Zach Wilson delivers finest performance of career

NFL

Antwan Staley again turned to Wilson, hoping his play had improved enough to help them make a run at the playoffs. However, that didn’t prove to be the case.

Wilson showed the same passing inconsistencies during his first nine starts this year that he showed during his first two seasons in the league. Also, the Jets offense was towards the bottom in yards, points per game, third-down conversions and red zone touchdowns.

Gang Green was losing because of their inability to score touchdowns. That ultimately led to Saleh benching Wilson for then-backup Tim Boyle during the Jets’ 32-6 loss to the Bills in Week 11.

Boyle started the next two games against the Dolphins and Falcons but was ineffective. That’s when Saleh decided to turn back to Wilson after a conversation in which the quarterback said he “wanted the ball.”

But The Athletic reported on Monday that Wilson was hesitant to return under center after being benched multiple times. Both Saleh and Wilson denied those claims.

“Everything that he has been through, all the ups and downs of being benched and not being benched,” Jets tight end Tyler Conklin said. “The media, just everything he has had to deal with, it has been a lot.

“He’s a young man and to handle everything that he has handled and to do what he did today, I couldn’t be happier for him.”

What made Wilson’s performance special against the Texans was not just the numbers that he put up and the way that the Jets won, it was his decisiveness and throws in tight windows. After his rookie season, in which he passed for 2,334 yards, nine touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, Jets coach Robert Saleh said he wanted Wilson to play “boring football.”

Wilson did that during the last couple of seasons, leading him to overthinking inside the pocket and making terrible decisions. This week, he told reporters he wanted to go out there and “let it rip” and “have fun” and that’s precisely what he did.