Should There Be a Playoff Mandate in 2020

[SAR I]

12 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

If I had balls I’d be King.

                                   —The Queen

If we were a healthy team all season I'd be crying right now.

We ain't healthy.  At several positions throughout the season, this is an expansion roster.  Gase is to be commended for having us at 5-2 after 1-7.  Just an amazing job.

SAR I

[Warfish]

19 minutes ago, NYJ1 said:

Just so I can clear the air on where I stand...

I do NOT think this is a playoff roster. Not even close. In fact, it's one of the LEAST talented rosters I've ever seen. However, given how many additions Mac made through FA, another spending spree about to happen in March 2020, a supposedly good drafting GM, and a terrible bunch of misfits winning 6 or 7 games, I see no reason why the playoffs should not be an EXPECTATION next season? Especially for a experienced HC like Gase. If we've truly got the right people in place AND this roster just won 6 or 7 games in 2019. A 2 game improvement over 2019 is well within reason. That puts us at 9-7 or 10-6. Those records are normally playoff records.

And yet, the difference between us at 6-9 and us at 9-6 is wins at Buffalo (week 1), which was doable perhaps with a healthy Darnold, a win vs. Cleveland or Jacksonville (both losers just like us) and a win vs. the 1-win Bengals. 

Not exactly a huge stretch.

Darnold doesn't get Mono (lol), Mosely doesn't tear his groin apart week 1, Enunwa and Herndon aren't walking injury machines, or/and Gase managed the O-line better, and all of the above were very reasonable possible outcomes.

I think folks overestimate what it takes to be a "playoff roster" in the competitive-mediocrity-by-design NFL of the 2019's era.  Change only a few variables (mono, LOL!) and this roster, bad as it is, could have been a playoff team this year.

So yeah, next year, with the cap space and picks we have, we absolutely should compete.

[doublel9]

15 minutes ago, SAR I said:

If we were a healthy team all season I'd be crying right now.

We ain't healthy.  At several positions throughout the season, this is an expansion roster.  Gase is to be commended for having us at 5-2 after 1-7.  Just an amazing job.

SAR I

By healthy do you mean Beachum, Osemele, Kalil, Winters and Shell?  With that group my guess is you'd still be crying right now.

[slats]

6 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Darnold doesn't get Mono (lol)

 

6 minutes ago, Warfish said:

(mono, LOL!)

I don't get why is contracting mononucleosis laugh out loud funny. I don't get blaming Sam for getting it. Not sure what sort of screening one does in an effort to not get it. I mean, I've managed to get thru my life so far without coming down with it, but that has nothing to do with any mono-prevention plan that I've incorporated. My brother had it in high school, don't recall anyone blaming him for it. It's just a crappy thing that happened. Probably took a toll on him for the rest of the season, too. 

[Warfish]

33 minutes ago, slats said:

I don't get why is contracting mononucleosis laugh out loud funny.

Of course you don't.

Quote

I don't get blaming Sam for getting it.

How many other NFL Starting QB's, in NFL history, have missed time for Mono?

It's just laughably SOJ odd/unlucky, to be the only QB in NFL history to ever miss time for the "kissing disease".  It'd only be better if he missed a month of starts for Chickenpox.

He didn't die.  No need for such a somber and serious tone.  Misplaced gravitas is satire, not maturity.

Quote

Not sure what sort of screening one does in an effort to not get it.

Don't make out with the Infected?

Quote

Probably took a toll on him for the rest of the season, too. 

Indeed, thank you for supporting the actual point I was making.

[14 in Green]

We gave up a ton to move up and take Sam Darnold with the 3rd pick in the 2018 draft. 2020 will be his 3rd year. I think we should be talking playoffs next season.

I don’t think expecting a 9-11 win season by that point is unreasonable, especially from a fan base which holds him in such higher regard then the other QBs in his class.

At some point he has to show he can either carry a team or just be a game managing type QB. We can’t keep ripping our other high picks like Adams, Leo and QW and continue the excuse making for Darnold. Or can we?

