Peyton Manning sounds off on Zach Wilson over Jets QB's poor show replacing Aaron Rodgers
Peyton Manning sounded like a Jets fan as he bemoaned Zach Wilson's play after replacing Aaron Rodgers. The veteran quarterback exited with a leg injury and we will know more about it in the coming days. But he was done for the game after the opening drive.
Zach Wilson came in to replace the man who was supposed to replace him. And while he did have a few good moments that would have built confidence, his overall shortfalls were there to be seen. It is the precise reason coach Robert Saleh wanted Aaron Rodgers to be the starting quarterback.
To put into perspective how bad the Jets' replacement quarterback was, Josh Allen had thrown three interceptions going into the fourth quarter and only a single touchdown. The Bills had only put up 13 points on board. The problem was that the Jets only had six points.
Peyton Manning was watching all the action unfold on ManningCast. After a particularly bad play, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback was scathing about the outlook. When Eli Manning asked his brother how many more throws the Jets quarterback should get, he was emphatic that there should not be any more than a few.
Garrett Wilson bails Zach Wilson out
As bad as Zach Wilson was, he did get going in the fourth quarter. He threw some passes to Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard to set up a 1st-and-goal. He took some yards off the distance with his legs. But then his bad habit nearly let him down as he threw a pass to the end zone toward Garrett Wilson.
It was not an accurate pass and could have been intercepted. Instead, the wide receiver batted it away from the defensive back in the first movement. Then with the same hand, he made a one-handed catch. The touchdown and the conversion tied the game at 13-13.
Peyton Manning sympathizes with Aaron Rodgers
Peyton Manning knows how it feels to have a franchise think of you as the savior. He knew that fans felt the same when he went to the Denver Broncos after his stint with the Indianapolis Colts.
He was visibly shaken when Aaron Rodgers was injured. He was even more disbelieving when the cart came out because his experience told him that it was probably the game over for the quarterback at that point.
Manning had to wait for more than a couple of years to win the Super Bowl with the Broncos and did not get it immediately. The Jets fans will now hope that if Aaron Rodgers does not come out again this season, he still hangs around for a bit.