New York Jets

How Jets are winning without asking much of Zach Wilson. Why that might change

Updated Oct. 17, 2022 3:16 p.m. ET

By Henry McKenna
FOX Sports AFC East Writer

Eventually, the New York Jets will have to get Zach Wilson going. Eventually.

For now, they have proven on a week-to-week basis that they can win without asking the second-year QB to do much. In New York's 27-10 win over the Packers, he finished 10-of-18 for 110 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions, no fumbles and two sacks. That's the second week in a row in which he hasn't thrown a touchdown (or an interception). The Jets are 3-0 behind Wilson in 2022. They're 4-2 on the season.

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They have such a strong record because they've let their defense and their rushing attack do the important work. This week, rookie running back Breece Hall went off, again.

"Home-run hitter. There's no price for a home-run hitter," Saleh said postgame when asked about the team trading up to draft Hall in Round 2 this year. The move drew no shortage of scrutiny, given the diminished value of running backs in today's NFL.

On Sunday, Hall was the team's most important offensive player, with 20 carries for 116 rushing yards and a touchdown to go with a pair of catches for five yards. Running back Michael Carter added six carries for 41 yards.

The defense and special teams played in perfect complement to the power run game. The punt coverage unit got a block and touchdown return. Linebackers Quincy Williams and C.J. Mosley combined for 25 tackles. Defensive lineman Quinnen Williams had two of the team's four sacks. The Jets held the Packers to 4-of-16 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down. New York may have generated only one takeaway (a strip sack on Aaron Rodgers), but the Jets defense allowed just 10 points.

The defense did something similar last week against the Miami Dolphins, helping the offense separate itself in the fourth quarter. The defense generated a strip sack (by edge Carl Lawson) and two fourth-down stops (with a tackle for loss from linebacker Kwon Alexander and a forced incompletion in the red zone) in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Since the return of Wilson from his knee injury, the Jets have found a winning recipe through their running backs and their defense. It's rare, however, for a team to ask its quarterback to do as little as Wilson has done. There will be points in the season when he will have to do more — and to avoid the mistakes that sunk him in 2021.

"We can't feel like we have arrived or anything now," Wilson said. "We have to be able to throw the ball better. It is going to be tough sometimes when teams hunker down, and you try to run the ball, and they stop it. So we have to be two-dimensional and be able to throw the ball and run the ball. You want to be able to help those guys upfront as well. So good things to learn from."

The time is coming when Wilson will have to put those lessons into practice.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.