Darnold Gets Revenge (Thanks Christian McCaffrey) As Jets Can't Protect Wilson

 PANTHERS 19 - JETS 14 

Well it was sort of an afternoon of vengeance for former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who had his moments Sunday against his former team. He had a 57-yard touchdown to fellow ex-Jet, Robby Anderson in the second quarter, and later scored a touchdown of his own that helped build a 16-0 lead, but other than that there wasn't much else to speak of.

It wasn't really flashy for Darnold, who for the first time in his career played with a solid offensive line and actual weapons around him. Think about it, if Darnold had Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore when he was a Jet, he probably would still be here. 

In fact of the 279 yards passing by Darnold on Sunday, 89 of those yards went to McCaffrey. 

On the flip side, rookie quarterback Zach Wilson looked the part of the rookie - especially in the first half, and was not helped by the fact the Jets couldn't block for him, especially on the right side of the offensive line. 

Seemingly all afternoon, Wilson was on the run away from defenders who cut through the Jets leaky offensive line like a knife through butter. Before training camp began, the Jets signed for Washington Football Team lineman Morgan Moses to man the right side of the offensive line, but he spent a better part of the day on the bench in favor of George Fant, who was just awful  at right tackle.

The only reason Moses came into the game came when second year pro Mekhi Becton was carted off the field after having his leg rolled up on. According to Ian Rapoport, the early diagnosis is a sprained MCL, which is better news than the alternative. Becton will have an MRI on Monday.

Through the first 30 minutes of play, the Jets managed only 80 yards of offense, and Wilson couldn't get anything going while on the run. It didn't help that the Jets couldn't run the ball either against Carolina's stout front seven.  

It was not until the second half that the Jets as a team finally settled down. Defensively they pinned their ears back and got pressure on Darnold as Carolina was forced to punt on four of their five second half possessions. 

Meanwhile, the offensive line finally started to open room for Wilson to make his progressions, and when he had time, Wilson looked good. 

He picked apart the Panthers on a much needed 8-play, 70-yard drive that culminated in a 22-yard touchdown pass by Wilson to Corey Davis in the back of the end zone to make it 16-6. Wilson scored himself on the two-point conversion to get the Jets back into the game at 16-8. 

After Carolina answered the Jets score with a field goal to make it 19-8, Wilson led an impressive 10-play, 93-yard drive that included a huge 15-yard pass by Wilson to Braxton Berrios on second and long at the Jets own 8-yard line. 

Wilson would connect with Berrios again on a 25-yard completion on fourth down, and followed that up with a 40-yard bullet down the sideline to Denzel Mims to spot the ball at the Panthers' 10. Two plays later, Wilson found Corey Davis in the end zone for the second time for the touchdown to cut the deficit to 19-14. 

Unfortunately for New York, time just ran out. They couldn't convert the two-point conversion, and couldn't recover the onside kick. 

Speaking of injuries, another significant blow to the Jets came in the first quarter when punter Branden Mann was injured on the Jets first punt of the day when a Panthers special teamer ran into him. There was no flag on the play, but Mann didn't return. Matt Amendola had to handle the punting and kicking duties, and did a fine job. That being said, look for the Jets to get a punter in camp this week.