Robert Saleh’s Jets are on pace to be worse than Adam Gase’s teams

[Bronx]

Robert Saleh’s Jets are on pace to be worse than Adam Gase’s teams. Robert Saleh's 2021 New York Jets squad looks frighteningly similar to Adam Gase's 2019 and 2020 Jets teams.

By Michael Nania - On 10/25/2021, 9:02 PM

Robert Saleh’s New York Jets are on a historically bad pace
With their gruesome 54-13 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 7, Robert Saleh and the New York Jets have fallen to 1-5.

A 1-5 record is bad enough in itself, but the team’s overall performance level independent of the win-loss record puts them on track to become one of the worst teams – if not the worst team – in Jets history.

Yes, even worse than Adam Gase’s squads.

Let’s stack up the 2021 Jets against Gase’s 2019-20 Jets and some of the other brutal teams in Jets history.

Season-long pace

The Jets currently own a scoring margin of -95. They are scoring 13.3 points per game (32nd) and allowing 29.2 points per game (29th) for an average scoring margin of -15.8.

If maintained, that would be the worst mark in the history of the New York Jets.

Here are the worst teams in franchise history based on their average scoring margin at the end of the season:

2021 (-15.8)
1976 (-15.3)
2020 (-13.4)
1975 (-12.5)
1996 (-10.9)
1963 (-10.7)
1962 (-10.4)
1989 (-9.9)
1995 (-9.4)
2016 (-8.4)

We’re only six games in, so the Jets have 11 games to pull themselves out of the franchise’s all-time basement, but the sad fact of the matter is that the Jets very well could finish the season in this spot if they do not start playing a substantially better quality of football.

The Jets’ numbers in non-scoring categories indicate that their scoring margin is not a fluke based on their performance to this point. They are currently ranked 31st in total offense and 27th in total defense. If those rankings are maintained, they would become the first team in franchise history (since moving to the NFL in 1970) to rank bottom-six in both categories.

Saleh’s 2021 Jets have been out-gained by 130.2 yards per game this season. Not only is that the worst mark in the NFL this season, but it would be the worst in the history of the Jets as well:

2021 (-130.2)
1963 (-118.3)
2020 (-107.6)
1976 (-99.0)
1975 (-87.6)
2018 (-81.2)
1971 (-77.9)
1964 (-73.7)
1977 (-73.4)
1989 (-61.4)
Yikes.

Even before the New England debacle (551-to-299 yardage edge for the Patriots), the Jets had an average yardage margin of -105.8 over their first five games, which would put them on pace for the third-worst mark in franchise history.

Six-game start
The Jets’ six-game start in 2021 is up there as one of the worst that the franchise has ever experienced, comparing closely to Gase’s 2019 and 2020 teams.

Here is a look at the worst yardage differentials through six games in Jets history:

1963 (-873)
2019 (-859)
2021 (-781)
2002 (-720)
1976 (-687)
1971 (-662)
2020 (-613)
2001 (-607)
2007 (-571)
2006 (-463)
Here is a look at the worst point differentials through six games in Jets history:

1976 (-122)
2020 (-110)
2021 (-95)
1962 (-94)
2019 (-93)
1996 (-91)
1995 (-90)
2002 (-74)
2016 (-69)
2014 (-62)
We are witnessing perhaps the most embarrassing era in Jets history. The 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons represent three of the five worst six-game starts in franchise history based on point differential.

The Jets are a young, rebuilding team, but that is no excuse for the level of ineptitude that has been shown thus far. This is a historically bad football team until proven otherwise.

 

 

 


 

[sciond]

Wasn't that just a ray of sunshine this morning

[Barry McCockinner]

Difference being Saleh is a rookie HC so reasonable people will give him some time to learn. Gase was inexplicably hired after being a failed HC for the Fins.

[peebag]

...and the hits just keep on coming right here on station WSUX!

