There are no more excuses for the Patriots, Jets | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
Yahoo Sports’ Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski discuss the offensive issues plaguing both teams this season, including Zach Wilson's continued struggles as the Jets' starting QB.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: I come away from this game thinking like there are no excuses for either teams. They walked into this year with these situations. And starting on the Patriots' side of things, you know you-- [SCOFFS] I can't-- I can't stop thinking about how they really did this Joe Judge, Matt Patricia thing. Mac Jones wasn't as good as I think the numbers indicated last year, especially in the second half of the season. But this was his crucial second season. And they walked into this year with this unserious offensive playcaller situation.
And it shows in crucial moments. You mentioned the box score for the Jets is hilariously bad. We'll get to the Jets in a second. It is laughably bad. But on the Patriots' side of things, it doesn't look that bad. Mac Jones' stat line doesn't look that bad. But the 6 sacks are there. And they went 3 for 15 on third down. It shows up in the red zone. It shows up in situational football moments.
And isn't that Bill Belichick's whole thing, situational football? And this is the situation they walked in with. No excuses for the Patriots on that side of it. And on the Jets, there are just no excuses for Zach Wilson. He just-- like you said, he's just not it right now. 77 passing yards on 22 attempts? That's-- that's hilariously unreal.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: The Jets had 103 total yards. I got to look back. I have to go on Pro Football Reference when we finish this podcast and find the last time an NFL team had 103 total yards in a game. It's got to be way back. And it probably involved horrible weather. Granted, the wind was bad in this game, but somehow Mac Jones went 23 of 27.
Zach Wilson-- I'm giving up, man. I don't think-- whether it's he needs a fresh start somewhere, or he just can't play. Zach Wilson is never going to be the right answer for the Jets. And I realize this sounds all hot-takey because who's banging on the table for Zach Wilson right now. But six first downs, 103 yards of offense-- this is what you come up with?
MATT HARMON: Yeah, and the players--
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Not acceptable.
MATT HARMON: The skill position players are good. The skill position players are more than good enough. I know they've had injuries on the offensive line. But everything shouldn't have to be perfect for the quarterback to look average. And he's well, well, well below average right now.
And just bottom line, Scott, the best-- I think the way you encapsulate Zach Wilson this year is he is almost always the reason they lose games, and he is almost never the driving force for when they win games. And that's just-- that's not the answer. And it's a tough situation for the Jets to be in.