There’s no worse feeling than driving off a used car lot thinking that maybe you just got swindled.
The salesman’s presentation was so slick, the pitch so convincing, that you felt that you got the deal of the century. You became enamored by the possibility of turning someone else’s garbage into your gold.
Then, doubt slowly creeps in.
Did you just get sold a bill of goods?
Jets fans have already reached a watershed moment with Adam Gase. Were they duped into thinking that this failed former head coach would be their savior?
Was CEO Christopher Johnson’s declaration that a guy with a career losing record was an “innovator” and “coaching football to where it’s going” just propaganda designed to rile up the masses?
Full disclosure: I believed that Gase was a good hire (even though it would have been just as smart — if not smarter — to hire the forward-thinking Todd Monken to develop Sam Darnold).
Thankfully, I didn’t fork over millions to Gase.
“In this society, everybody wants everything to be perfect right away,” Gase said. “But it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Earth to Adam: Jets fans have endured heartache for the better part of a half century. They haven’t sniffed the playoffs in nearly a decade. They don’t need or deserve a lecture about patience from someone who has yet to win a game for their team.
Truth be told, Gase has some terrific ideas swimming around his head. It’s always been unfair to marginalize him as nothing more than Peyton Manning’s caddie.
It’s premature to bury Gase three games into his Jets tenure, but there have been troubling signs that must be addressed during the bye week.
“He’s never wrong,” said a league source who has worked with Gase in the past. “It’s always somebody else’s fault.”
Know this: The Jets will fail if Gase doesn’t change some specific elements of his leadership style and decision-making.
Gase and his apologists have scurried for excuses for Gang Green’s 0-3 start. But the truth stings. His offense ranks dead last in scoring, total yards, yards per play, passing yards and first downs per game. The Jets are 31st in third-down offense, 28th in rushing and 29th in yards per rush attempt.
Gase has lost six consecutive games as a head coach dating back to last year with the Dolphins. His teams have been outscored, 170-74, during that stretch. The average margin of defeat: 16 points. Gase’s last win: The Miami Miracle on Dec. 9, 2018 (Week 14).
By every objective measure, that stinks to high heaven.
Sam Darnold isn’t going to fix all of the Jets problems »
The folks downing pitchers of Kool-Aid compliments of the head coach have used the quarterback crutch as their primary lifeline for this offensive ineptitude, oblivious to the world around them.
The flawed refrain: How can we expect Gase to function without Darnold?
You know what type of people think like that?
Losers.
A snapshot of the NFL this week reveals that — gasp! — you can actually win games with inexperienced quarterbacks.
Exhibit A: The Panthers lost former NFL MVP Cam Newton. Did Ron Rivera and play caller Norv Turner whine? Nope. They got a second-year undrafted quarterback who spent the bulk of last season on the practice squad (Kyle Allen) to throw four touchdowns and generate 413 total yards in his second career start in a 38-20 road win.
Exhibit B: The Jaguars lost former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. Did Doug Marrone and play caller John DeFilippo feel sorry for themselves? Not exactly. They got a mustachioed rookie sixth-round quarterback (Gardner Minshew) to throw two touchdowns in a primetime win in his second career start.
Exhibit C: The Steelers lost future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger. Did Mike Tomlin and play caller Randy Fichtner cry? No sir. They got second-year, third-rounder Mason Rudolph to throw two touchdowns and take a fourth-quarter lead before Pittsburgh’s defense gave up a game-winning score in the final minute.
Translation: You can play competitive football with an inexperienced signal caller that isn’t a high draft pick.
Gase was propped up by Johnson as a quarterback guru, but every Jets quarterback — including Darnold — hasn’t played well for him to this point. Gase’s offense has generated 11 points in 12 quarters and has been outscored by Gregg Williams’ defense (15 points) for Pete’s sake.
The Jets managed an unthinkable 2.2 yards per play and 105 total yards (third worst in franchise history) on Sunday.
That’s simply unacceptable regardless of the signal caller.
So, it was no secret why Le’Veon Bell admitted that Gase was outcoached after the debacle against the Patriots.
When your best player makes that observation, you need to re-evaluate as a coach.
Will Gase do that?
It’s hard to know. On Sunday, Gase said that his game-plan would have been fine if the players executed his calls. After rightfully getting criticized for that, he walked it back on Monday.
Gase took a similar approach after his team choked away a 16-point lead to the Bills in the season opener. He initially absolved himself and the quarterback from blame, while throwing everyone under the bus. He changed his tune days later after getting public heat. So, it’s hard to truly know whether Gase actually believes what he’s saying after getting criticized.
