Adam Gase's first season with the Jets looks like his last season with his Jets. There's certainly an open-and-shut case to be made for that after his team fell to 1-7 with Sunday's horrendous 26-15 to the previously winless Dolphins.
Gase went 7-9 with Miami in his final season as coach there before being fired — and then hired — by New York. Halfway through 2019, the Jets look worse with Gase than the 4-12 last-place team from 2018.
The Jets have dealt with a lot of injuries, offensively and defensively. But between veterans and youngsters, they also have some good healthy talent on the field. On paper, this team should still handle the depleted Dolphins. Instead, they continue to go through the motions with Gase.
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Gase was probably too busy putting out fires with two of his best players (Le'Veon Bell's usage and Jamal Adams' trade rumors) to devise a winning offensive game plan vs. a shell of a defense whose personnel weaknesses he should know inside-out. Meanwhile, his defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, made former Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick look like a Hall of Famer instead of stopgap journeyman.
Sam Darnold has majorly regressed with his quarterback play and Bell isn't getting the ball out the backfield when games are on the line, giving further support to the rumor Gase didn't really want the team to sign him. The Jets worked hard to upgrade at receiver, but you would never guess that with listless passing production. There are plenty of teams that are undergoing offensive line concerns, but none has looked as dysfunctional and rhythmless as the Jets.
Williams was brought in to rev up the edge pass rush with his blitzing style, and planned to do it with a base 3-4 defense that deviated from his career norm. His injury hurdle has been mostly at linebacker, but that's no excuse for undisciplined and lost play in the back seven.
So we're not sure what Gase or Williams is doing, coaching-wise, to make the Jets' better. They're inept at passing, running, blocking, tackling and covering. The players aren't being put in positions to succeed. No wonders frustrations are mounting for even mostly good soldiers such as Bell and Adams.
The Jets entered Sunday's game as a top-half team in terms of penalties, and they exploded against the Dolphins, drawing 10 flags that were accepted for 105 yards. The Jets were No. 24 in third-down defense going into the game, and the Dolphins converted at 50 percent.
The Jets also had the worst third-down offense in the NFL, and they converted only 4 of 13 against the Dolphins. New York also went into the game ranked 26th in red-zone defense, and they lost the game in the second quarter when Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes inside the 20.
However you look at the Jets, offensively or defensively, in every-down or situational football, they stink. They lack execution, energy and enthusiasm. It's a total system failure.
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And beyond the embarrassment on the field, there was something even more telling about their overall ineptitude. Gase was caught several times sitting all by his lonesome on the sideline.
Adam Gase sitting all alone on the bench is, simply put, an incredible image #Jets pic.twitter.com/NLDSwjjVDt
— Conor the Mick (@TheNJMick) November 3, 2019
When the Jets rudely dismissed general manager Mike Maccagnan during an offseason in which it made reasonable free-agent moves and viable draft picks, they handed all control of their 2019 fate to Gase, with a big assist from Williams. In that sense, they deserve this disaster. Gase has proved to be awful in every way as a schemer and leader. The only thing they can do to save face is part ways with Gase sooner rather than later, and accept and learn from the monumental mistake they have made.
For now, they'll need to live with the fact their decision to go with the ex-Dolphins coach has made them — and not the Dolphins — the unquestioned biggest joke of an NFL team in 2019.
