NY Jets: Please just end this dreadful 2020 season
By Steven Blush
The NY Jets followed up last week’s crushing defeat with a blowout loss to the Seahawks.
NY Jets fans endured an exceedingly terrible week. The firing of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and getting spoofed on Saturday Night Live apparently weren’t bad enough.
This game was not competitive. The star-studded Seattle Seahawks toyed with a bunch of JV second-stringers. They didn’t even run up the score. The Jets’ offense was terrible, the defense was overmatched, and the special teams killed them.
Ownership must make huge decisions this offseason. Every aspect of this organization requires an overhaul — from the players and coaches to the front office and scouting/personnel.
But after 20 years, the Johnsons have shown they are not up to the job, with no football acumen, nor any ideas of their own. Every coach or general manager hired under Woody and Chris came from the advice of others.
Adam Gase has entrenched his legacy as the worst coach in Jets history.
Let’s start with Gase’s handling of the special teams. He can correctly blame the previous GM for ruining a strong kicking game, between not re-signing Jason Myers, Nick Folk, or Randy Bullock, and handing the punting duties over to untested, and now unemployed, Lachlan Edwards.
But Gase ruined the opening game of his first season by okaying awful Kaare Vedvik, which led to the embarrassing in-season kicking tryout that yielded Sam Ficken.
Hopefully, Ficken’s stand-in Sergio Castillo has played his final NFL game, after whiffing on three easy first-half field goals with no brutal Seattle weather conditions.
Maybe there’s an excellent reason why rookie punter Braden Mann, one of this season’s few bright spots, hasn’t been handed full kicking duties.
On the offensive side, Gase’s exceedingly one-dimensional, conservative, rhythm-less play-calling continued. Last week, the New York Giants gashed Seattle on the ground. Yet in this game, the effective Ty Johnson/Josh Adams rushing tandem was barely utilized.
It’s as if the coach is devoid of any out-of-the-box brainstorms after his scripted first 15 plays. Under Gase’s tutelage, Darnold’s career has unraveled. How can he even face his players?
The NY Jets defense struggled mightily under Frank Bush
We also learned in this game that Gregg Williams’ replacement Frank Bush is not the answer. The defense, which surrendered 411 total yards, lacks the talent to compete. They were outplayed, overmatched, and error-prone.
Physical mistakes happen, but mental errors cannot be excused.
Henry Anderson is too slow to hit the quarterback or to defend the edge. For all the talking up of undrafted free agent cornerback Lamar Jackson following last week’s meltdown against the Raiders, the rookie barely saw the field, even as D.K. Metcalf ran roughshod over fifth-rounder Bryce Hall.
And once again, nobody could cover an opposing tight end over the middle.
Neville Hewitt continues to be one of the team’s most productive defensive players. Frankie Luvu, Matthias Farley, and Arthur Maulet made the most of their opportunities.
They along with Tarell Basham and Harvey Langi have proven themselves, back-of-the-roster-worthy competitors. But if you were Marcus Maye, arguably the franchise’s only defensive star, would you return in free agency?
In comparison, the once unceremoniously fired Jets head coach Pete Carroll emits a positive spirit as a proven motivator of men. Jamal Adams, Jason Myers, Geno Smith, Brandon Shell, and Damon Harrison must all realize they escaped the hades of Florham Park for gridiron nirvana.
The end of this forsaken season can’t come soon enough.