[JoJoTownsell1]

I think we all set the bar pretty low this year but expected the "all gas, no breaks" guy to bring a level of intensity on the defensive side of the ball that would make this team competitive every week. Instead, it's just more of the same. Saleh has no answers. Saleh has failed Zach Wilson on many levels. 

How can we expect a Defensive minded head coach that allows Mac Jones to score 50 points to be gifted enough to also help develop a young QB?

 

[munchmemory]

11 minutes ago, sciond said:

Wasn't that just a ray of sunshine this morning

I just put some freshly picked hemlock in the dehydrator.  Should be ready to brew my tea in a few.

[Bronx]

2 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

How can we expect a Defensive minded head coach that allows Mac Jones to score 50 points to be gifted enough to also help develop a young QB?

Answer: Free Flacco!

[The Crusher]

13 minutes ago, sciond said:

Wasn't that just a ray of sunshine this morning

Kind of bizarre that he thought  numbers were needed to draw that conclusion. 

[JoJoTownsell1]

7 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

Difference being Saleh is a rookie HC so reasonable people will give him some time to learn. Gase was inexplicably hired after being a failed HC for the Fins.

So what's the excuse for the defense going from bad to worse under his reign? 

I can give him a pass for not challenging the right plays or mismanaging the clock late. I can even say the development of Wilson isn't on him, BUT after a bye there is no zero chance a defensive guru comes out and lets Mac Jones put up 50 on screen passes that have been an issue all year for this defense. Sorry. That is not a HC learning thing. That is a fraud being exposed. 

[kevinc855]

For the record....

I didn't post this...

[sciond]

8 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

Kind of bizarre that he thought  numbers were needed to draw that conclusion. 

also crossed my mind..

you nailed it

[Barry McCockinner]

8 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

So what's the excuse for the defense going from bad to worse under his reign? 

I can give him a pass for not challenging the right plays or mismanaging the clock late. I can even say the development of Wilson isn't on him, BUT after a bye there is no zero chance a defensive guru comes out and lets Mac Jones put up 50 on screen passes that have been an issue all year for this defense. Sorry. That is not a HC learning thing. That is a fraud being exposed. 

Saleh isn't calling the defense but I do think it was playing better than most expected prior to this week, especially considering all the youth. Part of learning to be a head coach is to figure out how to manage the entire team. Is he giving Ulbrich too much credit? I don't know. Are the young guys just too green? There are a lot of variables going on with this train wreck.

I'm not saying Saleh is a good head coach. I'm saying it's too early to throw him in the trash bin. Like it or not, when you hire a rookie head coach you're going to deal with OTJT. That's a risk you take trying to find the next great one because the proven ones rarely shake free.

 

[Barkus]

13 minutes ago, kevinc855 said:

For the record....

I didn't post this...

be honest, this was you after reading the OP?

[Bronx]

4 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

Saleh isn't calling the defense but I do think it was playing better than most expected prior to this week, especially considering all the youth. Part of learning to be a head coach is to figure out how to manage the entire team. Is he giving Ulbrich too much credit? I don't know. Are the young guys just too green? There are a lot of variables going on with this train wreck.

I'm not saying Saleh is a good head coach. I'm saying it's too early to throw him in the trash bin. Like it or not, when you hire a rookie head coach you're going to deal with OTJT. That's a risk you take trying to find the next great one because the proven ones rarely shake free.

 

Numbers don't lie and Tossed Salad has been terrible. You get paid millions to be a headcoah, you don't OJT with that kind of money while putting people's health at risk due to incompetence or ignorance.

[SAR I]

"On pace"?

He's already there.  Gase's teams won 9 games in 2 seasons.  At this pace, it'll take Saleh 9 seasons to equal the feat.

SAR I

[T0mShane]

Saleh’s teams are also orders of magnitude more talented than Gase’s. 

[Saul Goodman]

No surprise here. Gase wasn’t the problem. Replacing him with “any coach” was not going to “make every player better” like we read repeatedly here.
 

The roster sucks….because we keep hiring sh*tty GM’s. The only way out of this mess is to draft better. 