Gase clearly is flawed, but I’m not ready to say that he can’t evolve. An 0-3 start is humbling, so perhaps he’ll grow and become a real leader through this experience.
Or maybe I’m just naive.
Either way, Gase’s leadership isn’t the only thing that must improve. He needs to be a better at X’s and O’s.
“We kept putting ourselves behind the sticks,” Gase said about his team’s woeful offensive performance in Foxborough. “We basically got knocked out of exactly what we wanted to do.”
Correction: You knocked yourself out of what could have done due to dubious play-calling.
Gase lamented facing too many third-and-longs on Sunday, but a closer look reveals that his decision making on first downs had a significant hand in putting his team in those unenviable positions.
Jets clearly outmatched by Patriots in predictable loss »
In a day and age when passing gets you to the next level, Gase had more than twice as many runs calls (13) than passes (6) on first downs. The Jets produced a grand total of 30 yards on those 13 runs, putting his team behind the sticks.
Smart coaches pass more often on first downs. Instead, Gase believed that running Bell into a wall of defenders made more sense. Then, he criticized his offensive line on Sunday and Monday.
I feel Gase’s pain with the line. His team isn’t close to perfect, but the supposed offensive guru didn’t do much of anything to help his team play competitive football.
He played it safe for the most part. He never actually called the game like he wanted to win it. This was a game that screamed for outside-the-box thinking. An onside kick, a flea-flicker, something unorthodox to try to spark his team.
The notion that the trickery would have been futile is a loser’s mindset. Winners try to figure out ways to make the impossible possible. Losers try to marginalize creativity by saying none of the razzle dazzle would have changed the outcome.
How can we win with all these injuries?!
Gase saved his worst decision for last by punting on 4th and 2 with 2:44 left in the fourth quarter of a two-score game instead of actually trying to win. Roberto Duran would have been proud.
It’s premature to discard Gase, but it’s fair to start wondering. Why should Jets fans have faith that he’s the right guy to turn things around?
“Well, the good thing is I’ve been in this position before,” Gase said when presented the question. “So, what I got to do is basically take this week, kind of get our offense straightened (out)… It’d be nice to get (Darnold) back. That always helps things. Because he makes some bad things go away.”
Gase needs to be honest with himself and stop blaming others. He has potential and promise, but he must make targeted changes in his leadership and decision-making or this entire operation is doomed to fail. He’s been a part of the problem.
It’s up to him to be a part of the solution now.
The salesman’s presentation was so slick, the pitch so convincing, that you felt that you got the deal of the century. You became enamored by the possibility of turning someone else’s garbage into your gold.
Then, doubt slowly creeps in.
Did you just get sold a bill of goods?
Jets fans have already reached a watershed moment with Adam Gase. Were they duped into thinking that this failed former head coach would be their savior?
Was CEO Christopher Johnson’s declaration that a guy with a career losing record was an “innovator” and “coaching football to where it’s going” just propaganda designed to rile up the masses?
Full disclosure: I believed that Gase was a good hire (even though it would have been just as smart — if not smarter — to hire the forward-thinking Todd Monken to develop Sam Darnold).
Thankfully, I didn’t fork over millions to Gase.
“In this society, everybody wants everything to be perfect right away,” Gase said. “But it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Earth to Adam: Jets fans have endured heartache for the better part of a half century. They haven’t sniffed the playoffs in nearly a decade. They don’t need or deserve a lecture about patience from someone who has yet to win a game for their team.
Truth be told, Gase has some terrific ideas swimming around his head. It’s always been unfair to marginalize him as nothing more than Peyton Manning’s caddie.
It’s premature to bury Gase three games into his Jets tenure, but there have been troubling signs that must be addressed during the bye week.
“He’s never wrong,” said a league source who has worked with Gase in the past. “It’s always somebody else’s fault.”
Know this: The Jets will fail if Gase doesn’t change some specific elements of his leadership style and decision-making.
Gase and his apologists have scurried for excuses for Gang Green’s 0-3 start. But the truth stings. His offense ranks dead last in scoring, total yards, yards per play, passing yards and first downs per game. The Jets are 31st in third-down offense, 28th in rushing and 29th in yards per rush attempt.
Gase has lost six consecutive games as a head coach dating back to last year with the Dolphins. His teams have been outscored, 170-74, during that stretch. The average margin of defeat: 16 points. Gase’s last win: The Miami Miracle on Dec. 9, 2018 (Week 14).
By every objective measure, that stinks to high heaven.
Sam Darnold isn’t going to fix all of the Jets problems »
The folks downing pitchers of Kool-Aid compliments of the head coach have used the quarterback crutch as their primary lifeline for this offensive ineptitude, oblivious to the world around them.
