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So what’s the deal?
Yesterday, we went over a few of the big reasons why the Jets blew a 16-3 lead and lost to the Buffalo Bills 17-16.
Let’s go over some more today.
First off it has nothing to do with being the “Same Old Jets.” I will leave that narrative those who are intellectually bankrupt.
I know some people will blame Adam Gase for his play-calling, and perhaps it wasn’t his best day, but Gase is no dummy. He knows his quarterback is limited on his progression scans and often falls in love with his first-read. So he needs to call a game within the framework of his limitations.
You know what was interesting in regard to to Gase’s and Darnold. So often when Gase was asked a fawning question on Darnold by a reporter who was over-hyping the player in the spring or summer, the coach often focused on his arm strength, but saying things like, “Not a lot of quarterbacks can make that throw.” He also talked about how good the QB is at making plays “off-schedule,” in other words, when the play breaks down.
I don’t remember Gase ever raving about his ability to read defenses and go through his progressions efficiently. He might have said it, but I missed it. To me, this says a lot. The QB needs a lot of work on these two things. Gase knows this. Just because he’s not saying it, doesn’t mean he’s oblivious to it.
And for the first time, after this Jets loss, he left the Darnold high road he has been traveling since he was hired when was asked to access the quarterback’s performance, he said, “Room for improvement.”
Those three words sum up where the QB is at.
As for the defense, I think what you saw in the fourth quarter was the problem when you build a 3-4 defense, and now you aren’t playing it. I know it came out in the off-season they were staying in the 3-4, but they clearly aren’t playing it anymore. It seems like when Maccagnan left the building, so did the 3-4.
And when you play Henry Anderson like a 4-3 end, over an offensive tackle, you are wasting his talent. He’s an excellent interior defensive lineman. You put him over a tackle, he’s often negated. It’s not his game.
Another example of this problematic transition on a 15-yard run by Devin Singletary off right tackle in the fourth quarter. The left side of the Jets’ line, which was way undersized with 270-pound Bronson Kaufusi at tackle and 250-pound Harvey Langi at end, got mauled by the much bigger right side of the Bills’ offensive line. It wasn’t a lack of toughness by Langi and Kaufusi, it was a size issue. Kaufusi isn’t big enough to play defensive tackle, and Langi is too small to play end. He’s a linebacker.
On two other long runs to the left side, Tarell Bashem could not set the edge properly, getting easily taken out by a blocker, and Singletary ran into the big hole for two large gains. Basham is a 3-4 OLB pass rusher, not a powerful edge-setting end.
Let’s see what Gregg Williams does to fix these problem, or perhaps it will take an off-season to do it.
When you have a GM handling free agency and the draft, and then he’s fired in May, and you move away from the system he was building for, you are going to have problems, there is no way around it.
September 9, 2019
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