[SAR I]

40 minutes ago, doublel9 said:

By healthy do you mean Beachum, Osemele, Kalil, Winters and Shell?  With that group my guess is you'd still be crying right now.

Another truth-  beyond the injuries, Gase inherited an already weak roster in certain positions, OL tops on that list.

And he's still 5-2 in his last 7 games.  Amazing.

SAR I

[SAR I]

30 minutes ago, slats said:

 

I don't get why is contracting mononucleosis laugh out loud funny. I don't get blaming Sam for getting it. Not sure what sort of screening one does in an effort to not get it. I mean, I've managed to get thru my life so far without coming down with it, but that has nothing to do with any mono-prevention plan that I've incorporated. My brother had it in high school, don't recall anyone blaming him for it. It's just a crappy thing that happened. Probably took a toll on him for the rest of the season, too. 

Agreed.  I'm confident that after the season Darnold will let it slip that he wasn't himself until Week 8 or 9.  It's what we were told by the doctors back in September.  Spleen was the first danger.  Second was a customary slow recovery.

SAR I

[Sperm Edwards]

22 hours ago, slats said:

Joe Douglas is signed here for six years. I want him to build the long-term winner that leads the organization to want to extend Joe Douglas five years from now. I don't want some artificial "mandate" forcing the GM's hand to apply as many band-aids as possible just to get to the playoffs one year. I want him to make smart moves that look at the big picture. Bill Belichick has made a career of trading for future draft picks. That's the kind of thing I want to see done here. It's also the kind of thing a front office given a mandate to win now might not do. I'm impatient, too, but I want it done right, not just fast. 

This, 100% -- leads to proving the law of unintended consequences. 

It's different for coaches and GMs, though, since the coach can't sign FAs, make trades, or draft prospects on his own. But remember all the excuse-makers suggesting we were rebuilding the "right" way for a change through the last 2-3 Maccagnan years? Yeah, well Gase will have that excuse - or pardon me, they're reasons not excuses when it's someone's preferred HC - as to why he was handed a roster for the real rebuilding year 1 not ready-for-competition year 1, and why he shouldn't be held to the playoff mandate. He wouldn't even be wrong if next year is an extreme example of gutting the roster.

Most of the rest of us just want him to pass the eye test, flawed and subjective as that can be. If we are on the outside looking in at 10-6 it's not the same as going 6-10 there will be more bad luck type disappointment than our-HC-sucks disappointment. Just keep in mind looking purely at record alone, Bowles went 10-6 in 2015, but that didn't make him a good HC after Macc went on a crazy shopping spree. A couple years earlier Rex went 8-8 in 2013 with no shortage of roster excuses (note having Geno at QB and maybe 1-2 NFL-caliber DBs on the roster were excuses not reasons). Point being, that didn't make him a master HC either just because the team didn't go 2-14, nor was the locker room lost in the face of adversity that people are gushing over with Gase. 

Hopefully he really is a brilliant guy and he's just someone who needs a minimum level roster for him to be able to show his stuff. He does that I don't care one iota even if he really IS spending an hour or two a week of his free time on fake Twitter accounts. Have at it -- if that's his means to an end we like.

[freestater]

Gase, yes. Douglas, no. If Gase cant be better than what he is now (the mastermind of a bottom-of-the-barrel offense) let Douglas choose his coach. 

[Larz]

Unlikely that the Johnson’s do that because that would mean that they might be asked tough questions. 

[BigRy56]

Yes - this team will finish 7-9 and isn’t far off. One nice offseason and even more growth from Darnold should easily propel us to 10 wins next year

[lounap23]

This might be an unpopular opinion.  But with a terrible OL from the jump, to all the injuries, and the lack of depth on this roster I think Gase did the best any coach could do with this team and 6 maybe 7 wins is amazing.   

So assuming, God we better, we upgrade the OL and the depth on this team.   Gase should be able to get 9-11 wins next year and the playoffs should be a mandate for him.

Resign Anderson, Poole and Jenkins.  I have to believe with 8 picks in the draft and good cap space.  We should be able to fill the big glaring wholes this year.  OL and pass rush. 

