The outlook on the New York Jets has drastically changed entering the team’s Week 2 road matchup against the Dallas Cowboys despite beating the Buffalo Bills in overtime. Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending torn Achilles on his first offensive drive versus the Bills in Week 1, which has seen the Jets go from slight underdogs to nearly double-digit underdogs for Sunday’s meeting with the Cowboys.
Zach Wilson is slated to start under center for New York against an elite Dallas defense that just blanked the New York Giants to open the season. It will be a battle between two of the elite defensive units in the NFL on Sunday.
Buy Jets TicketsAhead of a pivotal matchup versus the Cowboys, we have six players to watch for the Jets in Week 2.
QB Zach Wilson
Many people speculated the Jets could acquire another veteran quarterback when Rodgers went down with an injury, but Robert Saleh continues to endorse Wilson as the starting quarterback moving forward. After facing the Bills on Monday night, next up for Wilson is the Cowboys, who boast arguably the best defense in the league.
We’ve seen Wilson struggle as a starter in his young career and the Cowboys just sacked Daniel Jones seven times and forced three turnovers while winning 40-0 on the road in Week 1. Wilson doesn’t have a lack of weapons to work with, but having success against this Cowboys defense is going to be a tall task.
RB Breece Hall
One of the positives from Monday night’s improbable overtime win over the Bills was Breece Hall looked fantastic in his first game back from a torn ACL. The explosive back finished with 147 yards from scrimmage on 11 touches, including an 83-yard run in the first half.
Hall shared the backfield with veteran Dalvin Cook in Week 1, but the second-year back looked much better with a limited workload. If the Jets want to have any chance of pulling off the upset against the Cowboys in Week 2, they’ll need to give Hall more touches on Sunday.
WR Garrett Wilson
Garrett Wilson was primed for a special season in 2023 with Rodgers targeting him. While Wilson made a fantastic touchdown reception on Monday night — on a bad throw from Wilson — he has struggled when having the young signal-caller operate the offense.
In Week 1, the Cowboys allowed Jones to throw for only 104 yards on 28 passing attempts. Wilson is going to lock into targeting his star wide receiver in Week 2 and the Cowboys are certainly going to gameplan to slow him down. Nathaniel Hackett and the Jets need to get creative to give Wilson opportunities to make plays in the passing game.
DT Quinton Jefferson
On Monday night versus the Bills, the Jets’ defense was fantastic on all three levels of the field. Along the defensive front, Quinton Jefferson impressed with three tackles and a team-high two sacks on Josh Allen in Week 1.
The veteran defensive tackle helped New York’s defense finish with five sacks while Allen was under duress all game. Jefferson wreaked havoc from the interior to begin the season and he’ll need to put together another productive outing in Week 2 to prevent Dak Prescott from finding his rhythm.
DE Jermaine Johnson
Another standout player in New York’s pass-rushing unit from Week 1 was Jermaine Johnson. Johnson tallied five tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack in the win over Buffalo.
The second-year edge rusher came into this season extra-motivated following a quiet rookie campaign in 2022 with a limited role. Johnson started in place of veteran Carl Lawson in Week 1, and if he continues to excel with an expanded role, it’ll be tough for the Jets to keep him off the field moving forward.
CB Michael Carter II
It was Sauce Gardner who drew the toughest task among the cornerbacks on the Jets as he had to cover Stefon Diggs in Week 1. We may see Gardner matched up with CeeDee Lamb in certain moments on Sunday, but the Cowboys are going to scheme up ways to get their big-play wideout away from the All-Pro corner.
The cornerback who will likely see plenty of Lamb in Week 2 is Michael Carter II. Carter posted five tackles in the season opener and he’ll continue to operate as the slot cornerback for the Jets. The Cowboys prefer to have Lamb operate out of the slot as it creates mismatches for opposing defenses.
