Jamal Adams' strip-six: The play that may have changed the 2019 Jets season

Barging through Saquon Barkley and ripping the ball out of Daniel Jones' hands with brute force, Jamal Adams scampered into the end zone for a touchdown - with all the vigor of a superstar.

AP

Adams' "strip-six" came less than a minute into the third quarter of the Jets' Week 10 game, which they led 14-13 at the time, and ultimately won 34-27. That effort by Adams to rob Jones and take it to the house turned out to be the difference in that game. It may now be proving to be the difference in this Jets season.

On the heels of three straight disastrous losses, the Jets were 1-7 and on life support. The fan base had begun rebelling against head coach Adam Gase, Sam Darnold was stuck in a spooky slump and the season was quickly careening downhill. 

Then Adams took it by the reins, playing his best game of the season against the Giants, en route to Defensive Player of the Week honors. 

While the Jets squeaked out victory against their Big Apple brethren, there has been no such thing either of the past two weeks. 

On the road in Washington and at home vs. Oakland, the Jets defense led by Adams has been dominant. Gregg Williams' unit allowed 17 points to the Redskins - 14 of which came in garbage time up by 30 - and just three to the Raiders. 

Offensively, Darnold has been sharp, flashing the talent that gave hope for the future in the final weeks of the 2018 season. Gase's game plan and playcalling have been creative and spot on, the Jets scoring 11 offensive touchdowns in these three straight wins, a far cry from the three total in the preceding three losses. 

When Adams ripped the ball away from Jones, the Jets ripped the bandage off an ugly wound. The reality is the scars of a treacherous start still remain. Those are the seven losses staring at them in the standings. But, at the least, some healing is now happening.

The next couple weeks will tell a lot about who this team really is. Matchups with winless Cincinnati and regularly hapless Miami, who already embarrassed the Jets once, present opportunities to prove this isn't a fluke.

And even though "playoffs" are far more pipe dream than realistically achievable, the Jets have a shot to go into a primetime game against AFC contender Baltimore just one game under .500. That'd be a far cry from 1-7 bottom-feeder. It'd be a testament to a turnaround, a team-wide chanelling of unflappable effort and belief, undeniably spurred by Adams.

No excuses for Adam Gase after Patriots' 33-0 MNF beatdown of Jets

Adam Hunger/AP

Is six games into a season too soon to judge a new head coach?

That’s just one of the lingering questions following the Jets’ 33-0 beatdown at the hands of the Patriots Monday night. 

A few points left no question. 

- Sam Darnold had the worst game of his NFL career. 

- The offensive line was overmatched and incapable of adjustment. 

- Head coach Adam Gase seemed bereft of a game plan or remedy to what Bill Belichick’s New England defense was throwing the Jets’ way (Hint: It was Cover 0 blitz. Rinse, repeat).

- A week after getting their first win of the season against Dallas, the Jets regressed back to the offensive abominations of Luke Falk’s time under center.

With Darnold struggling just as much as Falk did, the Jets’ offense continually trotted out to what felt like a destined fate: No points or a turnover.

Darnold, the offensive line and Gase all factored into it. So did the ferocious and ruthless Patriots defense, which has been that all season.

Also consistent all season has been the struggles of the Jets’ offensive line, a unit poorly-addressed and patch-worked together by the previous GM. It should be priority No. 1 in the offseason.

Darnold went from AFC Offensive Player of the Week to the pits on national television. Yes, 16 games into his career, he cannot play the way he did Monday night. But you can’t harp on this abysmal performance without also looking back at that pristine one in the victory over Dallas - the movement in the pocket, sharp throws and good instincts. All of that disappeared in the face of the Patriots’ relentless pressure and unblocked free rushers.

Let's turn the focus though to Gase, who rode through much of the season’s first stretch on the excuse of Darnold being ill and then out with mono.

When backup QB Trevor Siemian was knocked out of the Cleveland game and lost to injury for the season, the Jets were forced to turn to the third-stringer Falk and the offense shut down. 

To be reasonable, given the circumstances, it seemed only fair to give Gase a pass for the anemic play of the offensive unit, which garnered a total of only 9 points in three games. 

