We should have known that the Adam Gase era of Jets was doomed from the start

The Jets lost to the Dolphins 20-3 on Sunday, falling to 0-11 this season. Here are some thoughts and observations of the game:

1. There are so many overwhelming things about the Adam Gase era that it’s hard to prioritize which one outperforms the others. You could spend hours compiling statistics that show how much the Jets have been under his watch. But for me, perhaps the most overwhelming thing is this: the team have no identities on either side of the ball 27 games after arriving here.

What are the Jets as a misdemeanor? They are not too physical. They are not too finesse. They do not prepare for the pass with the run or prepare for the race with the pass. They throw a lot of wide receiving screens and hand the ball to Frank Gore a bunch.

What are the Jets for defense? Announcers love to talk about how aggressive defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is every week. Maybe it was true once, but not now. Now Williams is afraid of blitzing most of the time because he has no faith in his cornerbacks. The Jets don’t squeeze the passer well. They don’t play cover well. They are decent against the race.

I have never felt a vision for this team in two years. Honestly, I haven’t felt a vision since Rex Ryan was the coach. Todd Bowles also struggled in this department. You knew when Ryan was here the Jets wanted to run the ball and play good defense. In its first two years it worked.

When I think back to Gase’s introductory press conference, the biggest issue wasn’t his eyes, but his vision. Everyone had fun with the memes in his eyes. But Gase didn’t say anything substantive that day about his vision for the team. It was disturbing. You try not to put too much value in press conferences, but this problem has been realized.

Whoever replaces Gase needs to have a firm vision of how they want their team to play on both sides of the ball, what kind of players they want here and be able to explain it to everyone from property to fans.

2. We ran this stretch run as a ‘tryout’ for Sam Darnold to see if he can show he deserves to be the Jets quarterback in the future or if the team needs to move on. something else. I think Sunday showed the problem with this idea. We know what Darnold is. Five games at the end of this miserable season will not change anything. If Darnold plays well against the Raiders on Sunday, are you going to be convinced he’s the guy?

There’s just too much evidence that Darnold isn’t the franchise quarterback the Jets thought they would draft in 2018. That’s not all about Darnold, of course. The organization did not help him in their choice of coaches and players around him. But Darnold is also widely blamed here. His poor decision-making was on display again on Sunday. Darnold’s first interception was inexcusable. That was Darnold’s concern coming out of USC. He turned the ball around a lot in his senior year in college. He didn’t disappear into the NFL.

There are still people in the NFL who believe Darnold can be saved if he goes to a team with a better cast and better coaching staff. I think Darnold would benefit from just sitting and watching for a year. It might help him clear his mind and make it 100% physically. Maybe a fresh start will help him, but it’s clear he’s not changing things with the Jets.

3. The play call was in the spotlight again, especially who called Gase’s plays and post-match responses to it.

Here’s my read on the situation: Gase has gradually taken over more play-calls from Dowell Loggains since he handed him the floor against the Bills last month. It’s pretty clear, and they’ve said it, that Gase is involved again. I think the two separate the game, but Gase doesn’t want to reveal exactly how as he sees it as a competitive advantage. He doesn’t want the opponent to know if he calls all parts of the red zone or if Loggains calls all play-action passes. Smart coaches can have a read on the play appeal this way.

Where Gase screwed up on Sunday was how he answered questions after the game. He was elusive and threw up a salad of words. I don’t think he was lying on purpose. I think he was trying to avoid answering details about play calls and didn’t do it well. Maybe that’s because he coaches a 0-11 team and just got his ass back from the team that fired him two years ago. Post-game press conferences after losses can be tricky this way.

Either way, I think this is an issue that only gets attention because the Jets stink. The biggest problem that the one who calls the games is the games that are called. It was clearly not good enough on Sunday… again. It doesn’t matter if Gase, Loggains or the security guard calls them.

4. Jets fans can watch the scoreboard in December. No, not to watch the playoff odds for the Jets, but to keep an eye on the Jaguars and the quest for the top pick in the overall standings. Jacksonville made things interesting Sunday against the Browns before losing 27-25. This week, the Jaguars travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. This is followed by games against the Titans, Ravens, Bears and Colts. The matches with the Bears and Vikings seem to be their best chances of victory.

For now, the Jets have a one-game “lead” to the No. 1 pick at 0-11. Jacksonville is 1-10. If the Jets win a game and both teams both go 1-15, Jacksonville will likely get the pick because the Jets have played a more difficult schedule and it will be the tiebreaker. The strength of the schedule will change before the end of the year, but it seems unlikely that the two teams will change positions.

That leaves the Jets fans looking for their team’s defeat and the Jaguars to get another win to give them some breathing space.

Reveal the statistic

Tyreek Hill had 269 receiving yards on Sunday against the Buccaneers. The Jets totaled 260 yards.

Surprising number of shots

The ball carrier’s rotation continues to be confusing. Frank Gore got 58% of offensive shots (32) and Ty Johnson 18% (10) with Josh Adams getting one. Gore had some productive runs on Sunday but it would be nice to see Johnson have more chances.

Game ball

It was another good game for Quinnen Williams, who continues to be one of the only bright spots for this team. He had seven tackles, 1 ½ sacks, three quarterback hits, two defensive passes and a forced fumble.