How much credit does NY Jets coach Adam Gase deserve for the turnaround?

Andy Vasquez | NFL writer

EAST RUTHERFORD — It took only eight games for many New York Jets fans to quit on head coach Adam Gase. And it would have been easy for his players to do the same.

That’s how dire it was around this team just three weeks ago, when they were embarrassed by the Miami Dolphins to fall to 1-7.

But instead of crumbling, the Jets have responded with their first three-game winning streak in more than two years. And after Sunday’s 34-3 pounding of the Oakland Raiders, Gase deserves major credit for fostering the attitude that allowed for the turnaround to happen.

Despite all the horrible injury luck, some internal strife and a relentless helping of outside anger and noise, Gase never changed his demeanor with his players. The message was always the same: Keep grinding.

“That’s a testament to coach Gase,” tight end Ryan Griffin said. “It’s New York and we’re not winning — and a tough couple games there. But we just shut the noise out and went back to work. And that’s the rock of the team, is just heading back to that practice facility in Florham Park and just working on us.”

It paid off with wins over the Giants and Redskins. But there was still reason to be skeptical. Is beating two of the worst teams in football really proof that this thing is headed in the right direction?

Maybe not. But Sunday certainly was.

The Jets beat a playoff contender so soundly that they pulled their starting quarterback before the end of the third quarter.

The offense is humming: This is only the third time in franchise history that the Jets have posted at least 34 points in three consecutive games. Sam Darnold looks like the quarterback of the future again: he’s thrown for seven touchdowns, run for two, and had just one interception during the streak.

The defense is suddenly effective: The Jets took the run away from the Raiders, holding them to a season-low 68 yards on the round (they had been averaging 128.2), and never let them get going through the air, holding a very capable Derek Carr to 15-of-27 for 127 yards and an interception.

Yes, the Jets are still 3-7. They have almost no statistical chance of making the postseason. They need to keep showing progress over the final five games for this to stick.

But after the most nightmarish start imaginable, the Jets are in position to salvage something out of this season. That’s remarkable. And Gase deserves credit for the tone he's set.

Here are some more takeaways from Sunday’s win over the Raiders.

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Jets-Raiders Week 12: Adam Gase reacts to Jets' third straight win Jets coach Adam Gase's post game press conference after the Jets beat the Raiders, 34-3 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019.

Sticking around

Griffin signed a three-year contract extension with the Jets on Saturday — reportedly worth up to $10.8 million. And then he proved why GM Joe Douglas was in a hurry to lock him up, catching his team-leading fifth touchdown reception in the win.

“It happened really quick,” Griffin said of the new deal. “Joe extended a great offer that I couldn’t pass up. … I’m looking forward to a couple [of] years here.”

The Jets have made it clear that supporting Darnold is one of their priorities, and that’s why this is clearly a good move. Since Griffin signed with the Jets just before training camp, he and Darnold have developed obvious chemistry.

And with Chris Herndon set to return next season after a lost year, and rookie Trevon Wesco beginning to contribute, it looks as if the Jets are set at tight end for the foreseeable future.

The o-line line is improving

Darnold and Gase have rightfully received a lot of credit for the remarkable turnaround of the Jets’ offense: after scoring just eight touchdowns in the first eight games, the Jets’ have scored 11 offensive touchdowns in the past three games.

But the offensive line deserves a huge share of the credit. Despite being absolutely ravaged by injury — a trend that continued Sunday — the o-line has been much better in recent weeks.

The only three offensive linemen to play 100 percent of the snaps on Sunday were center Jonotthan Harrison and guards Alex Lewis and Tom Compton — none of them were projected to be starters before the season. And rookie right tackle Chuma Edoga played only 16 snaps before leaving with a knee injury in the first half (he’s scheduled to get an MRI on Monday).

And yet the Jets rushed for 88 yards against Oakland — their third-highest mark of the season. The offensive line allowed one sack, tying a season-low and one quarterback hit, a new low for the year.

