The New York Jets were expected by some to contend for a playoff spot this season. They ended up doing anything but the sort.
With just one game remaining in the 2019 regular season, the Jets are just 6-9 with a meaningless Week 17 meeting with the Buffalo Bills on the horizon.
New York started 0-4 on the year, erasing its postseason hopes early on. The Jets have shown signs of life since, going 6-5 over their last 11 games, but it's clear that there is a lot this team needs to be competitive.
So, here are the five biggest takeaways from Gang Green's 2019 campaign:
5. The Jets need to work on player relationships
Whether it was Kelechi Osemele's injury dispute, Quincy Enunwa being upset over fines or Jamal Adams throwing a fit on social media because of trade rumors, the Jets have not done a very good job maintaining relationships with their players this season.
If you don't think that is something people around the NFL notice, you're kidding yourself.
There are two sides to every story, but the Jets' side hasn't looked very good in any of these instances.
Players don't seem to trust the front office, which is a pretty significant thing moving forward.
If New York wants to even think about contending for the future, it needs to do a better job of cultivating strong relationships with its players.
4. The offensive line needs a lot of help
The Jets have had one of the worst offensive lines in football this season, and it's not even debatable.
As a result, Le'Veon Bell has looked like a dried-up shell of himself, and Sam Darnold has had to get rid of the ball a lot sooner than he would like.
New York tried to address the line issues by bringing in Osemele, but we saw how that panned out.
Even if Osemele would have worked, one guy cannot fix an entire offensive line, and with one week remaining in the season, it's blatantly apparent that the Jets' offensive line is in dire straits.
In defense of New York, it had so many holes this past offseason that it could not invest all of its available money into the trenches, but this coming offseason, the offensive line needs to be the Jets' top priority.
3. Adam Gase's first season was a disaster
Adam Gase created more headlines for his bug-eyed introductory press conference than he has for his actual production in his first season as head coach of the Jets, and that is never a good thing.
Not only that, but Gase's power play in getting Mike Maccagnan fired before the season started was a terrible look, and his refusal to properly utilize one of the best running backs in the NFL in Bell has looked just as bad, if not worse.
While I won't go as far to say that Gase doesn't know what he's doing (it's too soon for that), the early returns have not been positive, as Gase, known for his work with quarterbacks, has done little to help Darnold progress in his second season.
Some of the players also don't seem to be big fans of Gase, which is a problem.
Gase deserves at least one more year to win New York over, but he is already starting from behind heading into 2020.
2. Le'Veon Bell may end up toiling in the Big Apple
Bell was thrilled when he landed a four-year deal with the Jets back in March, but unbeknownst to him was the fact that Gase didn't want him to begin with.
As a result, Bell's production has suffered, as he has rushed for just 748 yards and three touchdowns while averaging a meager 3.3 yards per carry.
So long as Gase is at the helm, it's hard to envision that changing, meaning Bell's numbers may end up flatlining in New York.
Of course, a simple solution for the Jets would be trading Bell, but good luck accomplishing that with Bell having three more years remaining on what is a $52.5 million contract.
You would think Gase would want to utilize Bell to make life easier for Darnold, but for whatever reason, Gase seems allergic to it.
This could get ugly.
1. The Jets may finally have a quarterback
The head coach seems lost, the running back isn't being used, the offensive line is horrendous and the defense has some holes, but at least the Jets appear to have a quarterback.
While Sam Darnold hasn't taken the step forward that many hoped this season (mono played a role in that), he has still shown some flashes, particularly over his last seven games where he has thrown 12 touchdowns as opposed to just three interceptions.
Because a franchise quarterback is generally the most challenging thing to find in this league, New York can feel pretty fortunate knowing that it may have one in Darnold.
Now, the Jets need to put the necessary pieces around him to succeed (or at least take advantage of the ones that are already there).
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