The flawed refrain: How can we expect Gase to function without Darnold?
You know what type of people think like that?
Losers.
A snapshot of the NFL this week reveals that — gasp! — you can actually win games with inexperienced quarterbacks.
Exhibit A: The Panthers lost former NFL MVP Cam Newton. Did Ron Rivera and play caller Norv Turner whine? Nope. They got a second-year undrafted quarterback who spent the bulk of last season on the practice squad (Kyle Allen) to throw four touchdowns and generate 413 total yards in his second career start in a 38-20 road win.
Exhibit B: The Jaguars lost former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. Did Doug Marrone and play caller John DeFilippo feel sorry for themselves? Not exactly. They got a mustachioed rookie sixth-round quarterback (Gardner Minshew) to throw two touchdowns in a primetime win in his second career start.
Exhibit C: The Steelers lost future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger. Did Mike Tomlin and play caller Randy Fichtner cry? No sir. They got second-year, third-rounder Mason Rudolph to throw two touchdowns and take a fourth-quarter lead before Pittsburgh’s defense gave up a game-winning score in the final minute.
Translation: You can play competitive football with an inexperienced signal caller that isn’t a high draft pick.
Gase was propped up by Johnson as a quarterback guru, but every Jets quarterback — including Darnold — hasn’t played well for him to this point. Gase’s offense has generated 11 points in 12 quarters and has been outscored by Gregg Williams’ defense (15 points) for Pete’s sake.
The Jets managed an unthinkable 2.2 yards per play and 105 total yards (third worst in franchise history) on Sunday.
That’s simply unacceptable regardless of the signal caller.
So, it was no secret why Le’Veon Bell admitted that Gase was outcoached after the debacle against the Patriots.
When your best player makes that observation, you need to re-evaluate as a coach.
Will Gase do that?
It’s hard to know. On Sunday, Gase said that his game-plan would have been fine if the players executed his calls. After rightfully getting criticized for that, he walked it back on Monday.
Gase took a similar approach after his team choked away a 16-point lead to the Bills in the season opener. He initially absolved himself and the quarterback from blame, while throwing everyone under the bus. He changed his tune days later after getting public heat. So, it’s hard to truly know whether Gase actually believes what he’s saying after getting criticized.
Gase clearly is flawed, but I’m not ready to say that he can’t evolve. An 0-3 start is humbling, so perhaps he’ll grow and become a real leader through this experience.
Or maybe I’m just naive.
Either way, Gase’s leadership isn’t the only thing that must improve. He needs to be a better at X’s and O’s.
“We kept putting ourselves behind the sticks,” Gase said about his team’s woeful offensive performance in Foxborough. “We basically got knocked out of exactly what we wanted to do.”
Correction: You knocked yourself out of what could have done due to dubious play-calling.
Gase lamented facing too many third-and-longs on Sunday, but a closer look reveals that his decision making on first downs had a significant hand in putting his team in those unenviable positions.
Jets clearly outmatched by Patriots in predictable loss »
In a day and age when passing gets you to the next level, Gase had more than twice as many runs calls (13) than passes (6) on first downs. The Jets produced a grand total of 30 yards on those 13 runs, putting his team behind the sticks.
Smart coaches pass more often on first downs. Instead, Gase believed that running Bell into a wall of defenders made more sense. Then, he criticized his offensive line on Sunday and Monday.
I feel Gase’s pain with the line. His team isn’t close to perfect, but the supposed offensive guru didn’t do much of anything to help his team play competitive football.
He played it safe for the most part. He never actually called the game like he wanted to win it. This was a game that screamed for outside-the-box thinking. An onside kick, a flea-flicker, something unorthodox to try to spark his team.
The notion that the trickery would have been futile is a loser’s mindset. Winners try to figure out ways to make the impossible possible. Losers try to marginalize creativity by saying none of the razzle dazzle would have changed the outcome.
How can we win with all these injuries?!
Gase saved his worst decision for last by punting on 4th and 2 with 2:44 left in the fourth quarter of a two-score game instead of actually trying to win. Roberto Duran would have been proud.
It’s premature to discard Gase, but it’s fair to start wondering. Why should Jets fans have faith that he’s the right guy to turn things around?
“Well, the good thing is I’ve been in this position before,” Gase said when presented the question. “So, what I got to do is basically take this week, kind of get our offense straightened (out)… It’d be nice to get (Darnold) back. That always helps things. Because he makes some bad things go away.”
Gase needs to be honest with himself and stop blaming others. He has potential and promise, but he must make targeted changes in his leadership and decision-making or this entire operation is doomed to fail. He’s been a part of the problem.
It’s up to him to be a part of the solution now.
