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Zach Wilson had a chance to play hero for the New York Jets near the end of their Sunday Night Football loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
However, his back-breaking interception with 1:22 remaining in the fourth quarter was the unofficial final dagger in their comeback hopes.
After the 16-12 loss, head coach Robert Saleh was asked about Wilson’s performance.
“I thought he did all right, ya know? Obviously, a couple of plays I’m sure he wants back. I thought the linebacker made an unbelievable play on the interception. I thought [Wilson] moved around the pocket well, he picked up some good yards with his legs. We were converting third downs, I think at the best rate that we’ve been converting,” Saleh said.
“To give a full assessment on Zach, I think it’d be fair to ask for everyone around him to play a little bit better — especially with the penalties. But overall, I thought he did a decent job.”
Wilson Played Solid, but Not Well Enough to Overcome Mistakes
Throughout a large chunk of the Raiders game, Wilson appeared to be playing some of his best ball of the season.
He finished 23-of-39 for 263 passing yards, no touchdowns and one interception. Wilson also got his legs going with four carries for 54 yards.
Despite some of those positive signs, the Jets couldn’t finish the job when it mattered the most. On five occasions, the green and white drove into Raiders territory, but they came up with four field goals and the aforementioned turnover.
Saleh said it best after the game that you won’t win any games like that.
Rich Cimini of ESPN painted an accurate portrayal on X, formerly Twitter.
“[The] Jets offense is in a bit of a funk right now. [They] have gone 36 consecutive offensive drives without a TD [touchdown] (longest active streak in the NFL).”
It gets even worse. “[They] have gone 49 consecutive offensive drives starting in their own territory without a TD (longest active streak in [the] NFL and 2nd longest by any team over last 10 seasons — Bills went 64 straight during the 2018 season).”
That level of ineptitude is frustrating, especially considering the Jets defense gave up only one touchdown to the Raiders.
Wilson Breaks Silence on Crushing Interception vs. Raiders
“Yeah, I gotta be better there. I knew [No.] 41 was the guy that had to get there so I tried to beat him with the ball, and he made an unbelievable play, but I gotta see that, obviously,” Wilson told the media after the game. “It hurts because we made some harder plays to get there. To throw an interception to lose a game sucks. I hate that. I gotta be better for the guys, for the team, everyone battling. I know how crucial the ball is especially when you are not scoring touchdowns. You gotta take care of the football, so I gotta be better there.”
A lot of promising things in this game made the loss even more frustrating.
The Jets were 7-of-16 on third downs. Entering the game, Gang Green had the worst third-down efficiency (25%) since the stat was tracked, dating back to 1978.
Every time it seemed like the Jets took a step forward, they took three steps back. Despite some positives, the Jets are in the midst of a two-game losing streak, and their playoff hopes are in dire straits. They are 4-5 and in third place in the AFC East. Through Week 10, they hold the 13th seed in the conference.
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