The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 22-16 in overtime, on Monday at MetLife Stadium.
The Jets posted a thrilling 22-16 overtime win over the Bills on Monday night to open the season 1-0 for the first time since 2018. The bigger story, though, was the season-ending Achilles injury to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Here are some thoughts and observations from the game.
1. The season is not over. Yes, the Jets’ Super Bowl dreams ended when Rodgers sat down on the MetLife Stadium turf Monday night, unable to put weight on his left foot. But the Jets are not finished.
They can win with Zach Wilson. They proved it last year when they won five of six games during a stretch in October and November with Wilson at quarterback. The key is sticking to the formula they used last year: play great defense, run the ball, score some non-offensive touchdowns on special teams or defense and tell Wilson to be careful with the football.
This formula can win the Jets games. Their defense looked terrific on Monday. Breece Hall looked explosive in his first game back from ACL surgery. Xavier Gipson won the game with a punt return for a touchdown.
The Jets won’t be able to pull this off every week, of course, and that is why expectations need to be adjusted. There will be weeks where Wilson turns the ball over too much and the Jets lose. There will be weeks when the defense buckles and gives up points, forcing the Jets to play from behind and pass too much. But there can be enough weeks for the Jets to play around Wilson and find a way to stay in playoff contention.
2. Zach Wilson is the Jets quarterback. Fans need to accept that. I know there is a lot of chatter about who the Jets could acquire now that Rodgers is out, but any idea of someone coming in to start over Wilson is pie in the sky.
