After last week’s poor performance in Buffalo, head coach Adam Gase stressed urgency for getting out to a fast start on offense. That fast start didn’t happen this week against the 49ers.
The injury cart came out twice in three plays for two key players on the 49ers. A few more key players for San Francisco eventually were sidelined due to injury. And it still wasn’t enough for the Jets to figure out a way to win this game.
A banged-up Jimmy Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes before leaving the game with an ankle injury. Raheem Mostert ran 80 yards on the first play from scrimmage for a touchdown, he also left this game later with an injury.
The 49ers, despite the setbacks, spoiled the Jets’ home opener with a 31-13 victory, Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
It was another low-spirited performance by the Jets that has Adam Gase on the hotseat. Yes, I know team ownership gave him a vote of confidence last week as this team’s head coach. And quite frankly, I feel more confident in the Jets coming back from their 0-2 start this season to win the Super Bowl than I do Gase keeping his job.
My 3 Takeaways won’t do this week enough justice. But let me pinpoint where the wheels fell off again for this team …
The Jets, already trailing 7-0, were set up deep in San Francisco territory on the 18-yard line. Instead of taking advantage of a red zone opportunity, the Jets wound up in a third and long situation. The result was a 41-yard field goal by Sam Ficken.
With the game moving in the wrong direction, the Jets again had an opportunity to get going. In the closing minutes of the second quarter, trailing 14-3, the Jets failed to move the chains after starting at the 49ers 29-yard line. When Josh Adams was stopped on a fourth-and-1, the 49ers took over.
San Francisco, unlike the Jets, executed when they needed to. They took over on downs and marched 80 yards down the field. Tight end Jordan Reed, back and looking like his old self, capped off a 13-play drive with a touchdown catch. It was the second touchdown of the game for Reed, it also helped give San Francisco a 21-3 lead at halftime.
“At the time, I thought I was going to go to a certain play and then I changed my mind,” Gase said after the game. “Frank came out and Josh had to come in. It was not an ideal situation for what we want. If we block the guy we’re supposed to block, we get the first down, but we didn’t block the Mike linebacker.”
Well, how does that happen? Because Gase ran Frank Gore on three consecutive downs before that fourth down. There could’ve been a pass play called on first or second down. This is where Gase is supposed to find a creative way of moving the chains. Instead, he failed.
And it’s not just Gase and the offense that’s struggling …
This entire team is giving fans a headache and critics a reason to smile. On the first play from scrimmage, the defense allows Mostert to run 80 yards for a touchdown.
“Honestly, we just have to be dialed in 100 percent of the time,” Linebacker Jordan Jenkins told reporters after the game. “We can’t be right nine of 10 plays and have that one play you’re not right on. We’re going to pay for it.”
The Jets paid for it right from the start and never recovered. That wasn’t, however, the only big play the defense allowed.
At the start of the second half, after the offense failed again to do anything with the ball, the defense backed the 49ers into a ridiculous third-and-31 from their 11-yard line. We know the 49ers won’t try anything crazy on this down, so they’ll simply hand off the football for a few yards and prepare to punt on fourth down … right?
Well here come the Jets, fully stocked, with gift-wrapping paper.
Running back Jerick McKinnon, replacing the injured Mostert, runs 55 yards to the Jets’ 34 – picking up a first down.
Because this is a site where we cater to the casual sports fan, allow me to simplify this…
The 49ers needed 31 yards to pick up a first down. That’s more than double the normal 10 yards teams get four downs (attempts) to pick that up. The Jets, on that one play, gave up 55 yards where they should’ve stopped their opponent and put themselves in position to get back the football.
The 49ers, of course, went on to make a 46-yard field goal and increase their lead to 24-3. That, my friends, was the ballgame.
This just isn’t working …
This week there were an uncharacteristic amount of injuries in this game and throughout the league. Furthermore, without Le’Veon Bell and Jamison Crowder, the Jets were already coming into this game without key players on offense. It’s no excuse, however, for how bad they looked out there.
And the finger must be pointed at the head coach, Adam Gase.
When you give up a first down on third-and-31, it indicates the team has already checked out mentally for the day.
I’ve been on the fence with any conversations about firing Adam Gase. I try to leave emotion at the door immediately after watching a game. It’s a work in progress. However, what the Jets are doing right now simply can’t continue.
After it was all over, I watched the Jets postgame press conference specifically for what Gase had to say. I wanted to hear his tone as much as his answers to questions about the game. You can tell a lot about someone’s leadership abilities just from listening to their tone.
I wanted to get up afterwards feeling confident Gase knows what he’s doing. I wanted to believe he’ll figure this out and get the Jets turned around for the better. But there’s no escaping the helpless feeling this team leaves their fans with every week. There’s no reason to believe the Jets can fix their problems while under his leadership.
I want to be wrong about Adam Gase, but we can’t ignore the obvious
The Jets, with Sam Darnold, have a quarterback loaded with potential. Gase was brought in to help develop Darnold, however, he’s only helped him regress.
Le’Veon Bell has regressed since signing with the Jets. Jamal Adams couldn’t take it anymore, the All-Pro safety talked himself out of town and into a better situation with Seattle. How many more times can Darnold say all the right things after another frustrating loss? How much longer before he, like Adams, decides to look elsewhere?
We’re only two weeks into the season, but the Jets haven’t given us a reason to think they’ll improve. Adam Gase hasn’t given us a reason to believe he’ll lead the Jets out of their mess.
But he’s already given us plenty of reason to believe he’s more the problem than the solution.
