Second overall pick Zach Wilson’s rookie season has had its fair share of insanity. A rocky start was followed by an injury. Now, the best game of his young NFL career has been overshadowed by a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. As Wilson was going shot-for-shot with future Hall-of-Famer, known Jets killer, and probably the greatest player of all-time, Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Antonio Brown managed to make everyone forget everything. 

Brown’s legacy is a complicated one, which also starts with him being the best wide receiver, and maybe even player, in the league with the Steelers. He had a falling out with Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and forced a trade to the Raiders. In a stretch that lasted just one training camp, Brown got serious frostbite on his feet, refused to wear a league-approved helmet, entered practice on a hot air balloon, and called the team’s General Manager a “cracker.” Two more teams, a sexual assault allegation, and a lengthy suspension for providing a fake vaccination card later, and Brown was seeing his team losing to the last-place Jets by two touchdowns. 

Potentially after Head Coach Bruce Arians benched Brown, he exploded. Against the pleas of fellow receiver Mike Evans, Brown pulled off all of his upper equipment, leaving it on the sideline, then took off his undershirt and threw it into the crowd. The 33-year-old proceeded to run into the endzone, away from the play where the Bucs were continuing an offense drive. He signaled a peace sign to the crowd and ran off into the locker room, never to be seen again. His response? A cryptic tweet with a picture of himself, and the caption of “Super Gremlin,” referencing the title of a song by Kodak Black. 

Brown’s Bucs were able to pull off the comeback, scoring with 15 seconds remaining to take the lead. However, they would not be his Bucs for much longer, with Arians proclaiming to reporters that the star receiver was to be released immediately for his actions. 

While this story is fun, the actual football is what truly matters in the end. Wilson did look really good, completing 19 of 33 passes for 234 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. That line would look a lot better except for a few times where he just discarded the ball to avoid a sack, plus a few rushing touchdowns. 

While Tampa Bay was missing some key defenders, they still have a great defense. For a rookie quarterback to put up those numbers against that good of a team without his top three receivers, all of which were injured, his third-string tackle in, and his fourth-string tight end getting a majority of snaps, is impressive. Especially when the only player taken above Wilson in 2021’s draft, Trevor Lawrence, struggled versus New England.

As the Jets fell to 4-12 on the season, with just one more game to go, there were many positives, such as coming within a score of football’s reigning champs.

The biggest standouts, besides Wilson, were receiver Braxton Berrios and corner Brandin Echols. Berrios had two touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing, while Echols intercepted Brady, then got him to sign the ball after the game. The team record may be bad, but luck up, Jets fans! It could be worse! Like the Giants, who just had -10 team passing yards against the hopeless Bears. Being the best team in New York, er, New Jersey, is not a great accomplishment, but still something!