Most fans and analysts believed that, after their humiliating 30-10 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, the New York Jets had already hit rock bottom in the 2025 season and had nowhere to go but up. Unfortunately for the Jets, they forgot about Door No. 2: staying right where they are at the bottom.
To be fair to the Jets, they fought back and made this one a close game. After a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown to take the lead, it became an exciting ball game. But they just couldn’t recover from a litany of early-game mistakes and they fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
At 0-3 on the season, the Jets are practically eliminated now from playoff contention. It’s been a rough start to the Aaron Glenn era in New York, but there’s at least some silver linings from this week’s loss. Here are the three players who deserve the most credit for that.
Will McDonald
The man of the hour has to be McDonald, who blocked the field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter and gave the Jets a real chance to win. He didn’t contribute much else on the day in this one, but that was as big of a play as it gets, especially in that situation.
No way!!! The #Jets block the #Bucs FG and Will McDonald takes it back for a go-ahead TD.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 21, 2025
WHAT IS HAPPENING!! pic.twitter.com/kxZA7PrETK
Tyrod Taylor
While he didn’t do anything spectacular on Sunday, Taylor played a steady game while filling in for Justin Fields, who was ruled out for Week 3 with a concussion. Taylor completed 26 of 36 passes for a pedestrian 197 yards and two touchdowns while only throwing one interception. You can’t ask for much more than that from a backup quarterback, and it was almost enough to get the win.
Garrett Wilson
While far from his best game, Wilson produced some solid numbers, corralling 10 of 13 targets for 84 yards and a touchdown. He may have had some more explosive plays had Fields played on Sunday, but with the backup quarterback in it was a respectable showing.