Through Week 8, the New York Jets are sitting at 5-3 in the competitive AFC East. The Jets are tied for second with the Miami Dolphins but have the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head win. However, their offense has been inconsistent and have been balled out between running back Breece Hall before he suffered a season-ending injury and their young and talented defense.
This season, quarterback Zach Wilson has a touchdown-interception ratio of 2-5 where three of those interceptions came in Sunday’s loss against the New England Patriots. One of them was brutal as he was scrambling to avoid pressure and instead of throwing it out of bounds, Wilson threw it in bounds near the sideline to Patriots safety Devin McCourty for the easy interception.
On the other end, veteran backup quarterback Joe Flacco has a touchdown-interception ratio of 5-3 and averaging 300.3 passing yards per game. While Wilson is only averaging 187.6 passing yards per game.
Flacco’s pass rating is 77.9 while Wilson’s is 65.6 which is currently the lowest in the league. Wilson is not living up to the hype of being the second overall pick in the 2021 draft and his inconsistent play could cost him his job.
Frustrated Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore had another zero reception game. After the game, he was asked by a reporter to describe his chemistry with Wilson and he said, “I don’t get the ball. I don’t know.” Moore might get traded ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline but it is not the best look to see a quarterback and a wide receiver not clicking and seeing eye-to-eye.
The more frustrating part about Wilson’s game is he has the talent and makes some really nice plays. One nice play he had in Sunday’s loss was the big play on 3rd and 5 in the first quarter where Wilson scrambles and throws an accurate deep ball to wide receiver Garrett Wilson to get in the red zone. Then on other plays he will commit bad turnovers or not throw the ball away.
If the Jets really want to end the longest active playoff streak in football, then they should look at starting Flacco as he statistically is the better quarterback. Also, he is getting more out of his wide receivers and has more chemistry with them.
