National Football League

In Patriots’ win over Jets, Bill Belichick shows he still owns Zach Wilson

Updated Oct. 30, 2022 7:04 p.m. ET

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Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

East Rutherford, N.J. — This was not a quarterback duel. But nobody expected one, right?

The New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 22-17 Sunday at MetLife Stadium. And New England's defense and special teams dictated the outcome of this game — with some egregiously bad decision-making from Zach Wilson sprinkled in.

Because while Mac Jones wasn't brilliant, Wilson was dreadful, going 20-for-41 with three interceptions after throwing only two in his previous four games this season. The young quarterback could not change the script. Bill Belichick owns Wilson. The Jets QB is now 0-3 as a starter against Belichick. Wilson has thrown two touchdowns and seven interceptions in the three games. 

"He’s gotta play better, and we have to find ways to help him," Jets coach Robert Saleh said of Wilson.

In Wilson's first matchup against the Patriots last year, he threw four interceptions. In the second matchup, Wilson left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury and threw no interceptions or touchdowns. In this game, he finished with his first and second passing touchdowns against Belichick — but the three interceptions were what stung.

Wilson's first error came right at the end of an otherwise strong first half. He failed to set his feet and aired a ball over the head of his intended target, running back Ty Johnson. Patriots linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley fielded the pass easily for an interception.

In the second half, Wilson went off the rails. On his second interception in the third quarter, he looked like he was trying to throw the ball away down the right sideline. But the throw was horrendous and an easy interception for Patriots safety Devin McCourty.

"I just had some boneheaded plays," Wilson said postgame. "Second interception — I really meant to throw that ball away."

Tight end Tyler Conklin was the only Jet who was remotely close to the play. It was a pass where Wilson needed to use his rocket arm to get the ball successfully out of bounds. 

"I don’t really know exactly [what went wrong]," Conklin said on the second interception. "We got off-schedule a couple of times. Zach’s elusive, right? He can get out of the pocket. I think he was just trying to make plays, trying to will us to big plays and help us win. They didn’t work out in our favor. … I think he was trying to throw it away. Just didn’t get it out there far enough.

"We definitely talk after every series," Conklin added. "I think the big thing was letting him know we were behind him and s--- happens. He knows — like when he scrambles and throws a ball he shouldn’t, he knows. You don’t gotta tell him."

It didn't get any less troubling for the Jets. Seven plays into the following series, Wilson threw another interception. And again, it came on a play when he should have thrown the ball out of bounds. In this case, he did seem to have an intended target. But that didn't make it any less of an egregious mistake. Wilson flipped the ball out to Conklin, who had four defenders in the area, including McCourty. The ball sailed five yards past Conklin and into the arms of McCourty.

"The last [interception] was, I just really wanted to make a play instead of coming off the field. And I can’t do that — put my defense in bad situation there," Wilson said.

Wilson did lead a successful fourth-quarter drive that brought the Jets within one possession, but it was too little too late. New York couldn't recover an onside kick following Wilson's fourth-quarter touchdown to Conklin. That essentially ended the game, with Jones kneeling the ball three times to kill the clock.

"We’ve got faith in Z," Saleh said about Wilson. "He’s played good football, he’s taken care of the football since he’s gotten back. He’s shown flashes of good football. Everyone in the locker room still has his back."

New England won't walk away from the game with its nose in the air, however. The Patriots have plenty of problems to sort out, namely on offense. Jones had another brutal game. He was 24-of-35 for 194 yards with one touchdown and one interception. 

He completed a fourth-down conversion in the red zone for a touchdown — that was his best moment of the day. He found Jakobi Meyers on a quick pass and the receiver, who got open out of the slot on an out-route, found the end zone. That play showed the Patriots were willing to trust Jones in his first complete outing since his ankle injury in Week 3. 

In gotta-have-it moments on third and fourth down, New England repeatedly made use of empty formations. The Patriots were fully committed to throwing the ball — and therefore fully committed to Jones as their quarterback. At least, that's the message that I interpreted after Jones and backup Bailey Zappe were entrenched in a clumsily handled quarterback controversy for a few weeks.

But let's talk about Jones' sacks. He took six in total, with blame due for the quarterback and his offensive line. New England clearly wasn't happy with how the line played in pass protection. The Patriots tried Isaiah Wynn at both right tackle and left guard, where he took the place of Cole Strange and Marcus Cannon. None of those offensive linemen had good days.

So New England has a lot to work on. But while the Jets (5-3) remain ahead of the Patriots (4-4) in the standings, New England has a win — and perhaps some renewed confidence in its team.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.

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New England Patriots

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National Football League

NFL - New England Patriots vs. New York Jets - 10/30/2022

Zach Wilson

Mac Jones

Devin McCourty

Henry McKenna