Jets takeaways from Sunday's 30-10 loss to Cowboys, including Zach Wilson's difficult first start replacing Aaron Rodgers

Jets players and coaches are of the belief that their team is strong enough to compete even without the injured Aaron Rodgers. However, they are under no illusions as to how difficult this is going to be.

The magnitude of this task soon became apparent, as Dallas marched downfield for a touchdown on the opening drive and the Jets trailed by double digits in the first half for the second game in a row. Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb racked up over 100 receiving yards before halftime and the Jets trailed 18-10 at halftime.

The offense was predictable and conservative, but they went into the locker room within one score thanks to a 68-yard Zach Wilson touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson and a field goal after a two-minute drill to end the second quarter.

They were unable to build on this in the second half, as Wilson threw three fourth quarter interceptions and never threatened to put together another scoring drive. The Jets’ defense played some bend-but-not-break in the second half, but Dallas extended the lead to 20 on four Brandon Aubrey field goals.

Here are some takeaways...

- It was disappointing to see the Jets give up an opening drive touchdown, that’s actually only the second time in 16 games that this has happened. It would be inaccurate to say that the defense came out flat but they seemed over-eager to make a play and this led to a lot of missed tackles. The coaching was arguably over-aggressive too, as they uncharacteristically sent a six-man rush on third down and Dak Prescott was able to scramble for a first down to keep the drive alive.

Zach Wilson’s first couple of drives predictably went nowhere, as the team was already down by a score before he even threw a pass. His touchdown connection to Garrett Wilson on play action kept the Jets within a score and he looked unusually composed and decisive on the two-minute drill before halftime, taking what the defense gave him on short passes and with his legs.

- There were two major turning points before the Cowboys’ second touchdown. First, Sauce Gardner jumped in front of Lamb for what could have been a go-ahead pick-six but dropped the ball. Then, the Jets looked to have got off the field on third down only for a dubious roughing the passer penalty on John Franklin-Myers to keep the drive alive.

- The Jets gambled in the first half when they ran a successful fake punt in their own territory, with the up-back Ashtyn Davis taking the snap and going up the middle for a short conversion. However, they ran the ball three times on the next series with Zach Wilson coming up short on a quarterback sneak, so they ended up punting anyway. It’s difficult to get a young quarterback into rhythm when this happens.

- The Jets invested in Dalvin Cook because they were nervous about having young players who could make game-changing mistakes. However, Cook’s fumble after the Jets held Dallas to a field goal in the red zone was disappointing, even though Micah Parsons’ touchdown return was wiped out by a replay review. It was a quiet game for Cook on a day when the Jets needed their running game to step up.

- As you’d expect, the Cowboys’ outstanding pass rush created constant pressure, which should have the Jets concerned about their offensive line. However, it’s difficult to determine how much of a difference Rodgers would have made with his ability to exploit the blitz, anticipate pressure and set the protection. Duane Brown, in particular, had his hands full with Parsons.

Wilson suffered from the fact that the Jets couldn’t sustain drives due to sacks and penalties and also had a few passes dropped. On the whole, he hadn’t played that badly until the fourth quarter but all three of his interceptions were bad mistakes and he won’t have gained much confidence in himself from this performance.

- The running game is also a concern for the Jets. Other than Wilson’s scramble yardage, no Jets player even reached 10 rushing yards.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Jets return home to host the New England Patriots on Sunday at 1 p.m.