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| 'Student' Zach Wilson Shows 'Teacher' Aaron Rodgers Some Tricks In Jets' Victory |
It was a touching tableau on the crowded Lambeau Field shore, with Zack Wilson and Aaron Rodgers sharing greetings and words of reassurance. You can almost hear Rodgers advising Wilson to hang in there, things will get better, lots of great drama and games still ahead.
Except, of course, it was probably offering a little encouragement and kind words to Rodgers after Zach attacks the Jets, after some of his script versus the Dolphins, pulled away from Rodgers and the Packers to put together another great second half. placed, 27- 10.
"Yeah, It's crazy to me because this guy has been my idol since I was 8," Wilson said after leading the Jets 4-2, a 3-0 road record, another touchdown drive before a fourth-quarter TD streak Finished on seven drives, and a 5-3 record for the Jets at home that Curly Lambeau made and Vince Lombardi renovated at Temple in the middle of suburban Wisconsin. "I copied everything, tried to be like him. . As ugly as he was sporting, he's a great guy, someone I've always read through the NFL should be someone."
But like the later karate kid, Wilson, who occasionally wears a sweatband like a ninja warrior, was showing the bearded sensei some winning moves. Wilson improved his opening record this season to 3–0, and he did so without a super-sharp passing game against Green Bay's tough, highly-ranked secondary. Wilson completed only 10 of 18 passes for 110 yards and no TD.
Yet he defended the ball without a gift for the second straight game, and he still struck several priceless passes, none other than a 41-yard strike to WR Corey Davis, who hit Braxton Berrios's 20-yard end. Set the stage for a 10-3 lead around and between the third quarter that the Jets never lost. Do not turn down a third.
"It's just NFL football, man," Wilson said of the first half of the offence. "It doesn't always work. You just have to keep going, keep grinding. We got a game of running in the second half and that was huge."
In the second half, rookie RB Bryce Hall turned the Jets on for the second straight game with 116 rushing yards, his 34-yard mad-dash TD 24-10, plus 5 more yards on two receptions. With Michael Carter adding a 25-yard run to set up his final score on a Greg Zuerlein field goal, the Jets finished with a season-high 179 rushing yards
“We knew they would come out with their backs against the wall at home, they would punch,” said head coach Robert Saleh of the second half-run game (during a rare postgame news conference in which he was not asked). I didn't mention his quarterback's name once more). "For us, it wasn't a mindset to face the storm or anything. It was just to keep fighting back and leaning on them. The longer we walked, the more pressure we felt was going to be on them. Along the way, They give them credit for coming out and credit our offense and special teams for the way they came out and generated explosive game after explosive game.
"It was a big, big, big deal for the offence and special teams."
Meanwhile, Wilson refuses to make it a big, big, big deal for himself, even though he was the first Jets QB to defeat the Packers team led by Rodgers when they lost all three to extraterrestrial signal collars. Joe defeated Green and White in 2010 without a touchdown, 9-0, in a 31-24 comeback at Lambeau in '14, and in a 44-38 OT shootout at MetLife in '18 back.
"You can just see the fight around," Wilson said of the bounce-back ball of the final 30 minutes, "what Coach Saleh preaches is he's bringing culture, people fighting until the last snap. I think Maybe that's where it comes from.
"But the season is still so long. We can't feel we're there. We have to keep going. We have to learn from these victories, we have to throw the ball better. We have to dominate, throw the ball and bowl the ball. Should be able to run and help those people. So there are good things to learn."
As for their exchange at the end of the game, the exact nature of the messages will remain confidential. But as Wilson summed up: "It was great to share that moment. I wish I could still sit there and chat with him, but it was a good moment."
There is no doubt that Green Bay's cool drizzle is slightly cooler than Sensei in green and gold for Seto in green and white.