Zach Wilson Impresses Fans Despite Jets’ Loss to Chiefs with Aaron Rodgers Attending

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The New York Jets would surely tell fans there are no moral victories in the NFL, but they came pretty close to one Sunday.

The Kansas City Chiefs escaped MetLife Stadium with a narrow 23-20 victory, but the game was much closer than expected. While the end result is a third straight loss for the 1-3 Jets, Zach Wilson looked impressive for the first time since Aaron Rodgers and the team’s realistic Super Bowl hopes were lost to the future Hall of Famer’s torn Achilles.

Wilson finished 28-of-39 for 245 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions with Rodgers in attendance and was the better quarterback in a game featuring Patrick Mahomes for extended stretches.

It was a shocking development after he looked completely lost for the first three games of the season and should give Jets fans some optimism that the campaign isn’t completely lost.

His showing also inspired plenty of praise on social media even though his fumble in the final eight minutes ended New York’s last offensive drive:

While Wilson’s fumble ruined what was an otherwise excellent performance, he deserves credit for leading the Jets back from an early 17-0 deficit and putting them in position to win the game.

It seemed like the Chiefs were going to roll with long touchdowns from Isiah Pacheco and Noah Gray in the early going, but everything changed when the home team got on the board with a safety from a facemask in the end zone. From there, Wilson threw touchdown passes to C.J. Uzomah and Allen Lazard before using his legs on a two-point conversion to tie the game.

It also helped that New York’s defense picked off Mahomes multiple times and kept Travis Kelce in relative check.

Pacheco was the best player for the Chiefs’ offense for the majority of the game, although it was Mahomes who picked up a 3rd-and-23 and another late third down with his legs to ice the win on the final drive of the game.

The Jets will surely rue some of the defensive flags on that final possession, especially since they prevented Wilson from ending his game with a chance at a winning drive.

But at least they can take solace in their quarterback turning things around before a favorable matchup against the Denver Broncos.