Saying it wasn't pretty would be a serious understatement.
The Jets 16-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers was downright ugly, as Gang Green outlasted a bad Steelers team and its two moribund back-up quarterbacks for their sixth win of the season -- the most victories by a Jets team since 2015.That little fact should provide little solace for Jets fans who probably feel like they were delivered a lump of coal by winning this game.
After stories surfaced over the weekend that players do not respect Head Coach Adam Gase, and the video former NFL Safety Ed Reed recorded at the Jets training facility where he openly rips Gase as "people who get jobs they are not even qualified to be in...," the only thing owner Christopher Johnson is going to care about at the end of the day is wins.
And Adam Gase has six of them.
Like I mentioned earlier, the six victories is most 'W's this team has had in a season since Todd Bowles first season in 2015. If you didn't need any more evidence that Johnson is going to stick with Gase after giving him a vote of confidence seven weeks ago, a win against a Steelers team vying for the playoffs helps the embattled head coach.
Sorry Jets fans. You lose by winning.
The Jets won this game, even though the offense again suffered. Granted, while they were facing a Steelers defense that is ranked 4th in the NFL this season, the entire offense was uninspiring. The Jets managed only 14 first downs, and were a paltry 4-of-15 on third down, which including 0-for-6 when the down was third and less than five-yards to go.
Aside from an electric opening drive where quarterback Sam Darnold connected with Robby Anderson on a beautiful 23-yard touchdown pass to cap a 75-yard scoring drive, the offense was pray to silence. They accomplished very little, except kick three field goals.
Darnold managed only 11 completions in 19 attempts the rest of the day, and Le'Veon Bell was again virtually invisible rushing for 75-yards on 25 carries, 2.9 yards per attempt.
It was bad.
And the Jets, and Adam Gase's horrible play-calling were bailed out because Delvin "Duck" Hodges and Mason Rudolph aren't Ben Rothlisberger.As much as Mike Tomlin deserves credit as you want for keeping the Steelers in the mix this long after losing Big Ben way back in September, he deserves criticism from Pittsburgh fans for starting Hodges in this game after his awful effort against Buffalo.
And to think he left Hodges in the game to throw not just one, but two interceptions in the first half, before pulling the plug with the Steelers down 10-0.
Mason Rudolph, on the other hand, did give the Steelers a bit of spark. He guided the Steelers on a 10-play, 55-yard drive with three minutes to go to get a field goal to cut the Jets lead to 10-3. He then hit a miraculous 29-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Diontae Johnson in the end zone, tying the game at 10.
After that, Rudolph was ineffective on three drives in the third quarter before suffering a shoulder injury, forcing him out of the game. Hodges returned, and the Jets pinned their ears back.
At one point Hodges managed to move the Steelers to the Jets 29-yard line before he was sacked on second and seven, and later fumbled on third and 16, costing the Steelers valuable field position.
In the waning seconds, Hodges would have had a miraculous touchdown pass to James Washington, but Marcus Maye made a tremendous play, knocking the ball out of Washington's hands to preserve New York's 16-10 lead.
Finally with 41-seconds to go, Hodges had JuJu-Smith Schuster open for a first down, but the Pro Bowl wide out had the ball slip through his fingers.
The Jets survived. New York's defense was outstanding, while everything else about the Jets game leaves little to be desired. So at 6-9, and with one game left in this nightmarish season, Jets fans are settling into Christmas knowing full well that Adam Gase is going nowhere. Humbug indeed.
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