing relentless man. If that team continue to play like that, they gonna get far. It’s still early in the season. It’s never how you start; it’s how you finish.”
After the #Jets, #Chiefs game @StoneColdJones called @ZachWilson “special” + “you give him a little time, he can dot you up” + called him “shifty”
MASSIVE RESPECT after his performance on @SNFonNBC! #KCvsNYJ #TakeFlight #ChiefsKingdom
Head coach Robert Saleh shared a similar message after the game with the press.
“I thought he [Wilson] was really good, gave us a chance to win the game and brought us back. If he plays like that, we’re gonna win a lot of football games.”
#Jets HC Robert Saleh said if Zach Wilson ‘plays like that we’re going to win a lot of football games’ 😤 🎥 @nyjets #KCvsNYJ #TakeFlight #ChiefsKingdom
Wilson Completely Changed the Narrative on Sunday Night Football
The last time the former BYU product started in a prime-time game he got benched.
It was Week 16 versus the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022. He looked putrid, lacked confidence, and put up one of the worst performances of his career.
He completed 50 percent of his passes going 9-for-18 from the field. Wilson finished with a measly 92 passing yards and an interception.
However, in his first prime time start in 2023, Wilson looked like a new man.
Wilson went 28-of-39 (72 percent completion percentage) for 245 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and didn’t throw a pick.
Ultimately his one big mistake of the night cost his team dearly. With 7:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, Wilson fumbled a shotgun snap, and the Chiefs recovered it.
The Jets would never touch the football again as Kansas City was able to successfully milk the rest of the clock for the Week 4 victory on Sunday October 1.
The win moved the Chiefs to 3-1 on the season and the Jets fell to 1-3 on the other side of the coin. Gang Green has lost three consecutive contests since their stunning season opening victory over the Buffalo Bills back on Monday September 11.
Up next for the Jets is a road trip to play the Denver Broncos. There is an overflowing number of storylines ahead of this AFC conference matchup from Nathaniel Hackett to the injuries of Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker, to the Sean Payton comments.
The result of this contest could be very telling on how this 2023 season is going to play out the rest of the way.