Another pivotable game, another massive letdown. Everyone knows why this organization hasn’t accomplished anything substantial since 1969 and it’s not because of some fabled curse. It’s the Quarterback and for longer than I’ve been alive more than half the NFL has searched far and wide for that goated field general and returned empty-handed. The Jets drafted another QB in a long line with the second overall pick, selling him as the perfect fit for the incoming offensive system because he ran something similar in college. He was also hailed by his coaches as a stand-out football film junky and mental processor but his recent performance calls all into question. Sunday’s performance by Zach Wilson managed to overshadow an epic defensive performance not only because of what happened on the field but what was said to the media. There are so many reasons why being a sports star or leader of a team in New York is an exceptionally arduous task. At the top stands the relationship with the media. Zach Flunked the latter, coming under heavy fire from every national publication for the use of one word, “NO”. He was asked if he thought he let his defense down, everyone should know the answer here but he flubbed miserably. As a leader accountability is everything and in this environment, you have to take some regularly. As the media landscape stormed outside, inside one Jets drive it seems by reports that it’s not comfortable either, Rookie wideout Garrett Wilson poured out his feelings of frustration making him the second wide receiver to do that albeit more conservatively, there were reports of raw feelings and hurt. In addition Coach, Saleh stated for the first time as The New York Jets coach that everything is on the table. Those words spoken after an incredulous performance should mean that Zach Wilson’s job is in question.
Wilson’s stats reek of bust potential, his numbers mirror that of the worst quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen and the fact that he is surrounded by a pretty talented group of highly skilled dynamic weapons adds more weight to those stats. It’s gotten to the point that there’s almost a statistical improbability that he turns his current trajectory around. It was clear on the broadcast view that he struggled to complete the simplest of passes making an offense bogged down by their limitations at running the ball anchored. The numbers speak for themselves, throwing the ball twenty-two times and just completing 9 of them for seventy-seven yards is atrocious. Robert Saleh continuously calling him the “ultimate competitor” is a lie at this point. Zach Wilson seems to crumble when needed. He loses his sense of football, a game that he has been playing since childhood. Watching the film it seems at times he forgot what plays were called. He has said several times in his young career how vital it is to be able to move on to successive plays no matter how horrible the last one was but he seems to lack that ability right now. Maybe his NFL star has been deemed tremendously and going forward he has no other choice but to shine brightly or be relegated to journeyman backup with a clipboard forever stuck to his hand.
He let his defense down. They were out there playing top-notch football with concrete boots. The Jets defense starts with the worst average field position in the league by far and is still one of the best defenses in the league. That’s the meaning of letting your defense down, they’re continuously scratching and clawing and you won’t or can’t lend them a hand. Let’s be clear Zach Wilson does not have a recorded history of public fails when speaking to the media so it can be said that he made a deadly mistake one that might be compared to jumping deliberately into a pit of vipers. No one can save Wilson; not Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas or any of the quarterbacks on the Jets. He has to climb back on his own from that fall and it can only start by being self-aware and humble. Will that be enough to sway the jury? Not in the slightest. He must reappear as the Zach Wilson we were promised and no one else. Then and only then will he be pardoned and accepted with open arms.
