MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Jets dropped a brutal game to the Dolphins, 26-18, and are now 1-7 for the first time since 2014. Here are some thoughts and observations from this debacle:
1. As the final seconds ticked off in this game, team CEO and chairman Christopher Johnson stood in a hallway leading to the locker room with his hands on his hips and looked to the sky. It was the gesture of an exasperated man.
He had just witnessed his team losing to the lowly Dolphins, a team trying to tank for the No. 1 pick.
The Jets are now 10-30 since he took over for his brother Woody in 2017.
His hand-picked head coach Adam Gase is less popular than a root canal.
The quarterback his team drafted No. 3 overall in 2018 is regressing badly and does not seem able to snap out of it, even against a Dolphins defense that quarterbacks have feasted on this season.
It is a total, complete mess and now Johnson faces some huge decisions.
Last week, I wrote the reasons I don’t believe Gase will be fired after just one season – the Jets would be paying three head coaches next year (Todd Bowles is still under contract), Gase basically hired Joe Douglas as the general manager in June and you’d now be asking Sam Darnold to learn yet another offense.
But Sunday’s loss changes things for me. This is ugly and feels like it could get uglier. We are entering John Idzik territory. It will not be surprising to see a plane with a banner calling for Gase’s firing this week or billboards to go up.
I said last week that I did not think Gase should be coaching for his job, but that was as bad of a loss as I’ve seen the Jets suffer in the last decade. The hot seat talk is now justified.
Johnson now must treat this final eight-game stretch as an evaluation period for Gase. Does he keep this team from quitting? Some might say they did Sunday but I did not think that was the issue. Can he get Darnold back on track? Can he get this fixed enough that it feels like the arrow is pointing up going into 2020?
This is not all on Gase. This roster is terrible. He is paying for the sins of the past regime. In a weird way, I think he would have been better off if Mike Maccagnan was not fired because he would be taking most of this heat right now.
With that being said, this is not a well-coached team. The 10 penalties on Sunday are inexcusable. They are doing nothing on offense, a little more than nothing on defense. The excuses are over. He has his quarterback. The opponents are not good teams. Gase needs to fix this or Johnson is going to be left with the most critical decision of his tenure.
2. I am not ready to give up on Darnold. I still think he has rare traits that can’t be taught and if he is surrounded by a better offensive line and some more talent, he will be a good quarterback.
However, that has not stopped me from wondering about what the Jets were thinking on some of their quarterback evaluations in recent years. The Jets had the No. 6 pick in 2017 and used it on Jamal Adams, who has been a really good player. But he’s a safety. They could have drafted Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson with that pick. Both of them look like they will be Pro Bowl quarterbacks for the next decade.
You could argue that they would not look as good if they were on the Jets and that is probably somewhat true, but I think both of those guys are good enough that they would have elevated the Jets. Maccagnan never got enough heat for the decision to bypass those two because Adams has been very good and everyone knew the plan was to take a quarterback in 2018.
That brings me to another quarterback – Lamar Jackson. I watched Jackson carve up a historic Patriots defense on Sunday night and it reminded me of the fall of 2017. That is when the Jets were gunning for the No. 1 pick in 2018 and I spent a lot of time watching and asking about the college quarterbacks. The season began with Darnold, Josh Rosen and Josh Allen considered the can’t-miss quarterbacks. Baker Mayfield soon joined that group. Jackson was always overlooked. Evaluators questioned whether he could play quarterback in the NFL. I asked a Jets official about Jackson and he laughed at the idea of drafting him high.
Jackson is now getting the last laugh.
3. I get that all the focus is on Gase at the moment, but Sunday was also not a good day for defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick carved him up. Receivers were running wide open all day and there was barely any pressure on Fitzpatrick.
The two biggest deficiencies of this defense were on display Sunday with the cornerbacks struggling to cover and the pass rush being a rumor for most of the game. Darryl Roberts gave up six catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, according to ESPN. Nate Hairston gave up six catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, per ESPN. Williams has done a good job hiding these deficiencies this season, but they were on full display on Sunday.
It also should not be overlooked that he was playing without his top five inside linebackers. Fitzpatrick honed in on James Burgess and picked on him all day.
Williams likes to brag about his defense, but there was nothing to brag about Sunday.
4. The NFL Network reported Sunday morning that the Jets asked for star guard Zack Martin from the Cowboys during the Jamal Adams trade talks. When told that was a non-starter, they asked for tackle Tyron Smith.
It reinforces what we already knew about GM Joe Douglas: this offseason is all about fixing the offensive line. That is why trading Adams is on the table. If they can get back a first-round pick for Adams, then they could draft two linemen in the first round or a lineman and a pass rusher.
The silver lining of this awful season might be a high enough draft pick that they can trade down and acquire a nice package of draft picks. Douglas has seven picks right now. He needs more to fix this.
Revealing stat: The Jets went 1-for-3 scoring touchdowns in the red zone and the Dolphins went 3-for-4. That is where this game was decided. The teams were pretty even statistically but the Dolphins executed when they got inside the 20 and the Jets did not, most notably on Darnold’s brutal interception.
Surprising snap count: Ty Montgomery got one offensive snap. I understand wanting to get Le’Veon Bell more involved, but Adam Gase needs to get Montgomery some touches, too. The guy looked good in training camp but has been invisible since.
Game ball: There were not many Jets making plays in this game but Vyncint Smith provided a lift with a 78-yard kickoff return before halftime. It gave the Jets great field position, but they failed to convert that into points when Darnold threw the interception. Still, Smith was one guy that made a play in this game.
For more on the Jets, listen to the latest episode of the “Gang’s All Here” podcast: