It had to wait a week, but Adam Gase has his first win as Jets head coach.
Behind a Luke Falk touchdown pass to rookie tight end Trevon Wesco and a pick-six by linebacker James Burgess to seal it late in the fourth quarter, New York rallied to take down the Falcons by a final score of 22-10.
The Jets did plenty of things well in their first preseason victory, but still need to improve in a handful of areas moving forward. With that being said, here are four takeaways from Gang Green’s triumph over the Falcons on Thursday night.
Secondary concerns heighten
The Jets’ secondary is going to be a problem moving forward.
With the Jets depleted at cornerback, the Falcons took advantage and picked apart New York’s secondary throughout the night. Matt Ryan went 10-14 for 118 yards with two of his incompletions coming on dropped passes. The Jets kept Ryan out of the endzone, but the veteran quarterback moved down the field with ease. Matt Schaub had his way with the Jets’ defensive backs as well, going 8-10 for 76 yards.
From the starters to the backups, New York is in serious trouble at cornerback. With the way the unit played against the Falcons, more outside reinforcements could be coming sooner rather than later.
Kicking auditions likely to resume
Taylor Bertolet’s first game back with the Jets was not a pleasant one.
Signed after Chandler Catanzaro abruptly retired, Bertolet missed an extra point attempt on New York’s first scoring drive of the game. He redeemed himself by drilling a 49-yarder and a PAT later in the game, but missed another extra point in the closing seconds.
Consistency is key when it comes to Bertolet winning the starting job. He cannot afford any slip-ups if he wants to do so. Expect the Jets to add a kicker or two this upcoming week. At the very least, more players will likely be brought in to audition for the role.
Changing of the guard at punter?
It looks like the Jets have an unexpected competition taking place at punter.
After Lachlan Edwards started against the Giants a week ago, Matt Darr handled punting duties throughout the first half against the Falcons. The two split reps in Week 1, but to see Darr playing in the first half over Edwards was surprising.
Darr has spent time playing for Adam Gase, which could give him an advantage over Edwards. However, with the way Edwards punted throughout 2018, it was assumed he wouldn’t have much competition for the starting job. Regardless, Darr versus Edwards will be a battle worth watching moving forward.
Gase played with fire leaving starters in longer than expected
Adam Gase trod dangerous waters by leaving in his starters a bit longer than expected.
Prior to the game, Gase said that his starters would play into the second quarter even though Sam Darnold was playing behind a makeshift offensive line. Darnold escaped Thursday night unscathed, but the same could not be said for Avery Williamson, who played deep into the second quarter and sustained a knee injury doing so.
Even Quincy Enunwa, who came up grabbing his hip after plays a couple of times, played deep into the second quarter. It’s understandable that Gase wanted to get his starters some extra reps, but there was no reason for Williamson and Enunwa to be out there for as long as they were.
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