Jets WR Garrett Wilson and RB Breece Hall each had a strong game on Monday night combining for 276 scrimmage yards to lead the Green & White's offense. After the game, however, the third-year duo was focused on looking for answers to the offense's red zone inefficiency in the 23-20 loss to the Bills at MetLife Stadium.
"It sucks that we left so many plays out there," Hall said. "We had more than enough chances to put the game away. I think we had four trips into the red zone where we should have come away with 7. It was just frustrating."
Wilson added: "We need to be at our best when it is most needed. I know personally I need to find a way to score touchdowns down in the red zone and we need to find a way to not commit penalties and finish drives. You are going to lose games when you kick 3s."
For the first time this season, QBs coach and pass game coordinator Todd Downing called the plays on offense and made it a priority to get the ball into the hands of Hall and Wilson early.
In the first half, Wilson caught 6 passes for 68 yards including 3 receptions for 15-plus yards. Trailing by 7-3 in the first quarter and with a third-and-goal from the Bills 5-yard-line, QB Aaron Rodgers slid up in a collapsing pocket and found Wilson in the back of the end zone for the Jets' first touchdown of the game.
Wilson finished with 8 receptions for 107 yards, his second consecutive game with 8-plus catches and 100-plus yards. However, after the game, Wilson focused on a near-touchdown grab in the third quarter.
"If I had all the answers to why we didn't score more, we would have won that game," Wilson said. "We have got to dig a little deeper and be on our details and not drop the damn ball no matter how hard I get hit. We can't just talk about this, we have to live it."
The play Wilson alluded too came on a third-and-12 from the Bills ' 14-yard-line. Rodgers zipped a pass to Wilson in the end zone, but the ball was knocked from his hands by a hard collision with safeties Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp. The score would have broken a 20-20 tie, but instead led to a missed 32-yard field goal.
For his part, Hall nearly surpassed 100 scrimmage yards in the first half, rushing for 40 on 8 carries (5 yards per attempt) and gaining 45 yards through the air on 2 long receptions. For the game, he cracked 100 scrimmage yards for the 10th time in his career and the second time this season — accumulating 169 yards on 18 rushes for 113 yards (6.3) and 5 receptions for 56 yards.
"It was really only a matter of time before the offense got clicking," Hall said. "The O-line played great, but we just needed to execute better in the red zone. I know Garrett feels the same and we just as an offense need to finish."
Hall's longest run of the day came late in the third quarter on a pitch play. Hall moved past the first wave of defenders and got loose along the sideline before being pushed out at the Buffalo 3-yard-line by Rapp. He kicked himself in the locker room after the game for not reaching the end zone.
"We just need to finish," Hall said. "We need to be better in the red zone. I need to make guys miss one-on-one. Garrett feels like he should have roped a second touchdown in. We hold ourselves to higher standard and need to keep asking ourselves what more we can do, because we can always do more."
