QB Zach Wilson finally came back last week and so did our hopes for a better season. The Jets also rose to their highest average position in this season’s power rankings. They are now a consensus #23, which is also higher than at any time last season. ProFootballTalk ranked them as high as #16, while Yahoo Sports had them at #27. Wilson completed 50% of his passes for a total of 252 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT and also scored a receiving touchdown, as the Gang Green defeated the Steelers, 24-20. He will be facing a one-time Jet, QB Teddy Bridgewater, when the Jets square off against the Miami Dolphins (3-1) on Sunday. The Dolphins, who won the last four and eight of the last nine games between the two teams, are 3-point favorites.
Here’s what different power rankings websites had to say about the Jets:
ESPN: The Jets are allowing opponents to convert 51% of the time on third down, which ranks 31st out of 32 teams. Here’s the weird part: It’s not because of the pass rush. They’re actually getting decent pressure on the quarterback, with a 35% pressure rate (19th) on third down. The problem is the coverage, specifically the safeties and linebackers. Cornerbacks D.J. Reed and rookie Sauce Gardner are holding up nicely on the outside, but they’re giving up too many chunk plays in the middle of the field. Safety Lamarcus Joyner is coming off his best game (two interceptions), but the Jets need better coverage from S Jordan Whitehead and MLB C.J. Mosley.
The Sporting News: Zach Wilson, Breece Hall and the rest of their young players and newcomers in the offense are paying dividends for Matt LaFleur. They are also seeing some returns from Robert Saleh’s multiple improvements on defense, especially in the secondary.
CBS Sports: Zach Wilson looked good in his first game back from injury, which is encouraging for the future. Robert Saleh has this team heading in the right direction.
ProFootballTalk: To finish their AFC North tour at 2-2 is one of the most impressive accomplishments of the season to date.
Yahoo Sports: Zach Wilson wasn’t good for most of Sunday’s game, but he had a few brief flashes and then came through with the game-winning drive when he needed it. The last part is enough for the Jets to be happy with how Wilson’s first game back went. There have to be positive steps this season and Sunday’s final drive was one.
NFL.com: Welcome back, Zach Wilson. The second-year quarterback made his season debut a memorable one, leading the Jets on back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter of a 24-20 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Wilson was predictably rusty in his first game action since knee surgery in August, but the former No. 2 pick was in control during the game’s final scoring drive — a 65-yard march in which Wilson went 5 for 5 through the air. When Breece Hall reached over the goal line — juuuuust barely — with the go-ahead TD, New York had its second stunning comeback in three weeks. Is the long-suffering franchise finally flipping the script after a decade of struggles? With Wilson back, the Jets have buzz.
USA Today: They split their season-opening AFC North gantlet with a 2-2 mark. Pretty darn good. Four of the next six games are against AFC East rivals who would be wise to no longer take the NYJ lightly.
| Preseason | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 | W11 | W12 | W13 | W14 | W15 | W16 | W17 | W18 | |
| ESPN | 30 | 32 | 29 | 31 | 23 | ||||||||||||||
| Sporting News | 24 | 32 | 28 | 28 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| CBS Sports | 29 | 31 | 23 | 27 | 26 | ||||||||||||||
| PFT | 31 | 32 | 19 | 24 | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| Yahoo Sports | 27 | 31 | 28 | 32 | 27 | ||||||||||||||
| NFL.com | 26 | 32 | 25 | 31 | 26 | ||||||||||||||
| USA Today | 27 | 32 | 23 | 28 | 22 | ||||||||||||||
| 27.7 | 31.7 | 25 | 28.7 | 23.1 |
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