Zach Wilson vs Bills: A Breakdown

I contemplated not doing this one but the show must go on!

Seems like Sunday was the official end of Zach Wilson's tenure as a Jet and I can't say it's unwarranted. Dude just hasn't been getting the job done. I had hoped that the YT channel that had been putting these together would've included Boyle's throws as well but sadly, they did not. This also means this one will be fairly short as we just get into the 3rd quarter.

Anyway, let's get into it...(for the most likely the final time) (link to every throw from Zach here)

1st Quarter:
13:03, 1st & 10: Jets come out in 13 personnel, TW twins left. PA Pass. I'll provide another angle of this play but this shows how broken Zach is. Ruckert comes wide open on a wheel route on the right side of the field but for whatever reason, Zach doesn't make the throw. Instead, he checks it down to Breece, who drops it. Breece should've caught it but Ruckert should been his target instead and it's probably a 15+ yard gain to Ruckert down the sideline or more. Additional angle of the play here from Twitter. (0-1)

12:58, 2nd & 10: 21 personnel, I-Form. Another PA pass. Zach doesn't really have much time here as Mitchell gets beat fairly quickly, takes a sack. Maybe could've hit Breece on the checkdown again? Idk. (0-1)

12:17, 3rd & 20: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach throws to GW running a go down the left sideline. Inaccurate. Incomplete. (0-2)

5:13, 2nd & 10: 21 personnel, Pony package out of gun. PA pass. Breece leaks out into the right flat, Zach throws a good ball and hits him in the chest. Gain of 14. (1-3, 14 yards)

3:55, 2nd & 13: 11 personnel, trips bunch left. Gipson goes in motion left to right to create a 2x2 look. Either 1 of 2 things happens here, Zach doesn't give the OL/RB the proper protection call or Dalvin Cook just completely blows his blocking assignment. Either way, 43 comes untouched through the A gap and gets a sack. (1-3, 14 yards)

2nd Quarter:
11:26, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. GW goes in motion right to left. PA pass (kinda, half ass fake by Zach and Breece). Pressure forces Zach to roll out right. Where he just dirts the ball. Probably a good decision here because it appears to be a screen pass so if he completes it, we probably get an ineligible man downfield penalty. (1-4, 14 yards)

10:42, 3rd & 10: 11 personnel, trips left. Mitchell lets his man get around the hoop and beat him. Sack. Zach maybe could've stepped up a bit to avoid the pressure but it looks like they were collapsing the pocket from the interior too. (1-4, 14 yards)

6:02, 1st & 10: 12 personnel, trips left. Gipson goes in motion left to right. PA pass. Zach gets time and throws a good ball to Ruckert running a crosser form right to left. Gain of 18. (2-5, 32 yards)

5:37, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Ruckert goes in motion from the right slot to the in-line TE spot. PA pass, maybe a PA boot action as Zach immediately rolls right. Poor attempt to chip by Ruckert. Zach breaks the sack attempt but throws a pass that should've been picked. Bad throw, bad decision. Either throw it to Ruckert on the sit down inside or throw it OOB. Ineligible man downfield penalty negates the play though.(2-5, 32 yards)

5:25, 1st & 15: 11 personnel, 2x2 look. Bad throw by Zach. Another example of him not being able to throw with anticipation. If you wanna throw this ball, it should be out before GW throttles down and gives the CB the read. Honestly, this is a ball that just shouldn't have been thrown period though. Bad, bad decision by Zach. (2-6, 32 yards, 1 INT)

2:23, 2nd & 9: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach throws a back shoulder ball to GW who can't make a really tough catch. Don't hate this decision from Zach. Still incomplete. (2-7, 32 yards, 1 INT)

2:18, 3rd & 9: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach sees nothing and takes off. Rushes for a gain of 7. Drive is extended by the fake punt though. (2-7, 32 yards, 1 INT, 1 rush, 7 yards)

1:54, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, 2x2. Zach again sees nothing and takes off for a gain of 4. (2-7, 32 yards, 1 INT, 2 rushes, 11 yards)

