It’s Time for Adam Gase to Go
New York has no reason to keep the disappointing head coach
Even though it probably won’t be, last night should’ve been Adam Gase’s last game as the head coach of the New York Jets. The now 0–4 Jets lost to the injury-riddled Denver Broncos 37–28. What makes matters worse was Brett Rypien was making his first career start at quarterback. Rypien did his best to help New York get a win, throwing three interceptions (one pick-six). In the end though, the Adam Gase led team failed to secure the victory.
It’s time to admit it was a mistake hiring Gase.
Adam Gase was brought in for two reasons. The first was due to him being a “great offensive mind.” Well clearly that isn’t true. This season the Jets rank near the bottom in every offensive category. That’s after New York put up a season high in points scored, total yards gained, and rushing yards gained against the Broncos. The Jets currently average the second-fewest points per game, the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game, the third-fewest passing yards per game, and the second-fewest total yards per game. I would say that this is partly due to the Jets having a handful of injuries on the offensive side of the ball; however, we have seen this before with New York. Last season the Jets finished in the bottom five of total yards per game (fewest), passing yards per game (fourth-fewest), rushing yards per game (second-fewest), and points per game (second-fewest).
It doesn’t stop there either. Even before injuries struck this season, the Jets figured to be one of the worst offenses in the league. Before the season, Pro Football Focus ranked New York as the worst offense entering the year. Now I guess you could argue the Jets as an organization is limiting Gase’s ability. However, Gase didn’t necessarily shine in Miami. He only had one winning season as the Dolphins’ head coach. The majority of the time he struggled there as well. In his five seasons has a head coach, Gase has only won more than seven games once. So why did New York bring him in?
Well the second reason, and perhaps the biggest, was Gase was viewed as a “quarterback whisperer.” Sam Darnold was supposed to flourish under Gase. That hasn’t exactly happened either. Sure Darnold improved some from his rookie season. He completed a slightly better amount of his throws (61.9% up from 57.7%), and threw for more yards and touchdowns (3,024 yards and 19 touchdowns up from 2,865 yards and 17 touchdowns). Those numbers still aren’t anything amazing however. Gase is there to bring the absolute best out of the young QB. Up until now it’s fair to say he’s failed.
So what’s keeping Gase around?
I’m not exactly sure. His allure of working with Peyton Manning has seemed to wear off. Some suggest it’ll be damaging to Sam Darnold to remove Gase mid-season. To that I’d say it’s clearly damaging having him around Darnold. The biggest thing may be the end of last season. The Jets finished 2019 winning six of their final eight games. The mini-run gave New York a false hope of what Gase is. Many of those wins came against bad teams. New York had victories over the Giants, Raiders, Dolphins, and Washington, all teams selecting in the top 12 of the draft. The other two wins came against the Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger, and the Bills resting their starters week 17.
It’s one thing to make the mistake of hiring Gase in the first place. It didn’t work out last year and that’s fine. The real mistake came when they didn’t fire him after last season. Nothing provided real hope last year, just like nothing is providing hope this year. Sam Darnold isn’t improving. The offense is still one of the worst in the league. The team has no discipline, totaling eleven penalties last night. A change needs to happen. For New York’s sake, hopefully that change comes sooner rather than later.
