Zach Wilson benched in third quarter as Jets suffer beatdown in Buffalo
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is sacked by Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson during the first half of an NFL game in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sunday. Credit: AP/Adrian Kraus
ORCHARD PARK — The Jets’ offense looked hapless again even after Robert Saleh promised and made some personnel changes. There was just one left to make: He yanked Zach Wilson on Sunday.
Backup quarterback Tim Boyle replaced Wilson in the third quarter of an embarrassing 32-6 drubbing by the Bills at Highmark Stadium
Saleh probably could have removed Wilson much sooner. The Jets were going nowhere again, trailing 29-6 at the time. “Just tried to see if we could get something going on the offensive side of the ball,” Saleh said.
It’s too soon to know if this is a permanent move away from Wilson or a decision made only because the game essentially was over. The Jets have a short week ahead, with Miami visiting MetLife Stadium on Friday.
“We’re going to watch the tape and we’ll make a decision,” Saleh said.
The Jets could start preparing practice squad quarterback Trevor Siemian to make the start against the AFC East-leading Dolphins.
“We’ll look at all of it,” Saleh said. “I’m not ready to answer those questions.”
The loss was the third straight for the Jets (4-6).
Every defeat makes it more unlikely that Aaron Rodgers will return this season. The Jets have to be in the playoff race for Rodgers to attempt a comeback in December after suffering a torn left Achilles tendon in Week 1.
Regardless, the Jets have a quarterback problem in that they need one.
Wilson completed 7 of 15 passes for 81 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The one touchdown drive — the Jets’ first in 41 series — was aided by a fake punt and a roughing-the- passer penalty. Wilson didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver and was sacked five times.
“Frustrated, but I get it,” he said about being benched. “Got to score. Got to be in games.”
Wilson has been the Jets’ quarterback for 10 games. They have only nine offensive touchdowns and one since the first quarter of their Week 8 overtime victory over the Giants.
“When it’s consecutive weeks of doing nothing on offense — you can sit here and say last week we moved the ball — but we’re not scoring,” Wilson said. “Essentially, it comes down to you got to score points. When things aren’t getting done, changes got to be made, and I understand that.”
Boyle said he hadn’t gotten any first-team practice reps. He was 7-for-14 for 33 yards and one interception. Punter Thomas Morstead was the Jets’ most effective passer. He was 1-for-1 for 18 yards.
“The mindset as a quarterback is to go in and get completions, run the offense,” Boyle said. “There are a couple of balls I want back. For not getting many reps, getting into the offense, I think I did a decent job of getting guys in and out and getting personnels in motions all right.”
Breece Hall had 73 scrimmage yards, including a 9-yard touchdown reception. Garrett Wilson caught only two passes for 9 yards and fumbled once. The Jets turned it over four times and had 155 yards of offense.
The Bills (6-5) bounced back from a rough week that started with a Monday night loss to the Broncos and the dismissal of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. He was replaced by Joe Brady, and Buffalo had little trouble moving the ball up and down the field on the Jets.
Josh Allen finished 20-for-32 for 275 yards and three touchdowns. Khalil Shakur caught an 81-yard touchdown pass in the second half and became the second receiver to catch a TD pass against the Jets.
The game was delayed for several minutes late in the first half as Bills safety Taylor Rapp left the field in an ambulance after making a tackle. He suffered a neck injury.
The afternoon started terribly for the Jets as Xavier Gipson fumbled the opening kickoff. Buffalo recovered it at the Jets’ 21 and kicked a field goal.
The Bills scored the first 16 points. The Jets’ only touchdown came with 45 seconds left in the first half, but they didn’t convert the two-point conversion and trailed 16-6.
Any hope of keeping it close was erased when the defense allowed touchdowns on Buffalo’s first two drives of the third quarter.
Former Jet Ty Johnson scored on a 28-yard catch-and-run to make it 22-6. Sauce Gardner was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary- roughness penalty on the series for lifting and slamming down Stefon Diggs after a catch.
The Bills extended it to 29-6 when Allen connected with Shakir for the long touchdown. Shakir beat Gardner initially and ended up running by two more Jets for the score. Gardner said it was a busted play.
“It’s a lot of frustration,” he said. “We allowed too many yards. We allowed too many points. We’ve got to be better on defense.”
The offense is the bigger issue, but Saleh doesn’t have a lot of time to pick his quarterback for Friday.
“Everything is accelerated,” he said. “You don’t have Monday and Tuesday to dissect and breathe. We’ll be pretty quick with it.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
