Jets' Zach Wilson returns with a 301-yard flourish in win over Texans

Zach Wilson was back running the Jets’ offense, and he looked nothing like the player he was when he got benched.

The Jets looked like a different offense altogether. For the first time all season, they scored three offensive touchdowns.

Wilson threw for a season-high 301 yards and two touchdowns as the Jets ended their losing streak at five games with a 30-6 win over the Texans on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

This was a liberating game for him and the offense. That group produced 37 points and only three touchdowns during the five-game losing streak, but on Sunday, the Jets (5-8) scored 30 points in the second half of a rain-drenched game.

Who was that team? Who was that quarterback?

“The second half, I thought Zach probably played the best game of his career,” Robert Saleh said. “Just the off-schedule stuff, the timing and rhythm, getting the ball where it needed to, being aggressive and smart at the same time. He made a lot of things happen that weren’t there. So hats off to him. I thought he was outstanding.”

Wilson was benched during the Jets’ Week 11 loss to the Bills and replaced by Tim Boyle, who started the next two games. The Jets waived Boyle this past week and went back to Wilson, but it wasn’t without controversy.

There was a report that Wilson was reluctant to retake the starting job for fear of risking injury, given that he doesn’t have much of a future with the Jets. He strongly denied that and said he was excited for his latest opportunity. His plan was to have more fun, and he did.

“Winning is always fun,” Wilson said. “That’s what we want right there. That’s what we want every game to look like.”

Wilson played freer, especially after halftime. The offense was moving in the first half, but it still was 0-0 at the break. Then everything clicked in the second half for the Jets and their quarterback.

Wilson completed 27 of 36 passes overall and, for only the third time in his career, threw for more than 300 yards. After halftime, he passed for 209 yards, which was more than he had in 19 of his 32 games before Sunday.

“The flow of just playing football was there,” Wilson said. “I can’t say it’s been like that a lot, unfortunately, in my career here. That’s what we’re searching for right there, just playing ball, just moving the football, completing passes. That’s always what we’re hunting for.”

Breece Hall amassed 126 scrimmage yards and caught a 3-yard touchdown pass. Randall Cobb had a 15-yard touchdown reception and receiver Xavier Gipson ran 9 yards for a TD. Garrett Wilson had nine catches for 108 yards.

The Jets’ defense was outstanding as well. They held the No. 2 passing offense in the NFL to 54 net passing yards.

Rookie of the Year favorite C.J. Stroud, the NFL’s passing leader, was 10-for-23 for a season-low 91 yards before being knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter. He was sacked five times.

“I thought our front end handled it and I thought our back end was sticky and made it hard for him,” Saleh said.

Wilson led the Jets on a touchdown drive on the first series of the second half, completing 5 of 6 passes for 77 yards and hitting Cobb on a crosser for a 15-yard score. The drive was kept alive one play earlier when Wilson made a terrific play. On third down, he spun away from the rush, threw across his body while on the move and connected with Garrett Wilson for a 25-yard gain.

Wilson was even sharper on the next drive, completing all five of his attempts. It ended with Gipson taking a handoff on a jet sweep and running it in from 9 yards out.

“I couldn’t be happier for him,” tight end Tyler Conklin said of Wilson. “After everything he’s been through and to go out here and do what he did, I’m just really happy for him. He said he’s going to come out there and have fun and just enjoy playing football. I feel like he did that.”

On their next series, the Jets were on the move again when Wilson made a mistake. He scrambled for 11 yards into Houston territory, but instead of sliding, he dived forward and the ball was knocked out and recovered by Khalil Davis at the Houston 43.

On the next play, the Texans were on the Jets’ side of the field for the first time in the game, and Devin Singletary scored on a 1-yard run with no time left in the third quarter. It was an untimed down because defensive pass interference occurred on the last play of the quarter. Matt Ammendola missed the extra point.

The Jets went ahead 21-6 on their next possession on Hall’s 3-yard touchdown reception. Wilson was 5-for-6 for 62 yards during that series.

“He balled. He balled,” Garrett Wilson said. “Put it all out there. Throwing dots in the rain. As far as what we were trying to do, Zach handled it. That’s always our goal, handle it better than them, and we did. Zach went crazy today.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.