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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterDec 29, 2024, 07:29 PM ET
- Rich Cimini is a staff writer who covers the New York Jets and the NFL at ESPN. Rich has covered the Jets for over 30 years, joining ESPN in 2010. Rich also hosts the Flight Deck podcast. He previously was a beat writer for the New York Daily News and is a graduate of Syracuse University. You can follow him via Twitter @RichCimini.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t get his 500th touchdown pass Sunday, but he still made history in a 40-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium — a defeat so lopsided that it left some of his teammates wondering if players had quit.
Rodgers was sacked four times to bring his career total to 568, passing Tom Brady (565) as the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history.
“Yeah, I got Tom on that,” Rodgers said with a weak smile, feigning a hint of excitement.
Gallows humor.
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The day was so bad for Rodgers and the Jets (4-12) that the future Hall of Famer told his coaches to play his backup at the start of the fourth quarter with the Jets trailing 40-0. In came Tyrod Taylor for mop-up duty.
It was the first time in Rodgers’ career that his team had faced a 40-point deficit in a game he started.
It was an awful game in a bitterly disappointing season, one that began with Super Bowl aspirations.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of like the season — it just got away from us,” said Rodgers, who threw two interceptions and recorded a 1.2 Total QBR — the lowest of his career. “Too many games got away from us. This game got away from us. We were moving the ball well and then we just hit a wall. And that’s been kind of the season, too.”
The Rodgers-led offense has gone 14 straight possessions without a touchdown (Taylor led two scoring drives in garbage time), leaving him stuck at 499 touchdown passes. He will try to become the fifth player in history to reach 500 in the season finale against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium.
Rodgers got within striking distance on his first two drives against the Bills, but he missed an open Kenny Yeboah on a third-and-1 pass at the 24 and the Jets failed to convert on fourth down.
On their next possession, Rodgers threw an interception from the Bills’ 12-yard line. It was a screen pass to Davante Adams, who had three blockers waiting to escort him to the end zone, but the pass was tipped at the line and picked off by defensive tackle Jordan Phillips.
“We have to execute that play,” said Rodgers, who added that he wasn’t thinking about 500.
Aaron Rodgers, being taken down for a safety by the Bills’ AJ Epenesa, was sacked four times to become the most-sacked QB in NFL history with 568. Rodgers recorded a career-low QBR before asking out of the game as the Jets lost 40-14 to the Bills. AP Photo/Adrian Kraus
After his second interception, Rodgers (12-for-18, 112 yards) committed the first unnecessary roughness penalty of his career — a late shove out of bounds on Bills cornerback Christian Benford. It was one of 16 penalties for 120 yards, including five personal fouls. It was the Jets’ most accepted penalties in a game since 2018.
“I don’t think I pushed him very hard,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers has lost 12 games this year, tied for the second most in a season by a former MVP quarterback since it was first awarded by The Associated Press in 1957. Bert Jones of the Baltimore Colts went 2-13 in 1981.
Afterward, Rodgers chose his words carefully; he didn’t question the team’s effort. Other players did, though.
“You ask me, obviously we’re not going to the playoffs, some people might be checked out,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “That’s just me going off speculation.”
Asked if he sensed a lack of effort from anyone, cornerback D.J. Reed said: “I won’t speak on that.”
Reed pointed a finger at the offense for its lack of production. The Rodgers-led unit has scored only one touchdown in the past two games.
“It comes down to complementary football, bro,” Reed said. “We’re playing a high-powered offense. Josh Allen is the MVP runner-up, whatever — a great player. We have to get s— going — on offense, on special teams. You keep having our defense go out there. Eventually, they’re going to do something good. … So yes, defense, we need to be better, but we have to play complementary football.”
Garrett Wilson, who scored a touchdown but also lost a fumble, said the outcome was “embarrassing. … It was as bad as it can get.”
When the two teams met in Week 6, Jeff Ulbrich’s first game as the interim coach, the Jets were 2-3 and playing for a share of first place. The Jets lost that game, 23-20. They’re now 2-9 under Ulbrich, who replaced the fired Robert Saleh.
“It’s frustrating. It’s embarrassing. It’s maddening,” Ulbrich said. “Yeah, it’s all that.”
Adams said the Jets’ talent compares favorably with that of the Bills (13-3).
“On paper, it’ll look like it’ll be a shootout — and it should be — but it’s about execution,” Adams said. “It doesn’t matter who you have on the roster.”
Gardner echoed that sentiment.
“We enhanced our roster in all areas, so that just tells me — I don’t know, bro — we can’t be playing as a team,” Gardner said. “We’re probably just individuals. Last year and the year before, we had a roster that wasn’t as talented, but we found ways to win. So what’s stopping that now with a more talented roster?”
