Entering Week 8, New York Jets’ quarterback Zach Wilson was one of the worst passers in the league while under pressure. Out of 43 qualified quarterbacks, Wilson ranked 43rd in passer rating and 42nd in turnover-worthy play percentage while under pressure.
The Patriots knew success would come if they were able to pressure the 23-year old on Sunday. And it did.
While they recorded just two sacks, Wilson was under duress throughout the afternoon. The result was several dangerous throws into tight coverage, a trio of interceptions, and a strong statical performance in the “boogie oogie” department.
“As a front, just continue to put him under pressure and under duress,” Matthew Judon said postgame. “We wasn't able to get him on the ground, but we was able to get in the backfield and kind of boogie oogie him so he can have some errant throws. So that was really what we tried to do.”
What exactly is boogie oogie?
“Got to put some boogie oogie, oogie on him,” Judon explained. “Force errant throws, man. That’s what we were trying to do. You can’t get him to the ground, get a hand up, hand in his face, and try to make him just throw it out of bounds or errant throw off the mark.”
After the Jets jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first half, New England was able to rattle off 19 unanswered points, largely because of three interceptions on five New York drives.
“We could just tell we were rattling him,” Jabrill Peppers said. “He was kind of throwing up balls for grabs. Once he got off his first look, he was kind of scrambling back there.”
Out of Wilson’s three turnovers, two fell in the hands of Devin McCourty. It was McCourty’s third career two-pick game, as the 35-year safety passed Marcus Peters for the most interceptions among active players (33).
“We love Dev,” Judon said. “He’s ultimate leader, but he's also a team guy. You'll see him on anybody else’s picks, or anyone else’s plays, excited. He’s just happy to get off the field. So when it comes to him, like it did today, we’re all excited for him, we all celebrate with him.”
While McCourty was not familiar with the Patriots boogie oogie success, he was pleased with their overall success against Wilson and the Jets.
“We, wait, what,” McCourty said with a laugh. “It was great man, I think we talked all week about the ability of Zach Wilson to escape the rush, not get sacked, but also the ability of him trying to make a play that we have to do a good job in the secondary of plastering, staying on our receivers and just trying to take advantage of opportunity when the balls in the air.”
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