Quarterback's Past Performance Paints Ominous Outlook for Jets in Week 3 Battle vs. Pats

Over four prior meetings, Patriots have been Zach Wilson's Kryptonite

The numbers are somewhat staggering, and not in a good way.

New York Jets' quarterback Zach Wilson has made four career starts against the New England Patriots. Beneath the 0-4 win-loss record, there's a bevy of poor statistical results. 

Over the four-game sample, Wilson is 54-of-106 passing for 693 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions. He has thrown a touchdown pass in only one of the four meetings. Stretched out over a full season, the 50.9 completion percentage would likely rank dead last amongst qualifying passers.

"They do a lot of different things. They try and make it confusing for you, so I think it is just having those keys, being able to do it quick, play fast, and be decisive," said the 24-year-old Wilson after Thursday's practice in Florham Park.

Wilson did manage to exceed the 300-yard passing mark, a feat he has achieved only twice as a pro, in one of the four outings against the Patriots but it wasn't pretty. Throwing for 355 yards in a 22-17 setback on October 30, 2022, the Jets' quarterback failed to complete at least 50 percent of his attempts and was intercepted thrice. 

"I just need to be smart with the ball. Especially, last time we played them at home a lot of them were just dumb plays by me," said Wilson looking back on the 2022 season series. "I need to play one play at a time, be efficient with the football, trust what I am seeing, and play ball."

As both teams were offensively challenged in the second head-to-head meeting last year, Wilson accounted for only 3.5 yards per pass and was sacked four times. He posted a 50.8 quarterback rating in the 10-3 loss. 

"It was just not a clean game, overall. For me, it is just learning from those mistakes," said Wilson.

The 2021 second overall draft pick made his second career start against Bill Belichick's defense and the result was a four-interception game. In a 25-6 loss on September 19, 2021, Wilson went 19-of-33 passing for 210 yards. In addition to the four picks, he suffered four sacks. 

Facing the Pats for the second time as a rookie, Wilson left the game early due to injury after completing six passes for 51 yards in an eventual 54-13 thrashing.

In his first season with the Jets, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is not directing any attention toward Wilson's past performances against New England. 

"I wasn’t here for that, so don’t really look at that. It’s just about us and what we can do and what he [Wilson] does with us right now," said Hackett on Thursday. "Move forward and find a way to beat them."

It's been nearly eight years since Gang Green last found a way to beat the Patriots, but Hackett didn't seem concerned with the 14-game losing streak that he inherited.

"If you go back in the past too much, you want to learn from it grow from it, but for us, we’re talking about our past right now," said Hackett. "I don’t know exactly what was being told in the past, so we want to focus on the now. See how we’re going to attack these guys now to be able to win a game."

Hackett saw some potential from Wilson during the defeat at Dallas.

"I thought he did a really good job early. We were running the ball, we got into some manageables, we ran the ball again. I thought he delivered a beautiful pass to Garrett [Wilson] that was absolutely spectacular," said Hackett.

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