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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterDec 8, 2024, 07:24 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.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson was talking about the game Sunday, in which the Jets suffered their latest fourth-quarter collapse in a season full of them, but his words could’ve applied to the last decade-plus.
“When you’re up in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden it starts to feel like you have a losing problem,” he said after a 32-26 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. “[It’s like] you have a gene or some s—.”
The search for winning DNA has been ongoing for a long time.
Though the reality had set in weeks ago, the Jets (3-10) were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, extending their postseason drought to 14 seasons. They nudged past the Buffalo Sabres (13), giving them the longest active streak among the five major sports leagues in North America — the NFL, NBA, MLB, NFL and WNBA. The Los Angeles Angels (10) and Pittsburgh Pirates (nine) are next on the list.
The Jets’ season began with Super Bowl dreams. Now all they have is a mess to clean up.
“[I’m] extremely shocked and disappointed and frustrated — and every other adjective you can think of,” said interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who dropped to 1-7 since replacing the fired Robert Saleh.
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The Jets last made the playoffs in 2010, when Rex Ryan was the coach and Mark Sanchez was the quarterback. Since then, four coaches have contributed to the drought — Ryan (four seasons), Todd Bowles (four), Adam Gase (two) and Saleh/Ulbrich (four).
The names and the regimes change, but the results remain the same.
In the Super Bowl era, only five teams have posted longer playoff slumps than the Jets, led by the New Orleans Saints‘ 20-year skid (1967-86). The others: the Buffalo Bills (2000-16), Cleveland Browns (2003-19), New York Giants (1966-80) and Arizona Cardinals (1983-97).
With a healthy Aaron Rodgers in 2024, the Jets figured they’d be playing well into January, maybe February.
“It’s obviously something this team was built to do, so not doing it is really frustrating, and it sucks that mathematically it’s not even a chance anymore,” tight end Tyler Conklin said. “So, yeah, overall it’s just frustrating. There’s nothing we can do about it at this point, but it’s frustrating as hell.”
The Jets couldn’t even beat the Dolphins (6-7) on a day in which Rodgers posted Rodgers-like numbers from his glory days. He completed 27 of 39 passes for 339 yards, his first 300-yard passing day in 35 games. He also threw one touchdown, his 20th of the season. But they blew a 26-23 lead in the final minute of regulation, with breakdowns mainly on defense and special teams. They also committed 10 penalties, making it 22 over the past two games.
It was their fifth loss after holding a fourth-quarter lead — a franchise record. It has happened in three straight games.
The Jets scored on their first five possessions, as Wilson (seven catches for 114 yards) and Davante Adams (nine for 109) spearheaded the passing attack. Then came the collapse.
After a 42-yard field goal with 52 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Anders Carlson made a short kickoff that resulted in a 45-yard kickoff return that set up Jason Sanders’ game-tying field goal from 52 yards with seven seconds remaining. In overtime, the Jets offered little resistance, allowing the Dolphins to march down the field on eight plays for 70 yards, ending with Jonnu Smith’s 9-yard touchdown catch.
“We have to find a way to finish and close these things out,” Ulbrich said. “We’ve got to be at our best when our best is required, and we’re not getting that accomplished and I have to look at myself first.”
The Jets are 0-7 in games decided by six or fewer points — the story of their season.
They entered the season with a 57% chance to make playoffs, according to ESPN Analytics. Their chance peaked at 80% after Week 3, when they were 2-1. Now they have dropped nine of their past 10, one of worst stretches in franchise history.
“Yeah, the expectations were high,” Rodgers said. “We didn’t reach them, not even close. Felt good three weeks into the season. Everybody felt real good. Since then, it’s been a lot of difficult games with opportunities to win. We just didn’t figure out how to win enough games. I didn’t play good enough in some crunch times and we’re sitting here with the record we have.”
