The Jets heralded Adam Gase as the offensive genius whose play-calling would elevate them from the drudges of the AFC when they hired him in January. But even in the Jets 16-10 win over the Steelers in Week 16, Gase proved once again he doesn’t know how to craft sustained drives after the first offensive series of the game. 

After the Jets’ opening 11-play, 75-yard drive concluded with a beautiful touchdown pass to Robby Anderson from Sam Darnold, New York’s offense sputtered. The Jets averaged only 4.1 plays for 15.3 yards per drive through their next 12 possessions, which netted only nine points and one appearance in the red zone.

This continues a worrisome pattern for the Gase-led Jets. If you take a look at the six other games New York scored on its opening possession, the offense looked dynamic, powerful and dangerous on that first drive, averaging 10.8 plays for 74.8 yards with four touchdowns and two field goals. That’s the type of play-calling the Jets wanted from Gase. But after those first drives, the Jets’ offense looked much like it has throughout the season — horrid.

Let’s take a look at those six games:

Week 8 vs. Jaguars (loss)

Opening scoring drive: 11 plays, 98 yards

Average drive after first: 3.4 plays, 9.6 yards

Week 9 vs. Dolphins (loss)

Opening scoring drive: 11 plays, 80 yards

Average drive after first: 5.1 plays for 14.4 yards

Week 10 vs. Giants (win)

Opening scoring drive: 12 plays for 71 yards

Average drive after first: 4.2 plays for 11.6 yards

Week 11 vs. Redskins (win)

Opening scoring drive: seven plays for 70 yards

Average drive after first: 5.5 plays, 30 yards

Week 12 vs. Raiders (win)

Opening scoring drive: 10 plays, 79 yards

Average drive after first: 5.3 plays for 32 yards

Week 13 vs. Bengals (loss)

Opening scoring drive: 13 plays, 51 yards

Average drive after first: 6.8 plays, 22 yards

The pattern is obvious. Gase rarely, if ever, builds a drive better than his first one of the game. That makes sense from the perspective that coaches spend the entire week prior to crafting the perfect plays for their opening drive so they get points quickly. 

This wouldn’t be a big deal if Gase’s Jets scored on every opening possession. The problem is, those six games plus the Steelers’ win were the only times they did. It took the Jets until Week 8 to score a point on their first possession, which at the time was the longest streak in the NFL. 

Gase’s Jets have six wins after Week 16 – a miracle given the roster construction, injuries and play-calling by the coaching staff. But just because the Jets have won more games than anticipated shouldn’t take away from the fact Gase hasn’t been able to adjust his gameplan over the course of the contest. It’s a huge reason why the Jets ranked 28th in points, 31st in yards, 29th in plays and 32nd in yards per play heading into Week 16.

The win over the Steelers is nice, but in the grand scheme of things, it won’t matter for the Jets in 2019. Their season is over and they should be focused on the 2020 season – which means evaluating the current roster and correcting the mistakes that led to this disappointing season. This play-calling pattern is a huge problem that needs to be resolved this offseason if Gase is to succeed as the Jets coach.

Six wins look good on paper, but if New York doesn’t dive into the minutia of its games and fix the many problems it has (both from a personnel and coaching/play-calling standpoint), the same results could doom Gang Green in 2020 before the offseason even begins.