But should it really have been that bad?

This season, the Steelers have won a game with third-string quarterback Devlin Hodges starting. The Saints haven’t skipped a beat since Teddy Bridgewater stepped in for the injured Drew Brees. Jacksonville’s offense has been acceptable with Gardner Minshew in place of the injured Nick Foles.

Facing similar adversity, the Jets were incapable of even moving the ball week-to-week. Falk looked in over his head and was cut once Darnold returned.

But whose fault really was that disastrous period in which the Jets were outscored 84-23?

This Monday night massacre had you reassessing - and taking a closer look at the head coach. 

This is not Gase's first head coaching gig.  

Nor was it his first time coaching against Belichick. It was, in fact, his eighth.

His overall record as a head coach is now a mediocre 24-30.

A supposed offensive guru, Gase’s Jets offense has scored two less touchdowns than his previous team, the winless Dolphins, this season.

And if you were willing to fall back on the three games with Falk as a pass for Gase, what do his three with Darnold starting now say about him?

The defense fueled the Jets in the Week 1 one-point heartbreaker of a loss to Buffalo. Darnold may not have been 100 percent but the offense was limited by an inability to stretch the field. See: Jamison Crowder’s 14 receptions for less than 100 yards. CJ Mosley left the game and the offense hadn’t scored enough to withstand the defense’s hemorrhaging of a 16-0 lead.

On the surface, the Jets’ one win of the season against the Cowboys looks good. But dive in a little deeper and you’ll see that alarming similarities to the Week 1 collapse nearly played out again.

With a first half performance in which the offense was humming, the Jets jumped out to an 18-point lead. 

The second half though was a very different story, much more like that of the Buffalo game. 

Dallas scored 13 unanswered points to make it a one-possession game. A Sam Ficken field goal late in the fourth quarter was the source of the Jets' only points of the second half. If not for a perfectly-timed blitz by Jamal Adams to stop a Dallas two-point conversion try, the game may have been headed for overtime. 

Much of that was forgotten in the haze of beating a contending Cowboys team and with Darnold impressing in his return. 

But even in victory, you’d be remiss to ignore that a deluge of unanswered points almost doomed the Jets - again. 

Put it on the defense if you so choose, but what happened to the Jets’ offense in both those games that their final touchdowns came with 7:01 left in the third quarter (vs. Buffalo) and :27 left in the second quarter (vs. Dallas)? 

Those droughts, bad as they are, look meager when any touchdown, any points, would have been a welcome sight Monday night. 

Darnold, who said he was “seeing ghosts” in a soundbite captured while he was wearing a mic for ESPN, was left in the dark against the Patriots’ boogeymen.

To his clearly shaken young quarterback, Gase provided no tangible relief.

That’s from the alleged quarterback whisperer lauded for his ability to work with signal-callers.

The guy who has coached in this division before. 

The guy, with a 24-30 record as an NFL head coach, who already needs to be under the microscope. 

Don’t be fooled by the smoke and mirrors of that one glimpse of hope one week ago. The cold, hard reality is a 1-5 record and, with a softer schedule ahead, the reality check on Gase needs to start now.

Tribute to my Nonni

Each spring brings a rebirth: Great hope, vigorous excitement and a long road ahead.

That’s the baseball season. But it’s also much like life.

Juanita, Cookie, Nonni, whichever you knew her by, loved baseball. She loved the Yankees.

I can’t tell you how many games I watched with her over the years - and how many subsequent screams I also encountered when things weren’t going just right.

Since I’ve been around, we saw five World Series titles. She saw a whole lot more than that.

Back to the metaphor though…

There are some things in baseball that change…different stadiums, names in a lineup, the cycle of which teams are contenders and which are pretenders.

But other parts stay the same…90 feet between the bases, nine innings, three outs….dirt kicked up on a tricky ground ball, blue skies & scintillating sunshine basking down on the green grass of the field.

Baseball spans it all….the hot, scorching August day when you’ve got the A/C kicked all the way up to the frosty October night where you’re hoping a postseason win warms your spirits.

It’s a game that may seem simple at its core: Use a wooden bat to hit a stitched together ball.

