EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Zach Wilson and the Jets were able to get off to a fast start to open the game this week, but the sputtered out to start the second half. Maybe it was Opposite Day, whatever it was it wasn’t good enough as the Eagles easily pulled away 33-18.

The Jets defense barely put up a fight, Gardner Minshew led the Eagles offense as they cruised to touchdown after touchdown. And up until the last drive of the first half, the Jets were right there, trading touchdowns, with the Eagles. After three straight touchdowns to open the game, Wilson took a sack that ended a drive shortly before halftime. That led to the Eagles tacking on a quick field goal to take a 24-18 halftime lead and the day could’ve ended there because the Jets were done.

All the positive momentum built on those first three drives magically disappeared by halftime. The defense continued to put up minimal resistance and the offense simply couldn’t get back in any type of rhythm.

“They had the ball to finish the first half. Then, they go eight minutes,” Robert Saleh said. “And then, it’s a quick drive for us and then they have the ball again for however many minutes it was. You’re looking at over an hour of real time where our offense was on the field for just a quick minute. So yeah, it does, especially when it’s cold and you’re trying to stay warm and in rhythm. All of that matters.”

It certainly didn’t help that the Jets missed the extra points following their first two touchdowns. They wisely gave up after that, failed to convert the two-pointer on the third touchdown, but this will continue to be a problem. Luckily it’s a low priority problem for now. They’re not good enough to worry about it this year. But they damn sure better get it fixed by next season.

The only real takeaway fans should focus on today was the fact that Wilson looked really good in that first half. Obviously it would’ve been better if he could have sustained it but take what you can get. Today was progress. Today was something that Wilson and the Jets can build upon.

“Yeah, there were definitely improvements,” Wilson said. “I thought I had some good plays as far as just putting my team in the east decision that I can make every single time and just processing as far as getting through guys. Now, the next step come from finding that balance from how I can now go out and use my playmaking ability and also stay within the offense 99 percent of the time. I still think there is a lot of improvement that I can make into next week, but I thought this was a good game to be able to learn, especially there at the end.”