Zach Wilson's Inability To Do The Little Things Right Showed Up At The Worst Time

The Jets’ 16-12 loss to the Raiders on Sunday night dealt another blow to their playoff hopes. The play that more or less sealed their fate was Zach Wilson’s interception in the final 2 minutes as the Jets were driving for the go-ahead score.

It may not have looked like an egregious pick at first glance, but a closer look shows that it was a bad mistake that absolutely cannot happen in that situation and on that type of playcall.

This was another example of Wilson’s inability to do the little things right. He didn’t process quickly enough. He didn’t make the right decision. He didn’t account for defenders near the throw. He didn’t play with the precision that a quarterback must have to succeed in the NFL.

First, let’s consider where we were in the game. New York needed a touchdown and faced a 2nd-and-8 from the Raiders’ 20-yard line. There was under a minute and a half remaining in the game and the Jets had all 3 of their timeouts. Time was not a factor.

The route combination here was a “Spot” concept, as illustrated below:

This type of play was called because it was a safe play designed to pick up a chunk of the 8 yards needed for a first down. This was 4-down territory, so the objective was to take the yards that the defense would give. There was no need to force anything.