But anyone who really knows it will tell you…it’s not that easy.

The game of life’s quite similar. Maybe not as intrinsically straightforward at its core but just as nuanced.

Some hitters can straight up bash the ball, while others just struggle to hit .200. 

They all have their strengths and weaknesses, even the all-time greats.

But you remember them for what they did best….what defined them.

You remember Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth for their home runs…Sandy Koufax and Randy Johnson for their nasty stuff.

I’ll remember Non for her unconditional love, the way she cared for the people who came into her life with all she could give, with the strength of a 400-foot blast out of the park.

That…was Hall of Fame worthy….first-ballot for sure. 

-162-

No direction: QB spot more bleak as Jets season continues to tailspin

After another nightmarish showing, Jets head coach Rex Ryan stood at the podium and said, “one thing we know - it can’t get a whole hell of a lot worse.”

Should we really be so sure of that?

It didn’t seem like it could get much worse for this Jets team than the 31-0 stinker in San Diego. Then Sunday happened.

Buffalo came into MetLife Stadium and before even a quarter had passed, the Bills were up 3-0 in turnover margin. By the end of the day, that differential ballooned to six.

It didn’t matter who was under center for the now 1-7 Jets. Geno Smith was putrid as he opened the floodgates with three interceptions on eight passes. He completed only two of his attempts to players in green and white.

Backup Mike Vick was better, but that’s not saying much. He too turned the ball over three times, as he completed 18 of his 36 passes for 153 yards, and picked up 69 yards on the ground.

Ryan said after the game that he had no clue who the starter would be next Sunday in Kansas City. That’s because neither of the candidates have done anything to merit the call to action.

Vick admitted he was unprepared when called to duty the last time Smith was pulled due to his struggles against the Chargers. In his second opportunity, Vick didn’t exactly light the world on fire.

Smith, in his second year, is not improving. He continues to be a roller coaster, going from serviceable to not salvageable in a week’s time. In nearly defeating the New England Patriots on the road in a prime-time game last week, Smith didn’t once turn the ball over. The Jets still struggled mightily to hit pay dirt in the red zone but the mistakes were limited and a win was within reach.

Then came Sunday.

It took little more than a half hour in real time for Smith’s day to turn into a trainwreck.

“I think the young man’s got the ability. I think it’s just a matter of time,” Ryan said in his postgame comments about Smith.

But how much time will the Jets give Smith, a second-round pick who hasn’t found his footing? Volatile play is a theme that has followed Smith back to his college days. After a soaring start to his senior season at West Virginia (5-0 record, 24 TD, 0 INT), Smith regressed some (11 TD, 5 INT) and his team lost five straight.

Those ups and downs have been the standard for Smith in his season and a half in New York, too. In his rookie season, Smith would go from flashing signs of potential one week (i.e. Week 5, a Monday night comeback victory on the road against the Falcons) to a problematic performance the next (a two-interception, struggle of a day in a Week 6 home loss to Pittsburgh).

Smith was benched in the middle of games three times last season - once in October, once in November and once in December.

He’s already been pulled twice in the eight games of this one.

Having made 23 NFL starts in his career, Smith has been bad enough to be yanked five times. That’s over 20 percent.

Alarming doesn’t begin to describe that trend.

Yet, Ryan still believes in the young quarterback. Maybe Smith has the talent but unless he can put it together consistently, he isn’t going to make it with this team or in this league. It’s becoming more and more obvious with each benching that Smith is not the Jets quarterback of the future.

Ryan may think it’s just a matter of time but both his and Smith’s are running thin.

No Folk hero this time: Close games not going 2014 Jets' way

Last year in the Jets' first meeting of the season against New England, Nick Folk kicked a game-winning field goal in overtime.

That, of course, came with some luck (and controversy) after Chris Jones of the Patriots was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on Folk's first attempt (from 56 yards), which was a miss. Move the ball up 15 yards and the Jets celebrated a W.

Thursday night in the 2014 Jets' first duel with the Patriots, Folk again had an opportunity to lift the Jets to victory with a long kick. Jones was again involved. This time, though, there was no penalty. Folk's 58-yard attempt didn't travel more than a few yards, as Jones, ironically enough, was the one to knock the ball down.

