FanPost

A Giants fan's two cents about Williams-Gase

I want to preface this by saying that I am Giants fan, and have no horse in the race. This is just the passing interest of a football fan who is curious about why Williams goes but Gase stays in what looks like the dumbest play-call I can ever remember...well, maybe other than Seatlle throwing the pick in the SB from the 1-yard line instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch!

Now, I have seen the last series on NFL Game Pass's all-22 coaches film view. And as I'm sure you all know, on the play right before Ruggs TD, the Jets only rused 4, and even with 7 men dropping into coverage, Nelson Agholor ran right past the deep defenders (Marcus Maye and Matthias Farley), and, if not for an overthrow by Carr, would have scored on that play. Tell me, how is it possible that with 7 men dropping back and less than 20 seconds left in a game you're up by 4 in, that you let a WR get behind all 7 of you?! (Ruggs ran a 15 yard curl on tat play, btw, wisely saving his speed for the following play, just in case).

So, a reprieve, right? Dodged a bullet, right? Won't let that happen again...whew!

So, what does Williams/Gase do on the next play? Cover Zero/Max Blitz (or, as it has been called, Cover Tank!). Yes, worst call in "call-dom," maybe the dumbest call in recent memory.

But there's more, IMO. Not only was the decision made to cover everyone man-to-man, it was also decided WHO should cover each receiver. Yes, we all know that Ruggs was the fastest person at the 2020 Combine, with a 4.27 40. He's, arguably, the fastest man in the NFL right now. But do you know who was the 2nd-fastest man at that Combine, at 4.29? Yes, of course you do. It was NY Jets CB Javelin Guidry! Gudry was on field for the entire series, and what does Williams/Gase have him do on the final play? He has him blitz off the edge, leaving Lamar Jackson to cover Ruggs. According to PFF, Guidry has never blitzed this year prior to this game, and he blitzed 3 times this game. But with 13 seconds left in the game, from midfield, up by 4 points, if you are going to put someone in man against Ruggs, why not the only player on the field who can literally run just as fast as he does? (BTW, the projected 2nd-fastest player at the 2020 Combine would have been Jest safety Ashtyn Davis, who supposedly runs a 4.28, but wasn't at the Combine due to injury, and wasn't on the field at the end, also due to injury. Tough break, that, though my guess is that Williams/Gase would have had Davis blitzing on the play, too!)

Do you know what Lamar Jackson's 40 time was at the 2020 Combine? It was a 4.58! Four-five-eight!! That man shouldn't be covering Ruggs even with safety help over the top, much less as the only defender on the entire half of the field. Yes, there was not one single Jet on the same half of the field as Ruggs and Jackson when the ball was thrown. And yes, Ruggs was the only person on either team who was in the end zone at the moment when the ball was caught. Gee, who could have predicted that Ruggs would win that 50 yard race to the end zone vs a guy who runs a 4.58, with a double-move tossed in for good measure?

Well, I hope Trevor is worth it.

This is a FanPost written by a registered member of this site. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not those of anybody affiliated with Gang Green Nation or SB Nation.