Jets pathetic again loss to 49ers — and now clock is ticking on Adam Gase, who shouldn’t last the season at this rate | Opinion

So, Christopher Johnson, is this what progress looks like?

Another week, another pathetic, non-competitive showing by Johnson’s Jets.

And now, the clock should be ticking on coach Adam Gase — regardless of how optimistic Johnson wants to be. Because he is the only Jets fan still this hopeful about Gase, who won’t make it through his second season at this rate — or shouldn’t, if Johnson really gives a damn.

Deep down, Johnson — the Jets’ acting owner — surely knows his team won’t make the playoffs this season. He likely understood the Jets needed near-flawless play and loads of luck to upset the 49ers — seven-point favorites — in Sunday’s home opener at MetLife Stadium.

But the Jets, for the second straight week, didn’t even come close to contending.

The 49ers — on their way to a 31-13 victory — buried the Jets in the first half, leading 21-3 at halftime, the same halftime score as last week’s 27-17 loss in Buffalo.

So Gase is consistent, at least.

He is also 7-11 as Jets coach, including 0-2 this season, with far too many non-contending losses. Last season, seven of Gase’s nine losses were by 14-plus points, including blowout margins of 20, 21, 25, and 33. Gase added another dud Sunday.

Last week, Johnson gave Gase a (rather meaningless) vote of confidence, calling him a “brilliant offensive mind.” (Yeah, OK. Fine. Whatever. Did you really think he’d say Gase deserves to flip burgers for a living?)

And no, Johnson isn’t evaluating Gase on whether the Jets reach the playoffs in 2020 — zero chance that happens now — but he wants some results. (Yes, that would be nice, wouldn’t it?) Johnson also practically dared Gase and Co. to look worse than they did in Buffalo.

“I am going to want to see this team progress,” Johnson said of his season outlook. “Hopefully, that won’t be too hard from that first game.”

Somehow, some way, Gase’s Jets still managed to find a new low — starting with Sunday’s first offensive snap, as Raheem Mostert torched the Jets for an 80-yard touchdown run.

A consistent and ever-striving bunch, led by a coach who made more dumb decisions Sunday.

Look, Gase and quarterback Sam Darnold were missing a lot of weapons — Jamison Crowder, Denzel Mims, Le’Veon Bell. Then Breshad Perriman (ankle) left in the second quarter and didn’t return. So yeah, the Chris Hogan/Braxton Berrios duo scares no one.

But the 49ers’ defense also lacked Dee Ford and Richard Sherman — and lost Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas in the first quarter, during a potentially season-altering, three-play stretch.

Still, even with Jimmy Garoppolo hobbled by a sore ankle in the first half — and not playing at all in the second — the 49ers dusted the Jets.

Gase’s offense stunk again, sure. Yet this was an all-around fiasco.

Even one of the Jets’ few generally competent players, safety Marcus Maye, wasn’t immune. He gave up a touchdown catch to Jordan Reed — the second time Sunday that Reed beat Maye for a score — with 11 seconds left in the first half. That made it 21-3. Curtains.

Gase looked far from brilliant Sunday.

In the first quarter, he ran a give-up draw play on third-and-18 from the 49ers’ 26-yard line, instead of taking a shot. The Jets kicked a field goal to make it 7-3.

Gase made an even more nonsensical call in the fourth quarter, down 24-3, when he kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 7. So the Jets went from being down by three possessions to … being down by three possessions. Beyond weak. Coaching malpractice.

Not that it would’ve mattered. The Jets weren’t coming back from down 21 points against the defending NFC champions anyway — no matter how banged up the 49ers were.

The “real progression” Johnson said he wanted to see this season wasn’t happening Sunday — no matter how optimistically he talked about it. Eighteen games in to Gase’s Jets career, this franchise remains as laughable as ever — 21-45 since the start of the 2016 season.

Yet Johnson keeps turning over every cushion, looking for that progress.

“I’m confident that we’ll see that,” he said.

At some point, if he knows what he’s doing, maybe he’ll get sick of what he’s watching.

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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.

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