I know CB needs some help but with improved CB play from Austin, Canady and Maulet add an actual pass rusher  to the team and I think it will make them look even better, I prioritize that position lower than OL and Edge rushers with that logic

 

[14 in Green]

2 minutes ago, freestater said:

Gase, yes. Douglas, no. If Gase cant be better than what he is now (the mastermind of a bottom-of-the-barrel offense) let Douglas choose his coach. 

...and his players. (Whenever we talk about any other new GM we always say they deserve to get to draft at least one QB and to fire one HC. Douglas should get that, and I think Gase should also.

Neither Douglas or Gase are beholden to ANY of Macc’s draft picks. From the leaders of that “bottom of the barrel offense” you mentioned or the defense and specials.

They both came in together, and they both deserve the chance to build this team their way, with their players, not Macc’s.

[Villain The Foe]

3 hours ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

Many here think this is a playoff roster if not for injuries and that this late season “surge” is the needle pointing up. So. Should Chris Johnson mandate the playoffs in 2020 or not?

I put "other". There should be a playoff mandate every season. 

[CrazyCarl40]

5 minutes ago, lounap23 said:

This might be an unpopular opinion.  But with a terrible OL from the jump, to all the injuries, and the lack of depth on this roster I think Gase did the best any coach could do with this team and 6 maybe 7 wins is amazing.   

So assuming, God we better, we upgrade the OL and the depth on this team.   Gase should be able to get 9-11 wins next year and the playoffs should be a mandate for him.

Resign Anderson, Poole and Jenkins.  I have to believe with 8 picks in the draft and good cap space.  We should be able to fill the big glaring wholes this year.  OL and pass rush. 

I know CB needs some help but with improved CB play from Austin, Canady and Maulet add an actual pass rusher  to the team and I think it will make them look even better, I prioritize that position lower than OL and Edge rushers with that logic

 

So you don’t put the rash of injuries on the coach? Like the coach who decided to play Williamson in a meaningless preseason game where he got hurt?

[14 in Green]

8 minutes ago, lounap23 said:

This might be an unpopular opinion.  But with a terrible OL from the jump, to all the injuries, and the lack of depth on this roster I think Gase did the best any coach could do with this team and 6 maybe 7 wins is amazing.   

So assuming, God we better, we upgrade the OL and the depth on this team.   Gase should be able to get 9-11 wins next year and the playoffs should be a mandate for him.

Resign Anderson, Poole and Jenkins.  I have to believe with 8 picks in the draft and good cap space.  We should be able to fill the big glaring wholes this year.  OL and pass rush. 

I know CB needs some help but with improved CB play from Austin, Canady and Maulet add an actual pass rusher  to the team and I think it will make them look even better, I prioritize that position lower than OL and Edge rushers with that logic

 

Not looking to argue, as I agree with a lot of what you said.

However, like almost everyone else here, you put the onus on Gase, while not once bringing up the QB. To win 10-11 games, your QB has to play well. 

It’s a QB driven league. If Darnold is good, we’ll be good, and Gase and Douglas will look good also. If Darnold is mediocre or worse, the Jets won’t and they won’t.

[Jet Nut]

Who exactly does help for a team to publicly mandate anything a year a head of time.  
 

And who gets the mandate JD or Gase?

[lounap23]

1 minute ago, CrazyCarl40 said:

So you don’t put the rash of injuries on the coach? Like the coach who decided to play Williamson in a meaningless preseason game where he got hurt?

That's tough to say... Gase has a history of injury riddled teams. Gotta look at the conditioning program and make some changes.   But man you can't coach worrying if an injury is gonna be an issue or not.  And to some degree an NFL player should take some responsibility for their own conditioning.  Their job and livelihood depends on it.  So yes I put it on Gase and No I don't LOL

[lounap23]

5 minutes ago, 14 in Green said:

Not looking to argue, as I agree with a lot of what you said.

However, like almost everyone else here, you put the onus on Gase, while not once bringing up the QB. To win 10-11 games, your QB has to play well. 

