Another day, another fire to put out in East Rutherford. The Jets’ latest defeat, their ninth of 2020 (the same number they had all of last season), was a doozy, even by Adam Gase standards. New York seemed to be in the driver seat against New England but, as usual, Gang Green couldn’t get out of its own way, squandering a 10-point advantage in a stunning fourth-quarter collapse.
Among other gaffes, the Jets were flagged for having 12 men on the field on a Patriots field goal attempt, weathered a ghastly interception by Joe Flacco, went three-and-out with a chance to go ahead in the final two minutes and—strangest of all—decided against icing Nick Folk (formerly of the Jets) on his 51-yard game-winner. Gase had a timeout at his disposal but strangely kept it in his back pocket as Folk’s kick sailed through the uprights, sealing New England’s 30-27 victory at MetLife Stadium.
Most coaches in that scenario would spend the timeout to get in Folk’s head (overthinking has long been the greatest enemy to kickers), but apparently that thought didn’t cross Gase’s mind, or if it did, the embattled coach chose not to act on it. Maybe you could make the case Gase wanted that timeout for when the Jets went back on offense, but realistically, with three seconds left, New York wasn’t getting the ball again in regulation. Of course, others would argue that icing kickers is an outdated strategy and, in fact, many kickers actually prefer teams call a timeout in that situation, allowing them a warmup kick before the real thing.
So what exactly transpired on that inexplicable final play? Was Gase hoping he could save that timeout for a rainy day or was this a deliberate act of sabotage? And if Gase did intend to fall on his own sword, should he be commended for furthering the Jets’ efforts at landing the No. 1 pick (presumably Clemson star Trevor Lawrence) in next year’s draft?
Predictably, Gase was grilled about his decision at Tuesday’s press conference. If you were expecting an enlightening, thought-provoking response, you don’t know Gase very well. Here’s what he said:
“Let it ride” is something you hear at a blackjack table in Atlantic City, not from an NFL coach on a game-deciding play. Some coaches are the gambling type (“Riverboat Ron” Rivera in Washington has been known to risk it all), but let’s not pretend that’s Gase. This is a guy who brought out the punt unit on fourth-and-three from the Patriots’ 41, a decision quantified by the Surrender Index Twitter account as a 99.9-percentile cowardly punt.
0-9 for the first time in franchise history, the Jets will have the bye week to think about what could have been before traveling to Los Angeles to face the Chargers in Week 11.
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