A Giants Win: Three Takeaways from the Jets in Week 10
Amid protests over their head coach and a continued rash of injuries, the New York Jets showed up on Sunday in a 34-27 win over the crosstown New York Giants.
It wasn’t pretty from the Jets but it was a win. And while some fans in full-blown tank mode might not be a happy, this win showcased why the Jets have reason for a certain level of optimism in 2020.
Now 2-7 on the year, there is no reason to doubt that the Jets are still in a rebuild. But there is a core here that can be built upon and provide a spine for this team moving forward. That counts for something and, long-term, is more important than a Week 10 win in a lost season.
Three key takeaways from the Jets in Week 10:
The Stars Showed Up – Namely quarterback Sam Darnold and safety Jamal Adams.
In the coming years, the Jets will only go as far as Darnold will take them and for the second time this year, he took them to a win over an NFC East team. Darnold wasn’t perfect but he was solid, starting the game with two touchdown drives in the Jets opening two possessions.
He was efficient, he threw the ball away and he showed flashes of his rookie year where he was the franchise. He even tucked and ran a couple of times.
Adams, to his credit, put together a tremendous performance including a strip sack of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones where he then ran the ball 25 yards for a touchdown. This was a signature performance from Adams in every way.
While Darnold is the one who will dictate how far the Jets can grow and develop in the coming years, Adams is this team’s best player and star. After a difficult few weeks for him following the fallout from the trade deadline, it was good to see him rebound in a big way.
Give Gase Credit – While the Jets head coach has been mocked and protested, Adam Gase stayed true to who he is. And while it might be easy to poke fun at Gase, he had his team ready and focused. He deserves credit for what he did on Sunday.
He didn’t win the Super Bowl. He didn’t make the playoffs. But he did what he was supposed to do and he beat the Giants.
A lot of what is going on around Gase he simply can’t control, from the injuries to a very poor roster. He’s still learning about the team and frankly is learning how to coach a team lacking a lot of talent in several key places on the field. It isn’t a terrible team, but it isn’t a very good one right now.
Does that give him or his handling of things a hall pass for this year? No. Should fans be upset? Absolutely.
But Gase did a great job this week in blotting out the noise and handling things in a professional way. He never showed a temper or a wrong emotion. His team then responded with an impressive if ugly win.
That says something about if this team still believes in their head coach.
What Could Have Been – After a win like this, the what if game now begins for Jets fans.
What if they hadn’t blown a 16-point lead in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills, only to lose 17-16? What if last week, Darnold had thrown the ball away and not thrown a goal line interception in a loss at the Miami Dolphins?
How different this season would feel at 3-6 or 4-5 had those two games broken a different way.
The Jets aren’t a bad team, they just lack a core of star players beyond Adams and maybe Darnold as well as consistent play on the offensive line. This team isn’t far away from being competitive and winning those games like their season opener and then last week’s loss in Miami.
It hurts to think what this season could have been rather than what it has become. Turn those losses the other way and this season feels completely different.