It’s a QB driven league. If Darnold is good, we’ll be good, and Gase and Douglas will look good also. If Darnold is mediocre or worse, the Jets won’t and they won’t.

I guess between the lines i said that.  I don't there is a QB in the NFL that could have won us more than 8 games this year with that OL.  But I do agree 100% it's a QB driven league and Sam has done pretty good with no OL. Only Robbie and Crowder at WR and for those guys to be better they need to be the #2 and 3 not the #1 and 2. Lack of TE production early until Griffin was used and then he was gone.  So yea if we can improve the OL alone this team should be a 10 win team with Sam, easy.  

[Jetsfan80]

1 hour ago, slats said:

I don't get why is contracting mononucleosis laugh out loud funny. I don't get blaming Sam for getting it. 

I don't either.  The blame falls on the Morristown sluts.  Or @nico002.

[14 in Green]

6 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

I don't either.  The blame falls on the Morristown sluts.  Or @nico002.

As much as he would’ve enjoyed the process, nico would’ve never forgiven himself. 

The fact that he continues posting (or doing anything) convinces me he’s not the culprit.

[jgb]

8 hours ago, More Cowbell said:

I'll settle for a Darnold making noticable improvement and Bell looking like the guy that played on Pit mandate

So... same KPIs as 2019.

[Charlie Brown]

I answered No...

How about a full season of competent football on both sides of the ball!

[Gibby]

Has to be. Next year will be ten flipping years!!!

[Gibby]

26 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

I answered No...

How about a full season of competent football on both sides of the ball!

Sorry- after a decade of watching other teams be good suck again and turn around and be good yet again. 10 years later s long enough. Playoffs or move the team! 

[More Cowbell]

41 minutes ago, jgb said:

So... same KPIs as 2019.

Without the Mono, yes. 

[BurnleyJet]

A Winning record, an NFL caliber Oline, plus an actual edge rusher.

[Philc1]

5 hours ago, Gibby said:

Has to be. Next year will be ten flipping years!!!

This

[Philc1]

5 hours ago, Gibby said:

Sorry- after a decade of watching other teams be good suck again and turn around and be good yet again. 10 years later s long enough. Playoffs or move the team! 

The Knicks have more recently been in the playoffs than the jets

[SummerofSam14]

It’s about long term success and building a culture of winning. I would love to have a Decker/Marshall/Ivory offense for 4-5 seasons instead of one season. 

I think the goal for Douglas in the offseason is to infuse the roster with some offensive talent through the draft. It’s then on Gase to develop it and have that side of the ball pointed in the right direction. The Jets have had a bottom 5 offense 8 times this decade which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering how much the past three regimes ignored that side of the ball in the draft. 

[jgb]

9 hours ago, More Cowbell said:

Without the Mono, yes. 

The future is always a year away for us Jets fans.

[T0mShane]

20 hours ago, freestater said:

Gase, yes. Douglas, no. If Gase cant be better than what he is now (the mastermind of a bottom-of-the-barrel offense) let Douglas choose his coach. 

But at the same time, Gase will have served his purpose. The team is playing better, they’re about to load up the roster, and Darnold has shown some reasonable improvement. The Jets head coaching job is better today than it was when Gase took it, which was no small task. If the team goes to hell and they fire him at the Bye next year, they’ll be in better shape entering the hiring pool. 

[Embrace the Suck]

There should be a winning record mandate. The team should have to look like it has made real tangible progress and is going the right direction.

[varjet]

The Jets could have concluded that they were playing this year for the draft pick and to rebuild from scratch, but they have been trying to win.  I think that means they should continue to be doing that. 

So my straddle-the-fence view is that next year the Jets should be trying to win every game they can, but they should focus more on players that they can develop for the long-term rather than one-year rentals.   Other than someone who can block or catch for Sam (really block, not Kalil, a failed, expensive one-year mistake rental), there should be no one year rentals on the roster-or at least one year rentals that cost over $1mm or so.  

in 2021, sign all the one years we need to make a deep playoff run.  

If we can point to two games or more in 2020 where the Jets lost or were not competitive because they were incompetently coached, that should be the end of Gase.