The sports-radio ranters already were in full throat about the Jets shortly after sunrise Monday.
Adam Gase still stinks. Sam Darnold hasn’t yet proven he’s a franchise quarterback. And on it went throughout the day.
This, mind you, was a day after a Jets victory, their 22-21 comeback win over the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium.
Yes, the win was not a work of art, surely flawed in its delivery.
Yes, the Jets are 5-8 and not going to the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.
Yes, Gase very well might turn out to be the below-average head coach you think he is and Darnold may never lead the Jets to a Super Bowl.
And yes, the Dolphins (3-10) are one of the worst teams in the NFL.
But, did we mention that the Jets won the game?
It was their fourth victory in five games, and yet if you listen to the narrative about them, you get the feeling that they’ve lost four of their past five.
Teams like the Jets — roster-flawed to begin with and also decimated by injuries — are not good enough to be judged on style points in their victories. Simply winning, regardless of the opponent or style points, should be good enough at the moment.
James Burgess (right) and Brandon Copeland combine on a tackle.Paul J. BereswillThis, however, is the avalanche of negativity the Jets face on a daily basis, whether they’re winning or not.
How about taking a breath and a step back and throwing the Jets a bone for surpassing their win total from last season with four games still remaining — a baby step, but at least a step?
Same, too, for beating the Dolphins with a defense that started rookies Kyron Brown (a fourth-stringer) and Bless Austin (who until recently hadn’t played a game in 14 months because of two knee surgeries) at cornerback and Darryl Roberts (a natural cornerback) at safety?
I’m not sure what the Over/Under prop bet was in Vegas for how many yards and touchdowns Dolphins veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick would stamp on the Jets defense — which he torched for three TDs and 288 yards in Miami’s win last month — but it surely was more than the zero touchdowns and 245 yards he amassed Sunday.
Gregg Williams, the Jets defensive coordinator, must be commended for the way he’s adjusted on the fly all season, but what he did against the Dolphins should not be overlooked.
Safety Jamal Adams, the only Pro Bowl player on the Jets and the heart and soul of their defense, missed the first game of his career with an ankle injury. Brian Poole, who’s been one of the better nickel backs in the league this season, was out with a concussion. So, too, was cornerback Arthur Maulet, who’d emerged from the obscurity deep down the depth chart to become dependable.
Cornerback Nate Hairston, who’s lost his starting job because of poor performance a month ago and had been inactive the previous three games, was forced into a starting role and picked off Fitzpatrick in the second quarter, leading to a field goal and a 9-3 lead.
Marcus Maye was the only regular starter in the secondary. Yet, the Jets held Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins, who had one of the most efficient offenses in red-zone touchdown scoring, to no touchdowns in six trips inside the 20.
With the Jets offense sputtering in the second half, that was the difference in the game — Williams manipulating his ragtag unit of misfits to frustrate the Miami offense into seven field goals.
“It shows you that group did a great job of playing team defense,’’ Gase said Monday. “It’s been preached since Gregg’s gotten here, that it’s about 11 guys doing their job, not about two or three guys. When we started losing some of those [starters], everyone did a really good job of tightening up as far as being assignment-sound, and when their opportunities came, they made a play.’’
It wasn’t perfect. Williams couldn’t blitz as much as he’d have liked to because he had to protect the back end from being burned. So, there was not enough of a pass rush on Fitzpatrick. But everyone did just enough.
“The way we prepared throughout the week, we do a good job of cross-training at different positions,’’ Maye said. “Different guys can be at different spots at any time. So we come prepared. We gutted it out.’’
That’s exactly what the Jets did. Did it vault them back into the playoff hunt? No. Was it a positive step? Yes.
Now, on Thursday night in Baltimore, Williams and his decimated defense step up in competition with the Ravens and their dynamic quarterback Lamar Jackson.
If the Jets can even come close to containing Jackson and the 11-2 Ravens, will the tone of the radio ranters remain negative?



