The Jets crashed back to reality in London after a euphoric Week 4 win, floundering a 27-20 loss to the Falcons in London.
Zach Wilson was especially poor coming off his Rookie of the Week performance. He finished with less than 200 yards, no touchdowns and another interception. The Jets offense didn’t score a touchdown until the third quarter.
The stat sheet wasn’t kind to the Jets, either. New York continued trends that have plagued the team all season and in the past. With that in mind, let’s look at some standout stats from Week 5.
First-half woes
(Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)
New York failed to score seven points in the first half for the fifth consecutive week. It’s the first time a team hasn’t eclipsed that mark since the 2015 49ers, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
New York has just 13 points in the first half this season compared to 51 in the second half. Robert Saleh and Wilson acknowledged the Jets’ early-game struggles and said they want to correct the issue during the team’s Week 6 bye, but that’s easier said than done.
Another Wilson pick
(Ryan Pierse-Getty Images)
Wilson threw his ninth interception of the season against the Falcons to put himself in some seriously bad company. He became the fourth rookie quarterback in the past 10 seasons to throw an interception in each of his first five NFL games, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
The others were DeShone Kizer in 2017, Zach Mettenberger in 2014 and Blake Bortles in 2014. None of those quarterbacks have attempted an NFL pass since 2019.
Undisciplined football
(Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports)
The Jets were called for a lot of bad penalties in the Falcons loss. It was the fourth time this season the Jets were called for at least seven flags, and three of them came at crucial moments.
Quinnen Williams and Nathan Shepherd committed two separate roughing the passer penalties on third down to help set up a Falcons field goal and a touchdown, while safety Jarrod Wilson’s third-down pass interference in the third quarter set up another Falcons field goal.
Deficit dogs
(Steve Luciano-AP)
The Jets have now lost 78 straight games in which they’ve trailed by at least 17 points, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. The last time Gang Green pulled off such a comeback win was in 2001 against the Dolphins.
The Jets came within three points against the Falcons in Week 5 but couldn’t hold them off or put together enough scoring drives to win.
