The New York Jets put an end to their five-game skid with an impressive, dominant outing against the Houston Texans in Week 14 with a score of 30-6. For one of the first times this season, the Jets got a collective effort from all three phases to produce a victory.
With the win, the Jets improved to 5-8 on the season as Zach Wilson returned as the starting quarterback following the release of Tim Boyle. After a first half where both teams punted on every offensive drive, the Jets found their rhythm in the second half.
In what was a much-needed win for morale, here are five takeaways from the Jets’ blowout win over the Texans in Week 14.
Zach Wilson had arguably the best game of his career
After being benched in favor of Boyle in Week 11 versus the Buffalo Bills, Wilson was announced as the starting quarterback ahead of Week 14. The third-year quarterback responded by putting together arguably the best game of his career in a rainy game against the Texans. Wilson completed 27 of his 36 attempts for 301 yards and two touchdowns. Sunday’s contest was just the third 300-yard game from Wilson of his career (and his first in 2023).
The running game continues to struggle
Even in a game where they held the lead for the entire second half, the Jets still failed to have success on the ground. Breece Hall led the Jets with 40 yards on 10 attempts, and the team totaled only 79 yards and a score on 26 attempts. Since recording 234 rushing yards against the Denver Broncos in Week 5, the Jets have yet to eclipse 100 rushing yards in a game. We could see Dalvin Cook and rookie Israel Abanikanda mix in more down the stretch to ease Hall’s workload.
The connection between Zach Wilson and Garrett Wilson was strong
While Zach Wilson had a positive outing, it was clear that he and Garrett Wilson were on the same page from early in the game. The second-year wideout led the Jets in targets (14), receptions (9), and receiving yards (108). The talented receiver has consistently been the lone pass catcher who has been effective in the passing game, and that remained true in Week 14. It was a season-high in receiving yards for Wilson, who needs 255 more yards to reach 1,000 yards this season.
The defense shut down the Texans offense
Not many teams have been able to slow down the big-play offense of C.J. Stroud and the Texans thus far, but the Jets shut them down on Sunday. After limiting the Texans to negative four passing yards in the first half, the Jets held the Texans to 135 total yards of offense. Besides registering five sacks, the defense of the Jets allowed just one third-down conversion, and the six points came on a short field following a fumble from Zach Wilson.
Thomas Morstead helped flip the field position consistently
Thomas Morstead has been busy all season with the lack of firepower the offense has provided each week. While the defense did their job of making things difficult on Stroud and the Texans, Morstead helped flip field position a few times on Sunday. The experienced punter logged five punts for an average of 47.6 yards per punt, and three of his punts were pinned inside the 20-yard line.
