EAGLES 33 - JETS 18
For one week it was not Zach Wilson's fault the Jets lost a game.
No, the culprit was once again the Jets defense, which couldn't stop Philadelphia Eagles back-up quarterback Gardner Minshew, who was near perfect on the afternoon, ripping up the Jets for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the Eagles 33-18 victory.
The other culprit was Jets kicker Alex Kessman, signed by the Jets this week after Gang Green cut incumbent Matt Amendola. And Kessman stunk it up, missing two extra points that helped put the Jets in a hole they never got out of.
The shame is, the Jets offense started so well. New York got a 79-yard kick return from Braxton Berrios to open the game, and Zach Wilson proceeded to guide the Jets to goal-line before hitting Elijah Moore for a three-year touchdown to give New York a 6-0 lead.
Of course the lead was short lived. Minshew needed only six plays to tear apart the Jets porous defense, highlighted by a 36-yard touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert to put Philly up 7-6.
Give Wilson and the Jets offense credit. They answered the call early and often against the Eagles. Wilson, actually looked competent and comfortable in the pocket. He made solid reads, hit the short passes underneath, and zipped passes to Moore when he was able to find separation. It was easily the best start to a game Wilson has had all year, but of course, that wasn't nearly enough.
The Eagles responded almost immediately, with Minshew again looking unstoppable for Philly. His 25-yard touchdown strike to Goedert gave the Eagles a 14-12 advantage.
Wilson answered the challenged. He hit Moore for 29-yards to the Eagles 31. Two plays later he lateraled a pass to Jamisen Crowder for 19-yards to the Eagles' six. Three plays later, on fourth and goal, Wilson connected with Ryan Griffin to give the Jets an 18-14 lead.
Robert Saleh decided to go for two, the Jets failed to convert.
Needing his defense to making a stop, Saleh spent the rest of the afternoon grimacing in frustration as the Jets were chewed up and spit out by the Eagles.
Minshew led Philly on a 94-yard scoring drive on eight plays to regain the lead when Ken Gainwell scored from 18-yards out to make it 21-18 with 4:30 to go in the first half.
Saleh yelled and screamed at the refs all afternoon but to no avail. It didn't change the fact that the Jets gave up 26 first downs, 418 yards of offense, and allowed Minshew to do whatever he felt like. The Eagles held the football for 36 minutes, and at one point had the football for all but 90 seconds in the third quarter.
There was even the bewildering terrible plays such as veteran linebacker C.J. Mosely getting totally fooled by the hard count and jumping off-sides. Saleh clearly blamed the refs for not seeing any movement on the Eagles offensive line, but the fact was Mosley's mistake was too obvious not to call.
It was a nightmarish performance for the Jets. While they got some good play from Wilson, it was no consultation. The Jets are a bad football team, and bad football teams find ways to lose on a weekly basis.
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