MY BUDDY, THE GENIUS
Bill raves about Gase, who may soon need job
When Adam Gase starts working on his resume next week he should make sure to list Bill Belichick as a reference.
Belichick — coming on the heels of a 38-9 butt-whooping at the hands of the Bills on Monday night — made Gase out to be the second coming of Vince Lombardi when he spoke to the media on Tuesday morning.
“I think Adam’s done a great job this year of continuing to improve the team with coaching,” Belichick told reporters on Tuesday ahead of Sunday’s season finale at Gillette Stadium.
Gase, who has the Jets (2-13) riding high thanks to a two-game winning streak, is expected to be coaching his final game for Gang Green when he squares off against Belichick in Week 17.
He brings a 9-22 overall record with the Jets into the final game of the season. He has gone 22-41 as a head coach since starting out with a 10-6 record as a rookie head coach with the Dolphins in 2016.
“As usual, his excellent game-planning and play-calling are problems for the defense,” Belichick continued. “This is a team that’s gotten better.”
Gase’s offense that is causing so many problems for opposing defenses currently ranks dead last in the NFL in yards per game (275.3), passing (170.5 per game) and points (15.3 per game).
Gase may want to drop this next sentence straight into the top of his future cover letters:
“He’s a good coach,” Belichick added. “They have a good system. He’s a good play caller. He puts a lot of pressure on defenses in the way he sets things up and uses personnel. His players improve. They get better. They execute better, gain confidence and perform better over the course of time.”
Here’s the kicker: “I think coach Gase and his staff have done an outstanding job.”
He does have a point. The Jets may have started the season 0-13 and were in the pole position to nab Clemson star quarterback Trevor Lawrence in April’s draft, but they have strung together consecutive December victories over the Rams and Browns. Gang Green is now locked into the second overall pick.
If Gase’s improving bunch can end the season with a win, it would also end the Jets’ nine-game losing streak against New England, including the Patriots’ come-from-behind 30-27 win earlier in the season.
“(The Jets) could have easily won our game,” Belichick said, referring to the Nov. 9 game at MetLife Stadium.
As for Belchick’s team, the Patriots have slumped to 6-9 in the first season since Tom Brady decided to become a snowbird and fly south to quarterback the Bucs.
The Patriots are missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008 — the year Brady tore his ACL in the opener and Matt Cassel took over. But even that team finished 11-5 and just missed out on a wild-card spot. The last time Belichick had a losing record came in 2000 (5-11), his first season in New England.
When reporters tried to press the future Hall of Fame coach on what went wrong against the Bills on Monday Night Football, Belichick delivered his usual shtick.
“This week we are just going to focus on the Jets,” Belichick said. “They provide some very strong and unique challenges. ... So we’ll get to work on the Jets and come up with the best plan that we can have.”