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There is an old saying – “Can’t see the forest for the trees.”
It’s about being too close to a situation and how it can perhaps cloud your judgment.
So when evaluating Zach Wilson, perhaps we need somebody from outside Florham Park, to jump in here and provide some candor.
Former NFL GM Mike Lombardi, is one of the rare straight-shooters in the media evaluating the NFL, in an era where so many people are afraid to say what they truly feel, out of fear of being canceled.
Lombardi held nothing back earlier this week on VSIN, a cable gambling channel he now works for, when talking about Wilson, especially his performance in the Jets’ loss to New England.
“The best quarterback on the field for the Patriots was Zach Wilson – he was the best quarterback on the field for them,” said Lombardi, who worked for the likes of Al Davis, Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick during over three decades working in the league.
That might sound like a wisecrack, and on some level it is, but Mac Jones didn’t have a very good game for New England, and it was two Wilson picks that led to field goals that were the margin of victory.
“Yo Zach, do you realize that the Patriots scored six points (off of picks), they lost by five, they scored six points, and didn’t get a first down to score any of those points?” Lombardi said.
Wilson threw three interceptions overall in the Jets’ 22-17 loss.
“It’s negligence,” Lombardi said about the three picks. “They were just bad throws. They were careless. They were like I don’t really care – here you go. The one on the sideline, he could just throw that thing out of bounds, just throw the ball out of bounds, what are you doing? If they don’t turn the ball over, they win. They averaged 6.7 per play.”
Lombardi feels the way the Jets are built, they can’t win when Wilson throws three reckless picks. If Lombardi was meeting with the team’s brass, what would he say to them?
“We can’t let Wilson beat us,” Lombardi said. “We need to streamline the game plan. Come up with ideas on how he can be most effective and get the ball out of his hands as quickly as we can. 25 passes are going to be the most. Because the more he throws it, the more trouble we’re going to get into.”
Lombardi suggests going back to Wilson’s BYU tape.
“We’ve got to watch all the BYU tape and what he does well,” Lombardi said. “We need to identify what we’re doing offensively. We’ve got to come up with a Zach Wilson plan that he doesn’t beat us.”
That is the second quote where Lombardi talked about not letting Wilson “beat” them.
It’s kind of strange that a team would pick a QB second overall, but would have to have the mindset “we can’t let him beat us,” but clearly that dynamic does exist right now. Maybe not down the road, but right now.
They need to keep the score down.
“The problem with the Jets is they’re not an elite defense as much as people want to make it elite,” Lombardi said. “There is no margin for error. They can’t make mistakes. The game needs to be under 20 and it’s got to be a back and forth game. It [Wilson] turns the ball over (too much), it’s over.”
Today, Quinnen Williams was asked about the challenge of playing Buffalo, perhaps the NFL’s best team.
“Playing a good team like that, you can’t beat yourself,” Williams said.
This wasn’t in reference to the Patriots game or Wilson, just a general quote about the Bills.
But it’s going to be hard for the Jets to beat Buffalo playing a clean game, so if Wilson plays the way he did last year, and turns the ball over, they probably have no chance.
November 2, 2022
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