What a difference a year makes.

So, what is that difference, at least through seven games?

The 2013 Jets pulled out close games. The 2014 incarnation hasn't.

At their Week 10 bye last season, the Jets were 5-4. All five of those victories came by a touchdown or less.

This year, it's the exact opposite.

Four of the Jets six losses have come by one possession or less. A 14-point loss to Denver last Sunday only became that lengthy because of a pick-six in a do-or-die drive for Geno Smith and the Jets offense.

There's no denying 1-6 is an ugly, ugly record. But these Jets aren't quite as bad as that record may look. Here's the rundown of the soul-crushers:

- Lost at Green Bay in a game in which a timeout snafu cost them a game-tying, fourth quarter touchdown
- After falling into a 14-point deficit on Monday night against Chicago, came back and got into the Bears' red zone in the final two minutes with a chance to tie the game on a touchdown, then two-point conversion but could not hit paydirt
- Somehow managed to stay in a game in which Detroit thoroughly outplayed them but went three-and-out on a potential game-tying drive that began with 4:36 left in the fourth, then never got the ball back
- Somehow managed to stay in a game in which Denver outplayed them most of the way but, down a touchdown, went three-and-out on a drive beginning with 6:07 to play and culminated it with a Smith pick-six on a last gasp chance that began at their own 5 in the final 2:30
- Thursday's New England affair, in which they more than doubled the Patriots' time of possession and didn't turn the ball over but could muster only a field goal four times in Patriots territory (twice in the red zone)

Outside of the 31- 0 demolition suffered in San Diego, this team has been competitive in every game - with opponents whom are no slouches. The combined record of the teams who have defeated the Jets is 25-11.

While 1-6 looks really bad, you have to ask yourself: how much different really are these Jets than last year's version?

It was relatively agreed upon that Rex Ryan overachieved by taking that bunch to an 8-8 record. With a talent pool that is better in some places (Eric Decker at receiver) and worse in others (the secondary), Ryan's team is on pace for a much worse finish this time around.

But take a look at how the Jets won last year and how they've lost last year - it's not all that different.

Close games went the Jets way in 2013 - and they overachieved. 

Winning close games has proved impossible thus far in 2014 - and the Jets are in the AFC East cellar.

Talent-wise, plenty still needs to be done. If a penchant for tight wins and a surprisingly good final record fooled anyone out of that belief, they were sorely mistaken. Seven weeks of the 2014 season have proved that.

Rex Ryan can’t afford many more 'ass whippings'

Jets head coach Rex Ryan rarely holds back his emotions, win or lose.

Ryan’s Jets didn’t just lose to the Chargers this week - they were demoralized in every aspect of the game, from an offense that couldn’t get out of its own way to a defense that couldn’t stop a thing on third down.

It was a mess, which Ryan frankly acknowledged: “It's a complete ass-whipping and it was me that got his ass kicked. It's on me."

Candor is a plus but frankly, Ryan can’t afford many more of the beatdowns of the nature the Jets suffered in the fifth game of their season.

No team is immune to a day they don’t want to remember but for the Jets, it’s becoming a recurring script and Ryan’s seat is only getting hotter and hotter.

There was last year’s 49-9 stomping in Cincinnati, which Ryan followed up by saying: “We got our butts kicked and there’s no two ways about it. All phases of the game.”

Go back two years to a 2012 game at home when the San Francisco 49ers obliterated the Jets and Ryan said: “We got our ass kicked” and that the team needed to do some “soul searching.”

Ryan called the infamous 45-3 Monday night loss in New England in 2010, the “biggest butt whipping I’ve taken as a coach, in my career.” Ryan used the word “butt” six times in that postgame news conference, repeatedly stressing that Bill Belichick and the Patriots kicked the derrieres of Ryan and the Jets.

Some of these Ryan-led teams have gone on to make the playoffs despite such whoopings. But this one is 1-4 and looking in no shape to get hot.

With a new general manager, Ryan’s ass is on the line and, if the ship isn’t righted quickly this time, the next place it will be kicked is to the curb.

