The Jets’ offensive performance in their 16-10 win over the Steelers in Week 16 wasn’t pretty, but it was exactly what Adam Gase had hoped for.
In order to pull off the upset, New York knew it needed to win a dog fight on offense, defense and special teams. Gase expected the game to be a low-scoring, defensive battle where Gang Green had to rely on avoiding self-inflicted mistakes.
Despite low offensive production, the gameplan went accordingly. Gase praised Sam Darnold’s ability to manage the game, limiting the second-year quarterback to controlling the tempo of a defensive-dominated game.
“He played that game exactly the way that we talked about it on Wednesday,” Gase said on Monday. “When we met with our team and we talked about how we had to play that game, offense, defense and special teams, it was, outside of that one play, our guys executed what we wanted to do as a team. That was what really excited me because we took what we talked about on Wednesday, we practiced the right way, and then we went out and executed it.”
Darnold didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but that’s not was his head coach was asking of him in Week 16. He completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 183 yards and a lone touchdown, which came on the Jets’ opening drive.
After the Jets’ opening 11-play, 75-yard drive, the offense sputtered. New York averaged only 4.1 plays for 15.3 yards per drive through its next 12 possessions, which netted nine points and one trip to the red zone.
Still, Darnold avoided throwing any interceptions and only turned the ball over on a strip-sack by T.J. Watt — a play that allowed the Steelers to tie the game at 10 before halftime.
Gase shouldered the blame for that mistake, insisting it was his fault with the way the Jets were lined up. Darnold, who has always been accountable in his two years with the Jets, refused to let his head coach accept the blame. Instead, he accepted responsibility for holding on to the ball for too long.
“I put us in a bad spot,” Gase said. “He was waiting on a route which is 100 percent on me, I wish I would’ve stayed with a different personnel grouping which would’ve helped him in that situation get the ball out quicker, it was just a bad call by me that forced him to hold onto the ball.”