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San Francisco left tackle Joe Staley talked about how . . .
. . . he wasn’t sure the 49ers would ever be able to overcome “the dark years” he went through with the team.
But now they are on their way to the Super Bowl to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 2.
Like the Jets, the 49ers have had a lot of down seasons in recent years, but this year they were absolutely dominant on their way to representing the NFC in Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens.
Surely a lot of Jets fans are feeling that their “dark years” are never going to end, much like Staley felt during most of his 49ers career.
But like the 49ers, anything is possible if they play their cards right.
And the key to this is GM Joe Douglas fixing their roster.
I know a lot of people have made a cottage industry out of bashing Adam Gase like he’s a war criminal, but the criticism might be a tad bit over the top.
Is Gase Vince Lombardi? No, but I believe he’s a serviceable NFL head coach at the very least. Look, they went 6-2 over the second half of the season under his watch. I realize the schedule was soft, but they “you are what your record says you are” Bill Parcells liked to stay.
And one thing that was quite apparent is the players didn’t quit on him, and there was no backstabbing. Did you see one unnamed player quoted in a paper criticizing Gase? I didn’t, and that has happened in Florham Park. Look, I understand Gase has some things he needs to improve upon as an NFL head coach, but the vitriol toward the man has become a bit much.
I personally think one of his bigger shortcomings has been taken off the table, and that is player personnel decision-making.
In Miami, he had a tendency to make rash decisions when he soured on a player, like when he cut three offensive lineman after a game. One of them, Billy Turner, started at guard for Green Bay this year, and did a solid job. During the 2018 season, he soured on defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and cut him, and he had an outstanding season for the Buffalo Bills this year. He also traded RB Jay Ajayi and WR Jarvis Landry.
Gase had final say in Miami on the roster, and at times was a little too reactionary. That won’t be a problem with the Jets because he doesn’t have final say on the roster – Douglas does.
So if Douglas, who has a keen eye for talent, can stack their roster with terrific draft picks and free agents, over the next couple of years, maybe their “dark ages” will end soon. And this is possible because Douglas is considered a tremendous talent evaluator in NFL circles. Everyone in Florham Park needs to get out of the way and let him do his thing.
And if Gase just focuses on running the team and offense, Gregg Williams (defense) and Brant Boyer (special teams) continue to do a good job with their units, whose to say the Jets can’t turn this thing around?
We shall see.
January 22, 2020
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