Breece Hall bullied his way into the end zone during the second quarter Sunday night, and it appeared the New York Jets’ touchdown drought was over.
But when the penalty flag was thrown across the direct view of quarterback Zach Wilson, the look on his face defined an underlying theme.
“It literally feels like every good play we have is getting called back,” Wilson said. “It is so frustrating because you understand how important every single drive is.”
The Jets’ drive skid without a touchdown is up to 36 after squandering a 9-3 first-half lead and losing to the Las Vegas Raiders, 16-12.
New York dropped into third place in the AFC East, a game behind second-place Buffalo and two back of first-place Miami.
Between penalties, miscues and overall poor efficiency, the Jets’ offense continues to haunt them.
“Self-inflicted wounds, same story as the last couple of weeks,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We got to figure it out, figure out how to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
On three of the four drives that ended with Greg Zuerlein’s field goal, the Jets committed a penalty that stalled the progression of their drive.
The Jets were penalized eight times for 83 yards — a whopping 10.3 yards per penalty, more than three yards greater than their season average of 6.9 yards per infraction. The Jets have been whistled for a total of 34 penalties over their last four games.
“Go to keep trying to figure it out,” Saleh said. “You address it. They know they know what the rules are. They’re just coming at the worst times obviously.”
For Wilson, who finished 23 of 39 for 263 yards and one interception, he’s thrown just one touchdown pass over his last 21 quarters played, dating to Week 4 against Kansas Citys.
In that span, Wilson has completed just 114 of 186, a rather modest 61.2 completion percentage. Over 64 drives during that stretch, eight of them have ended with a turnover, including an interception by Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane at the Las Vegas 15 with 1:22 left.
Wilson said it starts with better communication, beginning with him.
“As a leader, it’s ‘how can I get everyone on the same page?’” Wilson said. “Communication starts with just everyone doing their assignment, and then obviously the negative plays killing it. So we got to find a way to be better there. And I think I can maybe just try and be a little bit over exaggerated on communication, and maybe that stuff can help and just do everything I can there.”
And while NBC’s Melissa Stark reported during the telecast that Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said his goal is to return from a torn Achilles tendon by mid-December, the onus remains on Wilson to find ways to lead the Jets into the end zone.
