Jets Film Breakdown: Adam Gase's Play Calling

The Jets have reportedly hired former Dolphins head coach Adam Gase to be their new head coach. Gase will be the most important Jets head coach in recent memory, as he is handed the task of getting Sam Darnold to reach his full potential. Gase’s offense in Denver put up historically good numbers in 2013, the year Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns. The question is: can he succeed without Peyton Manning?

Once he left Manning and the Broncos, his offenses have taken a turn downhill. He joined John Fox in joining the Bears in 2015, and his offense ranked 21st in yardage and 23rd in points. He was then given a head coaching job with the Dolphins, and they haven’t been a top 24 offense since.

Gase’s scheme has its ups and its downs. An in-depth film breakdown at what to expect out of his offense in 2019:

Utilizing the Sideline

Gase loves throwing outside the numbers. The Dolphins threw to the left or right 1,172 times since he took over in 2016. Whether it’s a check-down flat route, an out route, a flag route, or a comeback route, you can expect a good amount of it from Gase.

Something that caught my eye: Miami has ran 1172 pass plays directed toward the sideline since 2016. Gase loves using the sideline to his advantage. All of these clips are from just one half of football. Expect a lot of this with Darnold. #Jets pic.twitter.com/tGrB18dqFt
— James Cunningham (@JCunninghamJets) January 10, 2019

Checkdowns

Yeah, this sounds pretty lame. Gase likes using underneath routes. You’ll see a lot of screens, flat routes, short out routes, and slant routes in his offense. The Dolphins have ran the fourth least deep passing plays since 2016. They average 6.41 yards/play on short passes under his coaching, which ranks 13th in the NFL over that time span.

Take this drive for example. He marched all the way down the field into field goal range to open up a game. The furthest Ryan Tannehill threw the ball was five yards to Devante Parker on a slant route. He still managed to get into field goal range before the drive got killed by a sack.

Adam Gase Play Calling Thread:

Week 10, 2016, @ Chargers

Gase comes out with a good first drive. Picked apart the D all the way down the field. Drive got killed by a sack, but a very good play calling sequence nonetheless. #Jets pic.twitter.com/Yxa2NzpZk5
— James Cunningham (@JCunninghamJets) January 10, 2019

But wait! There’s an exciting factor to this. Look at this drive later in the first half. He called checkdown after checkdown after checkdown, along with a couple of runs in the mix, and got into striking distance. Then, the defense grew impatient, stacked the box, and Gase capitalized quickly. This was perfect execution by Gase and his offense. Textbook play calling.

Drive summary:
Run
Checkdown
Checkdown
Run
Checkdown
Deep strike, 39 yard TD

This is another beautiful drive. He stayed patient until the defense stacked the box, then took a deep bomb. Checkdown’s pay dividends, folks. Perfect execution by Gase. #Jets pic.twitter.com/RSq5A4pMyC
— James Cunningham (@JCunninghamJets) January 10, 2019

Late Game Play Calling

The Chargers and Dolphins were battling it out in this game, and it came down to the end. The Dolphins defense secured an interception while the Chargers were just two yards out of the endzone to give Miami the football back with the lead in the fourth quarter. Gase’s offensive response? Shaky at best.

He started the drive off with a run call, where Jay Ajayi tripped over his own lineman’s foot. Gase dumped the run, and went into shotgun on 2nd and 11. He tried getting a receiver open on an out route right along the sideline. You have to keep the clock running in this situation. With the lead in a tight game, your number one priority has to be giving the Chargers offense as little time as possible.

Gase went back into passing formation on 3rd and 11 and tried a halfback screen. The play got blown up, and Tannehill very nearly got picked. The Dolphins went backwards one yard, and failed to even take two minutes off the clock. We’ve seen enough atrocious game management from Todd Bowles. This can’t happen in New York.

The Dolphins D came up huge with an INT in the end zone to keep Miami ahead. The O’s response? Giving up on the run after one play, running an out route straight to the sideline, and a screen that gets blown up. Poor game management and decision making here. #Jets pic.twitter.com/RcWPZScx0v
— James Cunningham (@JCunninghamJets) January 11, 2019

Sending Running Backs Out Wide

This is something that Gase likes to pull out of his sleeve two or three times a game. Against the Chargers, he sent Damien WIlliams out wide multiple times in a spread formation. Gase uses tries to create mismatches on the perimeter, which worked very well that game. He got the mismatch he wanted, and Miami scored a touchdown on a pass Williams. He beat the Chargers linebacker and secured the touchdown for the Fins.

Gase uses this personnel more often than most. 5 wide, RB out wide. He creates a mismatch, and gets 6 points out of it. Maybe Eli McGuire plays a Damien Williams type role? P.S., MONEY throw from Tannehill #Jets pic.twitter.com/y2QMxhYWju
— James Cunningham (@JCunninghamJets) January 10, 2019

Recap

Gase’s offense may not be the most exciting offense we’ll get to see next year, but it has proven to be productive when he’s given weapons to work with. He knows when to lay back, and when to attack. It might not be as explosive as Jets fans hope it’ll be, but it’ll be one of the more productive schemes we’ve seen in New York in recent memory. Time will tell if Sam Darnold and co. benefit from Gase’s presence.

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