Zach Wilson had a game for the ages against the Patriots
It's only up from here for Zach Wilson. Well, hopefully.
Here’s the bright side for rookie quarterback Zach Wilson and the Jets: it can’t get much worse than this. Wilson played his first game in MetLife Stadium against the Patriots and it went about as poorly as a home debut could go.
Wilson completed 19 of his 33 pass attempts for 210 yards, no touchdowns, and a whopping four interceptions. Even for rookie standards, it was an abysmally poor showing. This game doesn’t have to be a referendum for what he does the rest of the season, or even next week. It was a snapshot of one game for a guy who is two games into his career. Even if that snapshot was bad.
Wilson threw his first pick into traffic and it landed in the hands of a Patriots defender after getting deflected.
TIP DRILL INTERCEPTION BY J.C. JACKSON!!! pic.twitter.com/ldd2YLQDcp
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) September 19, 2021
The second interception was the only one that wasn’t his fault. Sure, it was a little high, but Corey Davis is a highly paid receiver that should be expected to come down with these throws.
Another view of Zach Wilson's second interception…
Right through Corey Davis' hands pic.twitter.com/1YDsOdXbaa
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) September 19, 2021
The third interception is where things really started to unravel for Wilson. It almost looks like the ball slips out of his hand, but this pass probably shouldn’t have been thrown under any circumstances. Interceptions don’t get much easier than this.
ZACH WILSON PICKED OFF AGAIN! J.C. JACKSON'S SECOND OF THE DAY! pic.twitter.com/pjyux6Qd8J
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) September 19, 2021
The fourth and final interception was just as bad, throwing the ball directly to Patriots safety Devin McCourty, who wasn’t really even near Wilson’s intended target on the play.
Zach Wilson with his fourth interception of the day. Who the hell was he throwing this to? pic.twitter.com/0a5eW6IYKV
— Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL) September 19, 2021
Remember, stay positive. It’s really hard to play worse than this. After the final two interceptions, Wilson was having trouble keeping the ball inbounds for a chunk of the fourth quarter. Understandable. Powering through such a poor performance has to be tough.
Next week against the Broncos will be a tough test as well, but he’ll have a chance to bounce back from this performance.