Back in the New York Jets schedule preview, TGH highlighted this Week 5 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons as a great test for Zach Wilson. It was a little more than that. The Falcons, which came into the week with the worst scoring defense in the NFL, completely shut him down.
Here is a review of the Jets Week 5 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Offense
The Jets came into this game looking to turn around their offensive woes and they did exactly the opposite. Zach Wilson finished the first half with 42 yards passing and 1 interception. No team can be expected to win games while throwing for that few in the first half of a game. The running game also struggled to get going, finishing the day with 64 yards total, an average of 3.6 yards per carry.
Wilson’s only interception of the day was awful as well. Targeting Keelan Cole running down the sideline, Jaylinn Hawkins made a break on the pass, and came away with the only turnover the Falcons had to force on the day. Mike LaFleur needs to find something that works — Elijah Moore perhaps — to get some sparks going in the offense.
Simply put, fans are growing frustrated with the offensive struggles. They struggled through the Adam Gase years, the Todd Bowles years (minus 2015), and have been hoping someone, anyone, could come in and make some changes. Mike LaFleur has the name, but so far, it looks like that is the only thing he has. This offense really needs to pull it together.
Defense
The defense stayed true to its “bend but don’t break” style, and has shown that even though it is not amazing between the 20s, it is truly elite in the red zone. Once again, the defense allowed long drives into the red zone, only for three of them to end in field goals. The pass rush seemed to be missing on Sunday, however, as it finished with zero sacks. A far cry from seven sacks in Week 4.
The Jets looked like they might be staging another comeback in this game, but it came up just short as the defense couldn’t get off the field on a 3rd and 12. In the end, they just waited too long to start playing actual football. Matt Ryan was gashing this defense all day, his top targets Cordarrelle Patterson and rookie Kyle Pitts. Mike Davis also got involved running the ball, and at the end of the day, the Jets defense had no answer.
Looking ahead
The Jets travel to Foxborough next week for their second matchup of the season with the New England Patriots. The Patriots also do not look amazing, barely beating the Houston Texans on the road, but they also had 80% of their offensive line out of the lineup. Fans will have to wait and see how the team can bounce back after expectations for them were beginning to rise.
And once again, as is said every week in these reviews, only time will tell how Zach Wilson will develop. Hopefully it looks a little cleaner as the season continues, but the fanbase will certainly let them know if it isn’t looking any better.
You can “Like” The Game Haus on Facebook and “Follow” us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers!
“From Our Haus to Yours“