A cool story in a crazy time in Cleveland sports

One week ago, northeast Ohio was on a LeBron James-induced high after the four-time NBA MVP announced his decision to return home.

Fans still are. And the week that was produced some weird, wild and fun stories.

Here is a cool one I was able to post on FoxSportsOhio.com thanks to social media. Saw a great photo shared by @imaraindancer retweeted in my Twitter feed, talked to the people involved and ended up with a story not just about LeBron hysteria (as it would have only seemed at the surface) but hometown pride.
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Epic wedding photo captures LeBron homecoming fever

Eight groomsmen in No. 23 jerseys and a groom mimicking LeBron James' powder toss stand in front of St. Vincent Catholic Church in the four-time NBA MVP's hometown of Akron, Ohio, one day after James' colossal homecoming announcement.

You couldn't write this script any better.

When Nick Jones and Christa Deckard set their wedding date for July 12, 2014, they had no idea it would follow in the direct aftermath of what will likely go down as one of Cleveland's biggest sports stories ever.

So, what better way to celebrate a glorious life moment than with a photo for the ages, paying tribute to one of Northeast Ohio's most compelling athletes?

Jarred Wagner of Inlux Photo in Canton was the man behind the lens for the awesome photo, which he said was the groom's idea and took two takes to nail.

"I quickly collected my jerseys and we got everything rolling," Jones said, reacting ecstatically when he found out the news of LeBron's decision Friday. "We pulled the photo off even better than I could expect."

When the rumor of James' return started proliferating the weekend before, Jones initially asked his wife if he and his groomsmen could wear the LeBron jerseys as the introduction to their reception.

She obliged - just another sign that she was a keeper.

The Joneses story actually has part of its beginnings in basketball, as Christa took Nick to a Cavaliers game for their third date, Dec. 14, 2012.

"Looking back, I knew I'd marry her but had no idea where I'd be and, at that point, I didn't think there was a chance LBJ would be home," Jones said.

That December was a rough one for the Cavs, finishing the month 3-12. James' Miami Heat won 66 games on their way to a title that season. But two years later, on Jones' wedding day, the horizon gleams of much brighter times ahead for his favorite basketball team.

"LeBron coming back is the greatest thing that could have happened to us in the sports world," best man Mike Stuart said. "It is a great thing for Northeast Ohio in many ways, as he will help the economy of his hometown, inspire young kids to have their priorities straight, and of course, help break the curse of Cleveland sports."

All parties will have to wait on that whole breaking the curse deal but hopes are understandably high, staked upon the success of James' first tenure in Cleveland and a Cavs roster stocked with young talent. James' return also means he will once again be a hero to kids growing up in Cleveland, Akron and the surrounding areas of Northeast Ohio.

Jones and Stuart were once those youngsters, hitting the court together and becoming friends on basketball teams in Cuyahoga Falls. The groom and best man didn't go to high school together though, as the huge LeBron fan Jones ironically attended Archbishop Hoban, the rival high school of James' St. Vincent St. Mary.

Another groomsman, Bret Grund, was a high school classmate to Jones. The two faced adversity in those years, losing a friend and football teammate, Anthony Grimaldi, in a car crash.

Now, Grund again faces a fight, diagnosed with stage four glioma, a rare form of brain cancer. Currently living in San Francisco, Grund said the support from friends, family and love ones has been unbelievable. That support system was sowed in his home state of Ohio.

"Hard work and loyalty to our sports teams (and in general) is what my father taught me," Grund said. "And that all stems from growing up in Northeast Ohio."

Coming home is what James did in making his decision to play again for the Cavaliers.

"Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It's where I walked. It's where I ran. It's where I cried. It's where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart," James said in his first-person essay in Sports Illustrated.

These nine guys outside a church, bearing a name fittingly similar to James' high school alma mater, represent James' words too, a microcosm of the pride inherent in so many who call this place home.

"[The] wedding day really was the best day ever," Jones said. "All this is just icing on the cake.
LeBron coming home is the best thing that could possibly happen to Cleveland."

Can't find many in these parts who would argue that.