Zach Wilson’s arm helps the New York Jets to their first win

It took overtime, but the New York Jets got their first win of the season. Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson helped the cause with some splash throws of his own.

After an 0-3 start that saw Zach Wilson throw four interceptions against the New England Patriots, and then two more against the Denver Broncos, many had started to wonder when the rookie quarterback would figure things out, or if his first NFL season would be a mountain of mistakes and bad habits.

Maybe he just needed to play the Tennessee Titans.

Wilson and the Jets notched their first victory of the season on Sunday over the visiting Titans, knocking them off by a final score of 27-24 in overtime. On the day, Wilson completed 21 of 34 passes for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns, along with an interception.

During the game, Wilson flashed his dynamic arm talent on a few different occasions. First it was this deep shot to Keelan Cole in a scramble drill situation:

Wilson faces some pressure in the interior of the pocket, and then extends the play by bailing to his right. Cole, seeing his quarterback breaking the pocket, cuts off his out-breaking route and darts vertically, and Wilson makes an impressive throw on the move to hit Cole for a huge gain.

In the fourth quarter with the game knotted at 17, Wilson looked deep again, this time to Corey Davis:

This play is notable because of both the result, and the design. This is the kind of under-center, boot-action off an outside zone look that many expected Wilson to run under offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. These kinds of plays were the designs that helped propel Wilson’s draft stock into the stratosphere last season. On this example, Davis is running a crossing route, working from left-to-right. Wilson buys a little more time with his leg and directs traffic, sending Davis vertical before dropping in the deep throw for the touchdown.

In overtime, Wilson hit on another deep throw, this time while working through his reads in the pocket:

This is a critical play, a 3rd and 2 situation with the Jets still in their own territory. The Titans rush just four on this play, and Wilson is forced to work from the pocket. He hits Cole on a deep out pattern, right along the sideline, giving the Jets a huge gain and a first down within field goal range.

Now, the game was not perfect from Wilson. He did throw this interception in the first half, when Davis looked to stumble on his break and Kristian Fulton stepped in front of the throw for the turnover:

Also on the Jets’ possession in overtime, Wilson scrambled for a loss on 3rd and goal from the 1, forcing Robert Saleh to bring on the field goal team. Had Wilson simply thrown the football away in that moment, Saleh might have entertained the notion to try and win the game on fourth down. Instead, the Jets settled for three, and needed a missed field goal try from Titans kicker Randy Bullock to survive.

Still, after the start to Wilson’s career, with the interceptions mounting and the bad footwork starting to show in the pocket, getting a win, and seeing the young quarterback make some huge throws both on the move and from the pocket in critical moments, this is the kind of foundational win that the organization, and their rookie QB, can build upon.