Zach Wilson, Jets offense sink Gang Green, who lose to Saints in Week 14

Zach Wilson and the Jets offense were expected to struggle.

And on Sunday, without their best receivers and rushers, combined with some pretty bad play execution from Wilson, the Saints beat up on the Jets, who lost 30-9.

This was an opportunity to see Wilson rise to the challenge of elevating the talent around him. That’s a quality quarterbacks will have to show throughout their career.

It’s a tough ask, especially for a rookie quarterback, but that’s part of the job. Sometimes QBs have to be trucks when they carry the team instead of trailers. And on Sunday, Wilson didn’t have a single moment when he looked like a truck.

Their No. 1 and No. 2 receivers, Corey Davis and Elijah Moore, who have a combined 1,030 yards with nine touchdowns, were out. The Jets were also without their two leading rushers, Michael Carter and Tevin Coleman.

Even though Wilson had limited targets available, going 19-of-42 for 202 passing yards, with zero touchdowns, and leading your team to nine points in an NFL game is never acceptable.

Robert Saleh said it wasn’t Wilson’s “cleanest game.” But believes the former BYU standout “he’ll get better from it.”

“I gotta be more accurate,” Wilson said post game. And that was the main issue throughout the game.

The first two offensive drives revealed what type of day it would be.

Ty Johnson dropped Wilson’s first pass. Wilson’s second pass, to Braxton Berrios, was incomplete. Wilson threw that pass off his back foot and it was closer to the free safety Marcus Williams than it was to Berrios.

That first drive ended with a three-and-out.

On the second drive, Wilson ran a play action bootleg and had Denzel Mims open on a drag route, but he hesitated before firing it and Saints corner Marcus Lattimore broke the pass up. On third down Wilson threw to Johnson, who dropped the pass again.

And that cycle repeated all afternoon.

There have been routine throws that Wilson inexplicably missed like the screen bubble pass to Berrios that hit turf well short of the receiver. Or the pass to a wide open Ryan Griffin that Wilson threw behind the tight end.

The easy opportunity was a struggle for Wilson, which has been a recurring theme all season.

“I worked on it a lot. And that’s why I was frustrated. I’m missing some easy ones. It’s never been an issue for me,” Wilson said. “I think part of it is getting used to the NFL game… Some of the routes that we’re doing I didn’t do a lot in college. That’s not making an excuse at all. I got to get better. Give those guys a nice accurate ball.”

Wilson’s struggles weren’t all on him.

With Moore and Davis out, the remaining pieces of the receiving corps — Jamison Crowder, Keelan Cole, Berrios and Mims — needed to rise to the occasion, but they failed to perform and struggled to get open.

The Saints manned up on the outside and dared the Jets receivers to beat them and they struggled. Too many plays, the Saints defensive backs were stuck on the Jet receivers’ hip pockets like super glue.

“Credit their defense. They are one of the better defenses in football,” Saleh said. “Their secondary is really good. (Marshon) Lattimore is one of the best in football. They got (Chauncey) Gardner-Johnson back, he’s pretty freakin’ good. We knew it was a great challenge going in. They are a well-respected, veteran groups.”

The league average for yard separation for a receiver is 2.9, according to Next Gen Stats. On Sunday: Cole’s was 4, but hovered around 2.23 until garbage time; Crowder’s was 2.35; Berrios’ was 3.96 and Mims’ was 0.59.

The pass catchers didn’t help Wilson, but his performance wasn’t only because of the options around him. When a quarterback completes 45% of his throws, the blame can’t center just around a lack of talented receivers.

And to Wilson’s credit, he didn’t use it as an excuse.

“Those guys are great players, don’t get me wrong,” Wilson said. “The guys we had stepped up, were ready for this opportunity. I had full trust in those guys to do everything today. Of course they’re gonna want some back but I gotta throw the ball better for those guys.”

Wilson didn’t look like the same quarterback who was decisive and comfortable against the Eagles. Instead, he looked like the quarterback that bumbled around against the Texans in Week 12.

The No. 2 overall pick was jittery in the pocket and held the ball too long on a number of plays. His time to throw was 3.09 seconds, which was much higher than last week’s, which hovered around 2.8. There were a few throws that completely sailed on the intended target.

Wilson expected completion percentage was 62%, but the actual completion percentage was 45, according to Next Gen Stats.

If the rookie QB plays better, the Jets have a great shot at winning because the defense showed up for the majority of the game.

Gang Green’s defense made a vast improvement after allowing the Eagles to put up over 400 yards last week. The unit contained the Saints offense to the best of their ability, no thanks to the Jets offense.

The Saints finished with 344 yards with the Jets holding them to 23 points until QB Taysom Hill broke for a 44-yard rushing touchdown.

That defensive production should typically be enough for teams to secure wins, but not the Jets.

It was a bad game for the rookie, but Wilson labeled it “It’s all part of the process to improve.”

With the loss, the 3-10 Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention.