By: Luca Gajovich-Protich
The New York Jets are coming off of a rough 23-20 home loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Despite referee controversy and the Jets’ defense not being able to get off of the field on third down, late in the fourth quarter, Gang Green had a bright spot. That being third-year quarterback Zach Wilson.
Wilson came into the game catching a lot of heat from an angry fanbase, coming off two poor performances versus the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. The previous game against the latter displayed Wilson’s inability to read the defense and change protections at the line of scrimmage. Both teams consistently stacked the box against Wilson and he could not deliver.
The Sunday night matchup versus the Chiefs started with a 17-0 deficit with the offense stalling and the defense being shredded. With a facemask penalty committed by Chiefs’ right tackle Jawaan Taylor, the Jets scored two points on a safety. And then, the offense took off from there on the ensuing possession.
Despite a late fumble by the young quarterback, he finished the game throwing for 245 passing yards and two touchdowns on a completion rating of 71. Wilson passed the eye test and gave the fans his best performance of the last two seasons, outplaying Patrick Mahomes. Now, how can the Jets continue to build up Wilson’s confidence and performance?
Continue To Open Up The Playbook
There’s no denying how confident Zach Wilson looked on Sunday night. The biggest reason was because of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett opening the playbook and letting the young kid rip it.
Hackett started to make his adjustments by using more pre-snap motion to keep the defense off-balanced and expose potential mismatches. Zach’s mentor, Aaron Rodgers, originally opposed the use of motion in the offense, therefore it did not exist in weeks past.
The biggest adjustment for Hackett though, was in the style of playcalling, playing a major role in Wilson’s confidence boost. In past weeks, the opposing defense would stack the box and force Zach to air it out. Despite the disadvantage, Nathaniel Hackett on first down would still call running plays on early downs, leaving the Jets consistently in third-and-long scenarios.
With the early down mindset change and the use of pre-snap motion, the Jets went more vertical with their passing attack and continued to move Zach out of the pocket. Wilson’s biggest completions on the night were 39, 25, and 23 yards, also a result of passing in the early downs. Wilson has undeniable arm talent and the Jets being able to make use of that consistently will keep the opposing defenses honest and open up the running game for Breece Hall and Michael Carter.
With all of this in mind, Zach Wilson talked about him and Hackett continuing to build trust in each other.
Usage of Personnel
Another thing the Jets did an excellent job with was the usage of personnel. Budding star receiver Garrett Wilson had 14 targets on Sunday night with a season-high nine receptions and 60 receiving yards. The Jets made proper use of his ability to gain yards after the catch, concretely on short and intermediate routes. While the defense could’ve tried to key in on him, there was more to worry about.
Allen Lazard, Tyler Conklin, and Jeremy Ruckert also had season-best games with an increase in vertical passes and use of their body frame. The three weapons combined for 11 targets. Big-body tight end CJ Uzomah also had a touchdown in the second quarter.
The Jets also made sure to give rookie Xavier Gipson some touches on some end-arounds and short passes.
Effectively, Wilson spreading the ball around makes the Jets a more effective offense because it keeps the defense honest with not just one receiver to key in on.
Zach continued to get better versus the Denver Broncos, thriving off of short plays and quick reads as the Jets pounded the football with Breece Hall getting over 150 yards versus the Denver Broncos. The next test comes at home versus the Philadelphia Eagles, who rank as the sixth-worst pass defense and rank even worse in the red zone. It’ll be quite a challenge for the Jets to knock off an undefeated team, who they’ve never beaten in their history.
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