1:28, 2nd & 6: 11 personnel, trips right. Buffalo brings pressure through the A gap. Zach dirts the ball. (2-8, 32 yards, 1 INT, 2 rushes, 11 yards)

1:24, 3rd & 6: 11 personnel, empty set, trips right. Carter Warren just completely whiffs on his assignment and allows the DE to come untouched off the left side. Zach scrambles out and rushes for a gain of 4. Def gonna miss Zach's mobility in the pocket going forward. (2-8, 32 yards, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

1:18, 4th & 2: 11 personnel, empty set, trips bunch right. Good mesh call by Hackett here. Breece runs a drag from left to right and ends up wide open. Zach hits him across the middle and Breece goes for a gain of 15. Well done all around. (3-9, 47 yards, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

1:05, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips left. Zach hits Breece as his checkdown and Breece gains 11. (4-10, 58 yards, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

0:55, 1st & Goal: 11 personnel, empty set, trips left. Lazard runs a slant from the left side, Zach hits him, albeit maybe slightly high but still a very catchable ball. Lazard does Lazard things and drops it. Incomplete. (4-11, 58 yards, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

0:50, 2nd & Goal: 11 personnel, trips left. Slip screen to Breece. Zach hits him and Breece breaks a tackle and takes it into the EZ for a TD. Felt good to finally break the TD seal. Little did we know, that would be the only highlight of the night. (5-12, 67 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

Not gonna break down the 2PT conversion. It was a clusterf***.

First Half Breakdown:
It's a bad half from Zach. He's not doing anything that someone else couldn't do. To be fair, his OL and receivers let him down on multiple occasions but he's still bad. 5-12 for 67 yards is objectively bad by any measure/metric.

3rd Quarter:
9:54, 2nd & 8: 12 personnel. PA pass. Nothing going, and multiple OL are beat. Zach breaks contain and goes to the sideline and gets back to the LOS but gets tackled by his HC. ESPN called it a sack, so doesn't go towards his stats. (5-12, 67 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

8:13, 2nd & 3: 21 personnel, Pony package. Breece goes in motion to the right flat. Fake sweep, jailbreak screen to GW. Good throw from Zach but GW drops it. Had a guy on him so wouldn't have mattered much anyway. (5-13, 67 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards)

8:07, 3rd & 3: 11 personnel, trips bunch right. Maybe this was a designed QB draw? Zach takes off immediately into the interior DL but gets back to the LOS. (5-13, 67 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 rushes, 15 yards)

5:51, 2nd & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Conklin runs a sit down from the right side of the formation. Zach hits him for a gain of 13. (6-14, 80 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 rushes, 15 yards)

5:23, 1st & 10: 11 personnel, trips right. Slip screen to Breece. Defense sniffs it put quickly. After some juking and jiving, Breece only gains 1 yard. (7-15, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 rushes, 15 yards)

4:02, 3rd & 6: 11 personnel, empty set, trips left. Zach has Gipson open but does he get the first? Probably not. Warren gets bull rushed into Zach's lap and his man eventually sacks Zach. How appropriate that Zach's final play as a Jet is a sack. (7-15, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 rushes, 15 yards)

Half by Half Breakdown:
1st Half:
5-12, 67 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 rushes, 15 yards

2nd Half:
2-3, 14 yards, 1 rush, 0 yards

Total:
7-15, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 rushes, 15 yards

TLDR; Not much to say, this is just your classic Zach performance. Decent for maybe a drive (the final drive going into half) but borderline unplayable the rest of the time. To be fair, the OL and WRs did him no favors but Zach obviously wasn't helping things either. Zach played his way into being benched against the Bills and this is most likely the last time I'll have to do one of these breakdowns for Zach, which is bitter sweet. I had hoped (along with most of you, I'm sure) for the longest time that he would be the franchise's savior and the FQB we've all hoped would arrive for so long. Alas, he's just the next in a long line of busts that we've used a 1st round pick on for the last few decades.

Hopefully this YT channel does these for Boyle/Siemian going forward because I'd like to continue doing this but we'll see! Maybe Boyle or Siemian will make these breakdowns a little more fun too!