LAS VEGAS — Zach Wilson had his chance. Had the ball down four at his 24 with 5:58 and all three timeouts left following a Josh Jacobs fumble.
And soon he was at the Las Vegas 22 at the two-minute warning.
The crowd was deafening.
Zach Wilson’s chance to be the hero.
To vault the Jets into playoff position.
To throw his first TD pass since the first quarter of the Giants game.
He looked for Allen Lazard.
He found Robert Spillane instead.
Over and out.
“I gotta be better there,” Wilson said. “I tried to beat him with the ball. He made an unbelievable play. But gotta see that obviously.
“It hurts because we made some harder plays to get there. To throw an interception to lose the game sucks. I hate that. I gotta be better for the guys and the team, everyone battling.
“I know how crucial the ball is especially when you’re not scoring touchdowns, you gotta take care of the football. So I gotta be better there.”
It is obvious why the Improbable Dreamer named Aaron Rodgers has been so desperate to return by mid-December if there is a playoff berth to chase.
He has never played with a defense as good as this Jets defense.
It is obvious why the Jets want to dream The Improbable Dream along with him.
While the Jets wait for this Miracle Man to attempt to make a mockery of modern science, the formula is cut and dried:
The defense will keep Zach Wilson in most of these games.
And ask Zach Wilson not to lose the game.
Unfortunately, you cannot ask him to win it.
He got one last chance and hit Tyler Conklin for 17 yards to the Las Vegas 44.
13 seconds on the clock.
Not close, out of bounds deep for Xavier Gipson.
Deafening crowd.
Five seconds left. He was in trouble, retreating under duress, heaved a Hail Mary.
Fail Mary.
It was a 9-9 game when the Jets defense finally broke. Sauce Gardner and Tony Adams missed the tackle on Jacobs’ 40-yard run and then Aidan O’Connell looked left before throwing a 7-yard TD pass to Michael Mayer over Jordan Whitehead.
Turns out you can’t even beat Aidan O’Connell with field goals.
Zach Wilson could not overcome the lack of discipline (eight penalties for 83 yards) around him. “Dumb, dumb stuff,” Robert Saleh said.
He could not overcome a game plan that underutilized Breece Hall in the passing game. It was a 35-yarder to Hall that positioned the Jets for the field goal that cut the deficit to 16-12 early in the fourth quarter.
He could not overcome The Touchdown That Wasn’t.
Zach Wilson was racing around right, with the end zone he had neglected much too often in his sights — a veritable oasis in the desert for him — and so he dove over the pylon.
Touchdown!
A 23-yard TD run!
Jets teammates mobbed him.
Not so fast. His right foot had stepped out of bounds at the Las Vegas 3. “I was looking to step out, obviously I didn’t want to get here,” he said “They kinda gave me a lane there, so then I tried to just kinda dive for it. Protected myself. I knew I was close on the sidelines, it was unfortunate that my foot was stepped out.”
It was 6-3 for the Jets and perhaps the Jets could wind up in the black end zone with RAIDERS in silver letters.
Of course they could not.
He could not overcome C.J. Uzomah’s second holding penalty first-and-goal at the 3 that negated a Hall TD run.
“As a leader, how can I get everyone on the same page?” Wilson said.
Whitehead had positioned Zach Wilson at the Raiders 26 when he dove in front of Adams to intercept O’Connell.
It was just before the two-minute warning and O’Connell had driven the Raiders to the NYJ 26.
Solomon Thomas: 8-yard sack.
John Franklin-Myers: 11-yard sack.
Zach Wilson-to-Garrett Wilson got 41 yards on a catch-and-run on the first possession — a roar erupted from Jets fans who made the trip — before an intentional grounding with the quarterback in the grasp of Maxx Crosby forced the Jets to settle for a field goal.
Zach Wilson hit Xavier Gipson for 24 yards before the second possession was sabotaged by Uzomah’s first holding penalty and a drop over the middle by Garrett Wilson. Field goal.
“So much frustration,” Zach Wilson said.
Will there be a playoff berth waiting for Aaron Rodgers to chase? Don’t count on it.
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