Good play-calling has given Darnold more time to operate. And the quarterback has been more comfortable within the offense in recent weeks, leading to quicker and better decisions. But the offensive line has also cleaned up a lot of its problems.

The frequent miscommunications we saw on the line now seem to be a thing of the past. And several backups are playing much better than the starters they replaced: most notably Harrison vs. Ryan Kalil, Compton vs. Brian Winters and Lewis vs. Kelechi Osemele.

“Enough's enough,” Harrison said when asked what changed. “We need to establish our dominance. We need to come together as one unit and not five individual players. As an offensive line, we have to be a chain link, we have to be able to work together. The group of guys we have in the o-line room is a great group of guys that are willing to go to work and put in whatever it takes to go out there and win a game.”

Gase's bag of tricks

The third time, apparently, was the charm.

After the Jets tried trick plays that failed against the Giants and Redskins — remember Sam Darnold’s overthrown flea-flicker two and Bilal Powell’s dropped halfback pass? — they finally hit on one Sunday against the Raiders.

And it ended up being a huge difference in the game. Early in the third quarter, after the Raiders turned it over on downs at their own 39, the Jets came out gunning.

Darnold handed the ball off to Bilal Powell, who passed it along to Jamison Crowder, who was running a reverse. Crowder flipped it back to Darnold who then dropped back to pass.

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Robby Anderson was wide-open down the right side of the field and Darnold found him for a 30-yard gain. The fake-reverse flea-flicker.

“I was a little disappointed we didn’t score on it, but at least we completed it,” Gase said, smiling. “We’ve got that going for us.”

Darnold said that Gase suggested the play, which the team had been working on in practice, after the Jets got the ball back.

“He asked me if I wanted to do it and I felt like it was a good time for whatever reason,” Darnold said. “I just felt it in my gut.”

Darnold underthrew the pass, and Anderson went up to make a catch in traffic at the nine-yard line, holding on to the ball despite taking a big hit.

“If I put the ball out a little further I think Robby scores,” Darnold said. “But he made a heck of a catch and we finished the drive.”

The Jets scored three plays later, on third-and-goal from the 1, when Darnold found Anderson for a touchdown to give the Jets a 27-3 lead.

Breaking out

The big catch was part of a rare, big day for Anderson who had four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown. Anderson had nine catches for 103 receiving yards and one touchdown in his previous five games.

In addition to the trick play, Anderson had a 31-yard catch in the first half, on a brilliant improvisational play by Darnold — the quarterback had room to scramble for a first down on third-and-3, but instead threaded a running pass to Anderson for the big gain. Anderson has 29 catches for 445 yards and three touchdowns on the season.

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He wasn't the only receiver with a big day. Braxton Berrios had only one catch, but it was huge: a 69-yard reception on the third play of the second half. Berrios came free on the right side and Darnold found him in stride. It looked like Berrios was going to score his first career touchdown, but he was tackled at the 1-yard line.

"It was the exact coverage we wanted, to be quite honest with you," Darnold said. "Once I put it in his hands he did a really good job of getting down there."

Darnold found Griffin on the next play for a touchdown that gave the Jets a 20-3 lead.

It was only the fourth catch of Berrios' career — he had three catches for 30 yards before that — and his first since Week 7. He also had a 26-yard punt return in the first half.

"I want to contribute. That’s why I’m here," Berrios said. "That’s why I suit up every day and that’s the same thing for everybody around this locker room. I’ve obviously been waiting and football is a game of opportunities and when you get your opportunity, you have to do something with it. I think I did that."

The play that set it up...



Sam to Braxton for 69 yards!#OAKvsNYJ | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/VSdJz6uNjd — New York Jets (@nyjets) November 24, 2019

Andy Vasquez is the Jets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Jets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: vasqueza@northjersey.com Twitter: @andy_vasquez

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