WR Wilson: Jets’ long skid vs. Pats ‘unacceptable’

Last updated: 2023/09/20 at 6:14 PM

BigP Published September 20, 2023

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterSep 19, 2023, 03:26 PM ET
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The New York Jets have lost 14 straight games to the New England Patriots. Enough is enough, according to Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

“It’s time that things change around here,” Wilson said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on ESPN New York’s “Bart & Hahn” show. “I don’t like talking about it too much, but this is one of the first steps. Fourteen straight is unacceptable. That’s unacceptable. I’m 0-2 against them. That’s unacceptable.”

The Jets (1-1) will get a chance to end the streak Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

“I inherited — I walked into a team that, we haven’t beaten the Patriots,” the 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year said. “I feel like that’s why they brought me here, brought me and Sauce [Gardner] here and the guys here — to make things like that change. It’s time we do what we get paid for.”

Wilson wasn’t old enough to drive the last time the Jets beat the Patriots. It was Dec. 27, 2015, when he was 15 years old.

The streak is on the verge of historic levels. With a win, the Patriots (0-2) would tie their longest win streak versus any single opponent in franchise history. It also would tie the NFL’s longest active winning streak against one opponent. The Kansas City Chiefs have won 15 straight over the Denver Broncos.

The longest streak in league history is 20 — the Miami Dolphins (1970-1979) over the Buffalo Bills.

“It’ll fuel me throughout the week, honestly,” said Wilson, who has scored the Jets’ only two touchdowns this season.

Quarterback Zach Wilson, making his second start for the injured Aaron Rodgers, has played some of his worst games against the Patriots — a four-interception game (2021) and a three-interception game (2022).

His most infamous outing against them came last Nov. 20, when he completed only nine of 22 passes for 77 yards — a 10-3 loss. In the postgame news conference, he declined to accept any responsibility for the loss. Three days later, he was benched for the first time in his career.