The New York Jets' star receiver's high-target game leads to a historic low

New York Jets star receiver Garrett Wilson made NFL history in London, but in a surprising and unusual way for someone of his caliber. While Wilson's performance was far from a highlight day, it was still a notable achievement as he recorded the fewest receiving yards on the most targets in a single game since 2015.

In the Jets' 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Wilson saw 22 passes thrown to him by Aaron Rodgers. That was the most goals scored by an NFL player since Antonio Brown scored the same number in 2015. Normally, so many chances spell a monster game for a receiver, but Wilson ended up with just 101 receiving yards. It's a solid number on its own, but given the sheer volume of targets, it's significant as it's the second-lowest yardage total of any receiver with 20 or more targets since 2006. The only player to score fewer yards with such a high target count? Davante Adams, who also came from Rodgers in 2015 and only managed 79 yards on 21 targets.

Wilson still managed a career-best 13 catches, one of which was a crucial 1-yard touchdown that brought the Jets within three points late in the game. But overall, the game told a story of missed opportunities and inefficiency for both Wilson and the Jets' offense. Although Rodgers obviously tried to get Wilson involved as much as possible, their connection was broken at times as they appeared out of sync on several key plays.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Wilson's record day is that it highlights the larger problems of a Jets offense that has sputtered. This was not a reflection of Wilson's talent, but rather a sign of the team's larger problems.

Rodgers and Wilson worked all season to build chemistry, but the offense was inconsistent and flashes of potential were quickly followed by mistakes. While the high target count is encouraging in some ways, it also suggests that Rodgers may be forcing the ball to Wilson out of necessity, either because other receivers aren't open or because Rodgers trusts Wilson the most.

Whatever the case, it didn't work and the Jets lost their second straight game, plagued by turnovers and a lack of execution on offense.