There were several similarities between the Gang Green's loss to the Bills in the season opener last year and the embarrassment Adam Gase's team put their fans through today. First, the Jets lost. They lost last year in what was Gase's first game with the Jets and they lost again today. Second, both losses were pretty humiliating. The Jets just couldn't play a complete game in either contest. Last year they blew a 16-0 lead in the 3rd quarter. Today, they were down 21-0 by the time they kind of decided to start playing. The running game continued to look absolutely atrocious. The Gang Green gained only 52 yards on the ground (3.5 yards/carry) and gave up over 404 yards on defense. Last season it was 68 rushing yards (3.2 per carry) and 370 yards allowed.
We'd expect Adam Gase and Co. to learn something and get better at least in some way. But it was the Same Old Jets all over again. Don't let the final 27-17 score fool you, Adam Gase's Jets never belonged. They were utterly pathetic in every possible way. QB Sam Darnold looked like he was still in his rookie year, which was two seasons ago. His offense went 3 and out on the first three possessions, finally gained one first down on the fourth one, and he was picked off on the fifth. If not for the 69-yard touchdown pass to WR Jamison Crowder in the 3rd quarter, Darnold's stats would have been one of the worst of his entire career. It's pretty safe to say at this point that if unless Darnold and Gase somehow turn the Jets' fortunes around, Darnold has a chance to go down as the biggest bust in the Gang Green's history. That would be quite an accomplishment considering that we've seen the Jets draft such standouts as Vernon Gholston, Dee Milliner, Blair Thomas and Mark Sanchez.
Then, there was the running game, or lack thereof. The Gang Green had completely revamped their entire offensive line in the offseason but it didn't really matter. 37-year old RB Frank Gore was the best Jets running back of the day. He had the longest run (8 yards) and gained the most yards on the ground (24). The supposed versatile super weapon, aka RB Le'Veon Bell, looked as poorly as he did entire last season. Why did the Jets pay him all that money again?
As mentioned above, the defense allowed 404 yards. They could not stop a nose bleed in the first half. If it wasn't for a couple of stupid Buffalo's turnovers, the Bills could have easily scored over 30 points in the first half alone. S Marcus Maye was pretty much the only bright spot. He had 2 sacks, 2 defended passes and forced a fumble, while playing the role previously occupied by departed S Jamal Adams. The Jets had 3 sacks, all by their defensive backs. The front seven kept failing to put any pressure on Josh Allen, who literally was just standing at times in the pocket waiting for someone to get open.
The good thing is if you've been watching this team long enough and if you watched Adam Gase closely last year, this embarrassment shouldn't really come as a surprise. It was a rather expected outcome. These Jets will go as far as their head coach, who should not be even coaching in this league. Yes, he's that bad.