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You have to wonder if Adam Gase
is mentally fried to a degree right now.
Whatever you think of him as an offensive play-caller, I’m not even sure we are seeing the best of what he can do.
Honestly, he seemed like a better play-caller in Miami. I remember covering Jets-Dolphins games thinking, “This guy’s okay.”
Some of you might totally disagree about Miami, but I’m telling you, the Jets aren’t even getting the Miami Adam Gase.
I think going from the frying pan to the fryer, right from the Miami job, to the Jets job, with no break, and then having that disastrous opening press conference, he’s never lived down, and becoming public enemy #1 with Jets fans, has clearly put a tremendous mental strain on him, and might be impacting the job he’s doing as the Jets’ head coach.
Maybe it would’ve been better for him to take a coordinator job after leaving Miami, re-charge his head coaching battery, learn from his mistakes as a first-time head coach (like Bill Belichick did), and then perhaps re-emerge as a head coaching candidate a couple of years later.
Even though the Jets don’t have the best personnel, some of the decisions being made, even within the framework of an average roster, leaving you scratching your head.
In the second quarter, with the Jets down just 7-0, and Joe Flacco leading them on a long drive, they had the ball on the 13 with a third-and-one. On the first play, they ran TE Trevon Wesco up the middle for no gain. This is what’s called a “dive play” where you surprise the defense by giving the ball to the lead blocker instead of the tailback. But this usually works a lot better with a squatty fullback built low to the ground, not a 6-3 tight end with long legs. Wesco is too tall for this play. Then on the next play, they ran Le’Veon Bell up the middle for no gain. Bell isn’t a good short-yardage back because of his running style, where he takes extra time to search for hole before forging ahead. You can’t do that on fourth-and-one. 5-8, 215-pound Frank Gore, with his low center of gravity, and one-cut running style, should have been the runner of both tries, if the first one didn’t work. This is a no-brainer. You could think Gase would know this since he loves Gore and had him in Miami.
And why would you run two trick plays in a row? Early in the fourth quarter, the Jets ran a reverse to Braxton Berrios that gained 13 yards. On the next play, they tried a halfback option with WR Jeff Smith, and he was sacked by safety Budda Baker for a loss of 16. You should never run tricks plays on consecutive plays. Because the first one caught them by surprise, so they are thinking heavily about trick plays after getting beat on one.
I’m telling you, right now, the Jets aren’t even getting the Miami Adam Gase right now. He might be mentally fried. It’s been an insane year-and-half for Gase, and it’s probably taken a toll on him. Don’t you think?
And he seems to have no control over Gregg Williams, who’s having a rough season as Jets defensive coordinator. His personnel decision on defense are a problem. Seemingly every time he puts Nathan Shepherd on the field, he’s gashed for a big run, so why does he keep doing it? Why does he have Jordan Jenkins, who lacks ideal speed to set the edge, out there setting the edge against Kyler Murray? You saw what happened on that TD run to the left side.
Does Williams think he’s going to get good pressure on the QB with the end combination he was used a lot today, Jenkins and Kyle Phillips, who both lack quick-twitch? There were plays where Murray could have knit a blanket back there.
Does anybody say “boo” to Williams about who he’s playing out there?
There is only one way out of this mess for Christopher Johnson. Only one! He can’t consult with lawyers/business people/PR executives about what’s going on with his team right, but he needs to promote Joe Douglas to football czar, and make everyone in the football operation report to him. Leaning on lawyers and money-managers now isn’t the way to go, and I’m not being flippant. That’s what got Johnson in trouble in the past.
Promote Joe, and say he will be making all football decisions, including about the coaching staff, moving forward. To me, that is the only way out.
October 11, 2020
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