Week Thirteen
Raiders 31
Jets 28
FINAL
Live by the Blitz; Die by the Blitz
... but was this a case of defensive coordinator sabotage?
No one needs to hear it from me. But truth be told, when you're leading 28-24 with 0:17 seconds left on the game clock, and the opposition has the ball on your 46-yard line, all you have to do as a defense is let them run the ball or allow them a short pass reception, then just make a tackle and it's generally game over. Ordering an all-out blitz in that situation is very simply a fireable offense. That's exactly what Gregg Williams does, and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr reads it perfectly. He throws a game-winning touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III, and it's essentially game over. On Monday, the Jets relieve Gregg Williams of his defensive coordinator responsibilities and promote Frank Bush on an interim basis.
Was Gregg Williams the only smart guy in the room? Apparently, he was the only one to grasp the magnitude of the situation. The Jets were on the verge of compromising their chances to land next year's first overall draft selection until Williams smartly interceded. Or did everyone forget the Jaguars this season have only one victory with four games left to play? The Jets have gotten this far without a single win, and Williams was not going to let them blow it in Week Thirteen.
Of course, I say this in jest. But Williams is an experienced coordinator, albeit a highly aggressive one. Nevertheless, I assume with great confidence that he knows better than to call for a cover-zero in that situation. Granted, if I had to sit in meeting rooms with an utterly inferior head coach that has done everything to run this team into the ground and yet is confoundingly considered brilliant by the owner, I'd probably want out of there too.
What strikes me most curious of all is that Adam Gase did the firing. After an 0-12 start, this man ponderously still holds sway.
- "Obviously, I wasn't happy about that call." - Adam Gase.
So, where were the head coach's superintendence and oversight? Gase plays middleman with his offensive coordinator where no play gets called without passing through Adam Gase's headphones. Why is he not in communication with his defensive coordinator? And if he was and didn't like Gregg Williams' defensive selection, why didn't Gase do something about it?
- "That was a heartbreaking way for our guys to lose a game." - Adam Gase.
Trust me, they're no more heartbreaking than any of the previous twenty losses under Adam Gase's command. But he seems to think fans were copacetic with a 7-20 record, but that this one particular loss can not and will not stand.
It's your fault.
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