Zach Wilson gives candid assessment of his past performance vs. Patriots

Zach Wilson gives candid assessment of his past performance vs. Patriots originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New York Jets have lost 14 consecutive games against the New England Patriots, which is the second-longest active losing streak for one NFL team versus a single opponent.

The Jets host the Patriots at MetLife Stadium on Sunday in a pivotal Week 3 matchup for both teams. The Patriots are 0-2 and the Jets are 1-1.

For the Jets to end their losing streak, they need starting quarterback Zach Wilson to play one of the best games of his career. Wilson probably wasn’t expecting to be the center of attention for this matchup before the season, but Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1 has thrust the former BYU star back into the spotlight.

Wilson knows that ball security will be massively important for him against a Patriots defense that ranks among the league’s best.

“I just need to be smart with the ball,” Wilson told reporters Thursday. “Especially last time we played them at home, a lot of them were just dumb plays by me. I need to play one play at a time, be efficient with the football, trust what I’m seeing and play ball.”

Zach Wilson talks about his prior struggles against the Patriots:

“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.” pic.twitter.com/BY2CIf7L6m

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) September 21, 2023

The game Wilson is referring to was a 22-17 loss at home to the Patriots in Week 8 of last season. The former No. 2 overall draft pick completed 20 of 41 pass attempts for 355 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Two of those interceptions came in the second half, which helped the Patriots outscore the Jets 16-3 over the final two quarters.

Wilson is 0-4 against the Patriots since he was drafted in 2021. He has thrown just two touchdown passes with seven interceptions and a 50.6 QB rating in those matchups.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();

The Patriots desperately need to win this game. If they fall to 0-3, their chances of making the playoffs would be very slim. Since 2002, 99 teams have started out 0-3 and only one of them — the 2018 Houston Texans — made the postseason.

The best way for the Patriots to pick up their first win of the season is to pressure Wilson early and often Sunday and force him into mistakes. Wilson already has thrown four interceptions in two games.