There should be no doubt about this. Not even the benefit of the doubt. Here’s the verdict on first-year Jets head coach Adam Gase:
He is so overmatched as the head coach of the Jets.
In his first season, Gase showed he could be one-and-done as Jets head coach. Any disgruntled Jets fan can make a case the team is even worse with him than they were under Todd Bowles. The Jets played like this all season long. They can’t score, defend or compete. They are 1-6 on merit after a 29-15 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
Watching this season, what Gase and the Jets showed that it will get better? The Jets continue to play like they are on pace to a 3-13 season. Jets CEO Chris Johnson never envisioned this when he hired this “innovator” to coach Sam Darnold and the Jets.
If the Jets finish 1-15, 2-14 or 3-13, it will be a hard sell for Johnson to bring Gase back. The fans are done with him and the players play like they want to be done with him, too.
The Jets quit yesterday just like they have all season when they were behind for most of the game. They did not seem to want to play again. And again, they started the game unprepared and not ready to go, which was noted by CBS color analyst Adam Archuleta in the third quarter. Yes, lack of professionalism reflects on the players, but the Jets paid and hired Gase to have this team up and running the entire game. The head coach sets the tone for everything as a football fan sees with great teams such as the New England Patriots.
Gase can’t offer he has no Darnold excuse anymore since the Jets are playing the same way with their starter back under center. So much interceptions. So much sacks. Put any quarterback in there whether it’s Trevor Siemian, Luke Falk and Darnold, and all results turn out the same.
At this point, the coaching turns out to be a problem. What schemes are being run? What are the Jets doing at practice? Late in the second quarter, the Jets received a delay of game penalty at third-and-6 at the Jets’ 29, which guys had no clue what play to run, and then the Jaguars sacked Darnold in the next play. The Jaguars made the Jets pay for their stupidity by kicking a field goal to give the Jaguars a 19-7 lead at halftime.
It might have well been game over then. Quite frankly, this game was over when the Jaguars took a 6-0 lead after a 4-play, 77-yard touchdown drive aided by a 66-yard run by Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette and Gardner Minshew’s six-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole.
The Jets have not been a good come-from-behind team, which explains their record this season. They offered no reason to believe this day would be any different. Even when Darnold threw a touchdown pass to Ryan Griffin that cut the Jets’ deficit to 22-15 in the fourth quarter, no one got the sense the Jets would win whether it was the Jaguars fans in attendance, ghosts (fans being disguised as one) or viewers watching at home.
The losing may turn out to be the least of Gase’s problems. The quarterback could be his biggest problem, and that’s on Gase since he was hired to make him a star. Outside of him coming back from mononucleosis against the Cowboys, which he played well in the Jets’ 24-22 victory few weeks ago, he has stunk overall.
After coming off a hideous game against the Patriots that featured Darnold throwing four interceptions and being sacked four times to the point he was miked up saying he saw ghosts on Monday Night Football, he played poorly again by being sacked eight times and throwing three interceptions against the Jaguars. His footwork appears to be out of sorts. What exactly Gase is teaching him and how he has gotten worse since the Cowboys game?
The offensive line stinks, but it’s not that bad, either. It comes down to coaching in a sense the schemes Gase is running does not make sense. Remember it was the same problem out in Miami, too.
The Jets are so bad that it’s not out of the question that they can lose to an awful Miami Dolphins team on Sunday in Gase’s homecoming. What the Jets have going for them is the Dolphins have no interest in winning any games this year since they want to get the No. 1 overall pick to draft Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovaiola by being 0-16. So yes, the Jets can get two wins from the Dolphins.
Other than that, where are the wins coming from? The Washington Redskins stink, but they are good enough to beat the Jets. Maybe the Cincinnati Bengals, who are bad themselves. The best the Jets can do is four wins, so that can make the Johnson family keep Gase one more year for the sake of continuity.
Sorry, but that’s not enough for Gase to make a case to coach the Jets next year. This won’t sell the fans, and certainly not the players.
The players played like they want Gase to be fired after this season. Some of them clearly just collect their paycheck and biding time rather than do all they can to win. Some checked out long time ago.
Yes, they should take the blame for what’s going on, but it won’t get better until the coach is gone. There’s no doubt Johnson does not want to make a coaching change after investing in Gase, but he may have no choice.
Seven games shouldn’t be enough to judge a coach, but it has made quite a poor impression to the point he should be coaching for his job. The Jets are worse now than they were last season with no hope in sight.
It might be in the Jets’ best interests that they keep playing bad to the point Jets ownership have not choice but to fire Gase at the end of the season.
