New York Jets beat Dallas thanks to Adam Gase’s courage | Sabo’s Sessions

Adam Gase's late-game courage is what propelled the New York Jets past the Dallas Cowboys, 24-22, in Week 6 of the 2019 season. How many times have New York Jets fans witnessed the same late-game story? Up three, four or even seven points, the Jets choke on the ball late and tell the defense to go win the game. Obviously, rarely does it work. Between Todd Bowles and Rex Ryan, the Jets have blown an incredible number of late-game leads during this pass-happy era of football that's exploded over the last 12-14 years. The defensive-minded coaches' stubbornness in thinking his defense could still get the job done was what oftentimes buried the Jets. Say what you want about Adam Gase. What you can't say is that he'll choke on the ball and attempt to close a game out in a 1988-style fashion. We witnessed how Gase handles end-of-game situations a couple of times last year. The most glowing example is Week 6 when his Jets hung on for dear life against the Dallas Cowboys. After Ezekiel Elliott scored to make it a five-point game, the Jets gained possession late in the fourth quarter. At that very moment, thinking about what happened in Week 1 against Buffalo, it would very feasible to see a head coach choke on the ball. Run it on first, run it on second and put his quarterback in a tough third-and-long situation. Not this time. Sabo's Sessions breaks down the Jets' six-play drive that resulted in a field goal that made it an eight-point game. Play No. 1 The first play of the series is by far the most critical. Dallas comes out in an aggressive look with a safety in the box and man align across the board. Gase allows young Sam Darnold to make a play against a single-high look. https://vimeo.com/428337819 The key is allowing the offense to surprise the defense on first down. Calling a defense in a late-game situation calls for sacrifices, most of which cannot be bent. Considering the Jets' rushing attack wasn't even mediocre a year ago, running it here, against this look, would have immediately put the Jets behind the eight-ball. In terms of execution, it's really all Darnold. The Cowboys corners use the bail technique which puts them in good positioning against both fade routes on the sideline. Darnold makes a play with his feet and leads Jamison Crowder into the soft spot for a huge chunk. Play No. 2 What we see on play No. 2 is more standard to the situation. Gase rolls with a mid-zone that picks up just enough to make the play a success. https://vimeo.com/428339070 Play No. 3 The third play is a beauty. First of all, Gase calls a man-beater against a Cover 1 defense. Darnold could have had his pick of Robby Anderson on the slot-wheel back-shoulder or Crowder on the eventual slant out of the right slot. https://vimeo.com/428339487 Darnold goes with Anderson. The confidence displayed by both Gase and Darnold (with the pass to Anderson's back-shoulder) is tremendous. On a second-and-6 situation, Gase doesn't hesitate. He puts the game in his young quarterback's hands. Part of Mark Sanchez's problem was the fact that the Jets coaching staff didn't allow him enough chances to succeed or fail in big spots. Ground-and-pound minimized his exposure and he could never truly develop. This was Darnold's first game back from mono and Gase was already letting him rip it when the bread was firmly on the line. Play No. 4 Back to the ground game, Gase goes. An outside zone out of 22 personnel yields a few yards. https://vimeo.com/428340460 Play No. 5 Play No. 5 brings another run, and it makes total sense. On the 24-yard-line with the field goal in the back pocket, trying to pop one off with the zone scheme is worthwhile. If it doesn't work, positive yardage will at least set up a third-and-manageable. https://vimeo.com/428340941 Play No. 6 The last play of the series is when this thing really gets great. Despite having that field goal (at the 20-yard-line), Gase puts it on his young quarterback. Unfortunately, Darnold couldn't come through on this one. https://vimeo.com/428341501 Reading man pre-snap yet again, Darnold wants to attack the slot-to-the-sideline action (similarly to the Anderson slot-wheel earlier). His ball is low and to the inside instead of the proper placement that would have been low and to the outside. Worse yet, Darnold missed a wide-open Anderson on the slant. He would have taken it to the house and the Cowboys final drive wouldn't have meant much. An eventual two-point win instead becomes a possible double-digit "rest easy" finish. It's an area Darnold needs to improve. He'll far too often lock onto a pre-snap read and never adjust post-snap. Darnold aside, Gase finished the series the very same way he started it: going for broke. He understands playing it safe in a situation like this usually leads to disastrous results. No defense---no matter the talent level---can be trusted to win the game in this league, one that throws pass interference flag like Tic Tacs and allows points to an insane degree.