Zach Wilson makes bold statement after loss to Patriots

The Jets entered week eight on a four-game winning streak led by the return of their quarterback, Zach Wilson. Although the Patriots were slightly favored, New York enlisted last season’s blowout loss as extra motivation in preparing for their divisional matchup.

Historically, New England has dominated the New York team, assuming the week’s win would come easy. But the Jets played like a different team in the first half and forced the Patriots to earn their win on Sunday.

The first half for the visiting team played out similarly to their Monday night loss to the Bears last week, and the Jets held the lead going into halftime. The outcome of this game would significantly impact the rest of the Patriots’ season, not just because they sat below .500 coming into the week. But also because the AFC East is an incredibly close race. They couldn’t afford to lose the game, especially to a divisional opponent.

In usual Belichick fashion, the team made positive halftime adjustments while the Jets returned to what they’ve typically looked like when playing New England.

Mac Jones set the tone to start the third quarter as he led the offense down the field for a touchdown on their first drive. The Patriots finally took the first lead of the day, swinging the momentum in their favor for the first time. The Jets could not match their first-half production, opening the door for the Patriots to exploit their weaknesses.

Wilson led the team down the field and set them up for a 45-yard field goal on their first offensive drive of the third quarter. Zuerlein missed, which began the Jets’ downfall for the rest of the game. Fortunately for New York, the Patriots did not score another touchdown. But with back-to-back drives ending in interceptions, they couldn’t overcome Nick Folk’s field goals to regain any spark offensively.

The win wasn’t a pretty one for the Patriots, and the Jets made clear they were aware of how difficult they made it for them. As the teams look to match up again in just three weeks, Zach Wilson made a bold statement about that future game in his post-game press conference.

When asked about their pursuit of revenge for last season’s memorable loss in this week’s game, Wilson proclaimed, “we’ll have these guys in two weeks.”

Considering the Jets’ resume over the last decade, or even more recently with Wilson at quarterback, they will have a lot to overcome if they hope to win in week 11. And a lot of that will be on the shoulders of Wilson. In three games against New England, the quarterback has thrown for only two touchdowns and seven interceptions while averaging just a 53.6% completion.

If the Jets have any hope of winning against New England IN New England, their quarterback will need to perform far better than what he’s consistently shown this season and last.