It was a bittersweet beginning to the New York Jets 2023 campaign. The Jets wound up victorious in an overtime thriller, which has definitely left the team with short-term pride, but injuries to key players make the long term anything but certain.
In the very first drive of the Jets’ season, Aaron Rodgers was sacked by the Buffalo Bills’ Leonard Floyd. Rodgers stayed down, got up and limped around for a moment, but went back to the ground to be attended to by medical staff. He ended up being carted to the locker room and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Rodgers only played four snaps.
With that came the return of Zach Wilson. Wilson had a disastrous 2022 season that featured him throwing more interceptions than touchdowns (six touchdowns, seven interceptions). However, he was thrusted back into the starting role and became the only hope for this Jets offense against a Super Bowl contending Bills squad. Nonetheless, in the first half, the score was actually kept very close with the Jets trailing the Bills by just 10 heading into the break.
In the first half, Breece Hall showed he is entirely recovered from his 2022 ACL tear with two carries and a mesmerizing 109 yards that was aided by an 80-yard dash just short of the goal line. Wilson didn’t exactly astound anybody with his play but had a decent five for eight, 41-yard first-half performance with an interception added. Again, not great, but Wilson has shown he is capable of much worse.
While the Jets weren’t lighting it up on the offensive end, what helped them out big time was the fact the Bills weren’t either. The main difference between the teams in the first half was the ability to find the end zone. Both had red zone opportunities but Buffalo was able to cash in with an off-balance on the run pass from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs. Allen finished the first half with 17/21, 133 yards, with a touchdown and interception. The score heading into the break stood at 13-3 in Buffalo’s favor.
The second half is when the wheels began to fall off for Buffalo. The Jets defense was genuinely stellar, forcing Allen in to four turnovers and just 236 passing yards. New York’s offense initially had issues capitalizing on turnovers but eventually took the lead from an added possession because of a fumble made by Allen. The Jets held onto a lead until just two seconds before the end of the fourth quarter, but Buffalo found an equalizer of their own as time ran off the clock. Tyler Bass kicked a long field goal that ricocheted just off the post into the goal to send this game into overtime.
Buffalo won the toss and naturally chose to receive. With a chance to drive the ball down and win the game, Allen and the Buffalo Bills instead went three-and-out, further proving this Jets defense is the real deal. On the punt, undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson returned the kick 65 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to pull off what ended up being an incredible upset.
With the punt return touchdown, the final score was 23-16.
The adversity this New York Jets team faced in this matchup is nothing short of staggering. The Jets went all in on Rodgers, both financially and mentally, and lost him before he could even complete a pass. Rodgers tore his achilles, and you can clearly see the calf muscle pop during the sack on video playback. Achilles injuries are largely understood to be some of the most difficult injuries to return from, and with Rodgers being 39 as it is, his future not just with the Jets but as an NFL player is uncertain.
Jets fans have endured a lot over the past decade. Countless losing seasons, no playoff appearances, questionable offseason choices and so many other misfortunes. But it finally seemed to pay off as they got their guy to make them a win-now franchise. For Rodgers to then immediately get injured four plays into his Jets career, it’s become a sick joke for fans, and this is perhaps the pinnacle of their suffering.
However, Wilson looked alright and beat a Super Bowl contending team. Also, the defense performed like they could be in the conversation with the other elites of the league. At the end of the day, if the phrase “offense wins games, defense wins championships” holds any truth, the Jets might just be alright.
New York will take the next few days to regroup and plan for an offensive led by Wilson, but don’t have much time to dwell on it. They have a shorter week due to playing Monday Night Football and will travel to Dallas to play the Cowboys who just beat the brakes off the New York Giants. That game kicks off Sunday, Sept. 17 at 1:00 p.m.. It should be nothing short of riveting to see how the rest of this season will play out.
