New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2020
nypost.com
By Brian CostelloThere was no one who believed
the Jets were going to be Super
Bowl contenders this season, but
0-9? The worst team in the NFL?
One of the worst teams any of us
have ever seen?
It Is hard to believe how bad the
Jets have been, and changes are
coming to Florham Park. They
could have a new coach and a
new quarterback in 2021, as the
team in a perpetual rebuild be-
gins another one.
There will be plenty of time to
look ahead, though. Winless at
the bye week, it is a good time to
look at what has happened so far
this season and try to figure out
what has worked (anything?) for
this team and what has not.Quarterback Sam Darnold has
missed three games with a shoul-
der injury, something that has
hurt the evaluation of the
third-year signal-caller.
The offense has sputtered
with or without Darnold,
and ranks dead last in to-
tal offense and scoring of-
fense. The Jets have
scored just 10 offensive
touchdowns in nine games. Adam
Gase gave up the play-calling du-
ties three weeks ago, and the of-
fense has gotten marginally bet-
ter, but not by much.
As bad as the offense has been,
the defense has not been much
better. Coordinator Gregg Willi-
ams’ unit has struggled mightily
in pass coverage and has not got-
ten much pressure on opposing
quarterbacks all year.
Many fans are now hoping the
team goes 0-16 to lock up the
No. 1-overall draft pick and the
chance to take Clemson star
Trevor Lawrence. The current
Jets players and coaches are still
trying to get in the ‘W’ column,
but the schedule is tough and 0-16
remains a distinct possibility.
Most Valuable Player: There
are not a lot of great choices on
an 0-9 team, but wide receiver Ja-
mison Crowder has made a differ-
ence when he has been on the
field. Crowder has missed four
games due to injuries but still
leads the team in catches (31), re-
ceiving yards (409) and receiving
touchdowns (three). Crowder is a
safety valve for Darnold, and the
offense does not move as well
when Crowder is not playing. He
has 11 catches on third down this
season.
Least Valuable Player:
Le’Veon Bell played just two
games for the Jets before whining
his way out of town on social me-
dia. He had 19 carries for 74 yards,and the Jets are paying him to
now play for the Chiefs. The Jets
signed Bell in 2019 hoping he
would be an offensive weapon to
help Darnold grow. Instead, he
looked washed up during his time
with the Jets and had no impact
for the team.
Least Surprising Surprise:
You knew the secondary was in
trouble when you looked at it on
paper. After trading Jamal Adams
and shopping in the bargain bin
for cornerbacks, GM Joe Douglas
did not help Williams out much.
The Jets are 29th against the pass
and can never seem to come up
with a big stop until the opponent
reaches the red zone. Pierre Desir
has been a disaster. Bless Austin
competes but still looks raw.
Bradley McDougald has not lived
up to the billing given to him
when he came over from Seattle
in the Adams trade. Marcus Maye
has been the only consistent
piece in the secondary.
Biggest disappointment: Theentire season has been a disap-
pointment, so you can point the
finger at plenty of people for this
one. It’s tempting to say Chris
Herndon because he has disap-
peared, but Darnold gets the nod
here because his struggles have
had a greater impact. The hope
was he would make a huge leap in
Year 3, and in Year 2 with Gase.
Instead, he has taken steps back.
Darnold has just three touchdown
passes and six interceptions in his
six games. His 65.9 QB rating is
the worst in the NFL. Darnold has
not been helped by the organiza-
tion, which has surrounded him
with very little talent and a porous
offensive line. Still, you expect to
see more from Darnold than one
good play a game.
Best Moment: So many mo-
ments to choose from ... um, um,
yeah. OK, so when you are a win-
less team, surprisingly there are
not many best moments. The best
moment is probably last Monday
night when they took a 27-17 leadwith 30 seconds left in the third
quarter over the Patriots. It
looked loke they would finally get
a win against their hated rival un-
til ...
Worst Moment: The fourth-
quarter collapse against the Patri-
ots on Monday night was the
worst moment in a season of aw-
ful ones. The Jets blew the 10-
point lead, with their defense un-
able to get a stop and the offense
running just four plays in the fi-
nal quarter. Kicker Nick Folk, a
former Jet, finished them off with
a 51-yard field goal as time ex-
pired in the 30-27 loss.
Most Revealing Stat: The Jets
have scored 10 offensive touch-
downs as a team. Vikings running
back Dalvin Cook has 13 touch-
downs by himself.
Worst Personnel Decision:
Douglas really screwed up by al-
lowing wide receiver Robby An-
derson to leave in free agency.
The Jets expected Anderson to
get big money, but he did nothave the market they thought he
would. He wound up signing a
reasonable two-year, $20 million
with the Panthers. The Jets
should have been able to match
or beat that and keep Anderson.
Instead, they failed to pivot and
ended up signing Breshad Perri-
man, who has been unable to stay
healthy.
Upcoming Decision: Team
CEO and chairman Christopher
Johnson must first make the deci-
sion to fire Gase, which feels like a
foregone conclusion. Then John-
son must find the right coach to
get this team heading in the right
direction. This organization has
floundered for the last decade and
has been unable to establish a win-
ning culture. This will be the 10th
straight year the Jets are watching
the playoffs. Johnson and his
brother Woody have gotten a lot of
hires wrong in the last decade. If
he whiffs again, it will set the team
back another 3-5 years.
[email protected]Highlights rare in miserable Jets season
Nov.22
JETSatCHaRGERS
4:05 p.m.
CBS
ESPN Radio
(98.7 FM FM)Bests and worsts
what’s going on, guys? At the
crux of the problems for the 0-9 Jets are
coach Adam Gase and QB Sam Darnold
(14). N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg