Coach's who don't have great players get fired. Coach's are measured by winning and winning is a result of having great players or great talent and developing them into great players. Sam is not a great player at this point, he is a great talent. He had a few choke moments in the second half that almost cost the team but he also looked like a very talented NFL QB who was playing like a professional. In other words he is well coached. He made some big plays and some small plays and also made some errant costly throws. The best thing about Sam yesterday is he looked like an NFL QB with a plan. Gase brought in Siemian as his backup and put Falk on the development roster. Gase had no intention of starting Falk. Siemian got hurt after 6 passing attempts. Did not seem to make adjustments isn't the same thing as didn't make adjustments. Playing against good teams with great players on D maybe our adjustments simply didn't work? Maybe starting high quality NFL defenses would expose any adjustment? Lots of assumptions but at least you used the word seemed instead of didn't regarding adjustments. Gase's job was never at stake so the idea it seemed like it was saved again has zero to do with anything management has said and everything to do with what you seem should happen. The team didn't look good, they looked like a flawed team that played very hard and made some key plays and won. Sam doesn't change what the team is. It's a flawed team assembled by a shitty GM who's gone mostly because the HC had more credibility with ownership than the GM. In spite of that what we really saw was a well coached talented young QB make enough plays and a reasonable good not great D make enough plays to beat a very good not great Dallas team at home. What I saw was huge effort on both sides of the ball, a team that believed they could win and haven't given up despite getting their ass handed to them for 4 straight games. Maybe the HC should get some credit for that? Maybe Gase having the team buy in had something to do with the win that Sam had no control over? I doubt it but it's a possibility. Since I don't think Gase's job is in any jeopardy at all, I'm hopeful he is very successful.
Fair points Biggs But one game with Sam back is too small a sample size judging this HC after previous 3 losses So ATM I am inclined to agree with Contrails about AG until Xmas rolls around and Gase proves otherwise I am more confident in how Williams is coaching up the D tbh. The 64k question is which AG will show up for MNF the one calling a run with2nd down and 20 or 3rd and 14 or whose dialing up a 92 yard strike to R Anderson??!
Good post and read... I been harsh on AG and like you want to see a prepared team and progress week in and week out. Is AG the right guy "maybe" but my biggest concern is his resume.... If this team gets better each week - and they probably will lose some games alone the way - but is competitive, can execute a GP and not look inept of dysfunctional again,,, then we are moving in the right direction. Frankly, even though Dallas lost the last two I didn't think we would win... Sam was the major difference and he showed me a lot yesterday, I told my wife we finally have a FQB that is tough and smart.... lets hope we get on a roll...I am tired of being a laughing stock. Next Monday will very very interesting.... lets see if we can beat NE and not get blow out on MNF.
Just wanted to point out this a team quite new to itself, and putting a game away holding a small lead is a skill acquired over time. Also consider they found themselves in a position they likely didn't expect to be in, so there's that as well. At least there wasn't what I'd describe as panic, so that's something to build on. They got boned on two PI calls (the first of the 3 was a good call), but they didn't go into whine mode (that I could see) and didn't stop competing on D. This will be a necessary big boost to the whole team's confidence and there haven't been many of those. Like my uncle used to say, "One at a time is good fishing." Although I still don't see better than 6-10 (if that), I hope this is the hinge point. It'll require some leadership for that to happen, so it'll be interesting to see who besides Darnold stands up to do it. Just IMHO, of course
The worst part about the last 3 losses is the team looking unprepared and disinterested. It was straight up apathy. Playing with a 3rd string QB is an obvious handicap, but looking the way this team did was inexcusable. It didn't remotely resemble competitive professional football. That's on the HC, and it's too hard to ignore at this point. Yesterday was a nice step in the right direction, but beating Dallas doesn't remove the stench of those games. Outcoach Belichick, and then maybe we can start talking about praising Gase.
I don't see how anybody can make a valid assessment of Gase based on what we have seen of him in NY at this point. Miami was a completely different set of circumstances and I think can't really be carried forward as far as an assessment. I didn't think that initially, but I do now. We can't assess Gase based on one regular season game at 80% strength - but that is all we have seen so far: Game 1 - Sam under center, sick as a dog, we put up 16 points - most of them defensive. Not much to take from this game offensively. Game 2 - Started Siemian, Falk put in unexpectedly with zero prep time, Not much to take from this game either. Game 3 - Falk - against NE - who's kidding who, we were never winning this game anyway - damage control mode - Nothing to take from this game. Game 4 - Falk - Everyone thought that Sam would be starting, Falk got no reps (no plan B), Not much to take from this game either Game 5 - Sam returns, Gase's offense starts to work the way it's designed to, good ball movement, put up 24 points - all offense. Run blocking still weak. So the data set is still only 1 game. Hardly enough to make any serious assessment. It is fairly obvious though, that Gase's offense is a sophisticated, complex offense that depends on a very strong, smart QB and solid route running by the receivers to make it work. With Falk that was simply not possible. With Sam back under center and Thomas, Crowder, Anderson, and now Herndon and Griffin on the field, I think we have what we need. Add Bell and Montgomery to that mix and we should really have something here -eventually. At this point it is a whole lot easier to see how Gase calls the offense, how he reacts situationally, how he manages the clock, etc. He already has shown some player management ability because this locker room has not fractured - even a little during this ordeal. The locker room is tight, and the players seem genuinely committed to this system. We should be much more competitive over the next 6 or 7 games, maybe there will be some tight ones and we will learn some more about our coaches. For now, I am still squarely on the fence, but maybe just a tad more in Gase's corner than I was initially.
All fair and above board but what if somebody was to say that the HC didn't give any 1st team reps in practice to the now promoted to number 1 QB for games 3 and 4 and then everybody is left wondering why that same QB was worse than fucking useless in those games? (I couldn't tell you if that was 100% true but it was posted on here after game 4) Yes, the Cowboys game was a massive step in the right direction, it bloody well needed to be though.
It’s the game/coach right in front of us, and the only one that matters at the moment. In our rear view is a huge coaching stench to start the season. Keeping pace with a great coach on the docket would go a long way in deodorizing some of that stench.
When a team at the bottom of the heap hires a new HC, he has to be given an opportunity to make his plan work. Because first, the problems that caused the need for a new HC don't fucking instantly disappear just because we hired one! And I don't give a shit what other coaches are doing, that's not any kind of fixed standard because those guys are all coming and going also. I want to see our guy make his thing work. I want to see the team improve steadily, and I expect it will take a season or two to turn it around. That's not abnormal, and we're committed to it. And the 4-year perpetual ineptitude left behind by Todd Bowles is NOT Gaze's fault. I means nothing today. He takes the team the way he finds it and he starts from there. There is no magic wand. And if you fire a guy 4 games into a season where both the #1 and #2 QB's went down, who the fuck with any credibility will take the job? The answer is NOBODY! So stop all the fucking crying and learn to see victory where it lies. Beating Dallas last Sunday is the best performance on-field in at least two years and all we can do is fucking cry some more? Gaze may not be the answer, who knows? But we're committed to him, so enough with the "He's not BB" bullshit. Let the guys play football!
