The streaking New York Jets took down the Denver Broncos 16-9 in the clash of two great defenses. The Jets have improved to 5-2 after four straight victories, and the Broncos fall to 2-5.
The Jets offense started slow but running back Breece Hall exploded for a 62-yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter to give them a 7-0 lead.
However, not too long after, Hall went down and couldn’t return due to a knee injury. After the game, reporters asked Head Coach Robert Saleh about the injury, and he responded, “not good” after the initial prognoses. Tests have now confirmed that he suffered a torn ACL and minor meniscus injury that will sideline him for the rest of the 2022 campaign.
Outside of Hall’s long touchdown run, yards were hard to come by against the 3rd ranked Broncos defense. The Jets were only able to gain ten first downs to the Broncos 21 but capitalized on short fields that led to three field goals to put them over the hump.
What has Gone Wrong for Zach Wilson?
For the second straight week, Zach Wilson has played poorly. Yes, they are winning, but the Jets didn’t draft Wilson 2nd overall to manage games but rather to take over games.
Wilson has completed 58% of his passes in the last two games, all while throwing for only 231 yards combined. Additionally, 36.4% of his passes have been at or behind the LOS, which is 3rd most in the NFL, only behind two backup QBs, Bailey Zappe and PJ Walker.
The glaring issue this year is how Wilson has handled being pressured. According to Michael Nania from JetsXfactor, when having a clean pocket to work with, Wilson is 53/70 for 639 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, and 108 passer rating. However, when pressured, he’s 5/31 for 54 yards, 0 TDs, and 2 INTs.
The Broncos took full advantage and consistently brought pressure, leading to more than a handful of inaccurate passes to open receivers and throwaways.
Injuries shouldn’t be ignored, as Wilson was without four significant players for most of the game. Breece Hall (Knee), Corey Davis (Knee), Alijah Vera Tucker (Triceps), Elijah Moore (Didn’t travel with the team)
Why Did the Jets Win?
On the other side of the ball, the defense played as well as you could have asked, pitching a shutout in the second half. A big reason is the lights-out play from their two-star corners, DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner.
Combined, the duo racked up 18 tackles (16 solo), including a season-high 8 tackles for Reed. In pass coverage, they both were credited with 3 PBU each.
Broncos seemed to like the matchup with Sauce as they targeted him 10 times but only amounted to 4 catches for 16 yards and a QBR rating of 47.9.
According to PFF, both corners graded top 10 in week 7, with Sauce getting a 90.2 (6/106) and Reed 85 (10/106).
After the game, DJ Reed was asked his thoughts about playing alongside Sauce, and he said
“Knowing you got a guy that’s going to lock down, it motivates you to do your job. I feed off his energy; he feeds off mine.”
Looking Ahead
In week 8, the Jets will be hosting their rival New England Patriots as the Jets will be looking to get their first victory vs. them since 2015. The Patriots are currently 3-3 before they face the Bears on Monday Night, sitting at 4th in the AFC east.
It will be a tall task as the Jets will be without two young stars, Breece Hall and AVT, for the remainder of the season, and Corey Davis being listed as day-to-day.
It will be interesting to see how the new-look offense adapts and plays facing yet another top-10 defense coached by Bill Belichick.