[addage]

Maybe Saleh is a worse coach than Gase--I doubt it, but its possible. But the Jets entered this season without a single point of stability.  There was only 1 unit, the DL, that you could say had a chance to be an above average NFL unit.  And that ended with the injury to Lawson.

So the performance is horrible and it is super painful to watch.  But we knew this going in.  All the preseason forecasts put the Jets in contention for worst team in the League.  It's not like the Fins or the Hawks who entered the season with super high expectations.  We knew the Jets were going to be bad.

Doesn't make it easier to watch.

But firing a bunch of people at this point would be stupid.  Might give you a sugar high, but then what?  Who could you hire that you would want?  

In the meantime, there is a plan.  You may not like it and it's super painful to watch.  But it is a plan.

Last year, we weren't really Tanking for Trevor.  We were just that bad.  This year, we are tanking big time.  JD would like to win a few games, but he did nothing to make it happen.  Every move was about 2022 and beyond.  No guarantee it will work but you'll feel better if you generate a little optimism about it.

[JoJoTownsell1]

15 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

Saleh isn't calling the defense but I do think it was playing better than most expected prior to this week, especially considering all the youth. Part of learning to be a head coach is to figure out how to manage the entire team. Is he giving Ulbrich too much credit? I don't know. Are the young guys just too green? There are a lot of variables going on with this train wreck.

I'm not saying Saleh is a good head coach. I'm saying it's too early to throw him in the trash bin. Like it or not, when you hire a rookie head coach you're going to deal with OTJT. That's a risk you take trying to find the next great one because the proven ones rarely shake free.

 

If you are a defensive minded HC, you are responsible for the defense. It's why he got the job. And it's been a myth all year that his defense has played well. We force zero 3 and outs, we have forced 4 turnovers all season!! That is all gas, no breaks? 

Everyone has been preoccupied, and rightfully so, with the development of Wilson that we have ignored a defense that never makes a play when it counts and has more vets (Q, Maye, Rankins, JFM, Hall, Mosley, Quincy, Hall) than people realize. 

A defense that is actually competent never gives up 50 points to a Mac Jones offense. 

[Barry McCockinner]

2 minutes ago, JoJoTownsell1 said:

If you are a defensive minded HC, you are responsible for the defense. It's why he got the job. And it's been a myth all year that his defense has played well. We force zero 3 and outs, we have forced 4 turnovers all season!! That is all gas, no breaks? 

Everyone has been preoccupied, and rightfully so, with the development of Wilson that we have ignored a defense that never makes a play when it counts and has more vets (Q, Maye, Rankins, JFM, Hall, Mosley, Quincy, Hall) than people realize. 

A defense that is actually competent never gives up 50 points to a Mac Jones offense. 

He's responsible for the entire team. He gets credit for the defense sucking and the offense sucking. The buck stops at him and he needs to figure out how to make it better.

Getting caught up on "all gas, no brakes" is an emotional response. You have to let the guy learn this year. For me a big part of the Saleh evaluation weighs on how much improvement (or not) we see from all the young guys getting playing time in year one, in year two.

Giving up 50 points to Mac Jones on a bunch of 3 yard screen passes is infuriating - agree 100%.

[jamesr]

In his first year Gase was "on pace" to do exactly what Saleh is currently "on pace" to do.

Team was 1-5, with a -93 points differential, coming off a 33-0 blowout loss to ... the New England Patriots.

It's deja vu all over again!  

[oatmeal]

25 minutes ago, jamesr said:

In his first year Gase was "on pace" to do exactly what Saleh is currently "on pace" to do.

Team was 1-5, with a -93 points differential, coming off a 33-0 blowout loss to ... the New England Patriots.

It's deja vu all over again!  

This

[LionelRichie]

Relegation

[RSJ]

How come no one is talking about our idiot DC? From the Falcons? In all my lifetime the Falcons havent had a good defense. Why would we hire this guy?