It\u2019s been a feel-better few weeks for the Jets.<\/p>\n
\u00a0After the 0-7 start, they entered Sunday\u2019s home game against the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium having won three of their previous five games and the arrow appeared to be pointed up.<\/p>\n
\u00a0With that came much talk about the improved culture rookie head coach Aaron Glenn has instilled into this program.<\/p>\n
\u00a0And then came the game.<\/p>\n
\u00a0That\u2019s when things turned ugly early for the Jets, who turned in a pathetic performance from the start en route to losing 34-10 to the Dolphins to fall to an embarrassing 3-10.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Not that there was any drama or surprise to this, but the loss officially eliminated the Jets from playoff contention.<\/p>\n
\u00a0They\u2019ve now missed the playoffs for 15 consecutive years \u2014 a decade and a half. That\u2019s\u00a0the longest futility streak in North American sports and has them tied for 10th all-time in NFL playoff droughts.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Jets looked unprepared and anything but hungry for a fourth win in six games, allowing the Miami offense to shred their defense on the opening drive.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Dolphins (6-7) took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard Tua Tagovailoa scoring pass to Jaylen Waddle just 2:14 into the game.<\/p>\n
New York Jets quarterback Brady Cook #4 is tackled by Miami Dolphins linebacker Chop Robinson #44 and fumbles the ball during the second quarter.
\n Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u00a0On the four-play, 69-yard drive, the Jets defense looked completely disinterested in tackling, allowing Miami running back De\u2019Von Achane to rumble 39 yards to the 2-yard line to set up the score.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The whole thing \u2014 the scoring drive, the TD itself \u2026 the day \u2014 all looked far too easy.<\/p>\n
\u00a0That didn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n
The Jets defense allowed an unruly 239 rushing yards and three TDs on 41 carries to the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Miami lead back De\u2019Von Achane ran for 92 yards and a TD on only seven carries before he left in the second quarter with a rib injury. His backup, Jaylen Wright, rushed for 107 yards and a TD on 24 carries. Ollie Gordon added a TD, the last of the day for Miami.<\/p>\n
\u00a0After a Jets three-and-out, the Dolphins took a 14-0 lead on a 13-yard Achane rushing TD on which the Jets defensive players looked more like they were escorting him into the end zone than actually trying to tackle him.<\/p>\n
Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas (26) intercepts a ball intended for Jets wide receiver John Metchie III (3) in the end zone during the second quarter of the Jets and Miami Dolphins game in East Rutherford, NJ. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u00a0It took the Jets offense just 1:21 after the Achane TD to give the ball back to the Dolphins when a Tyrod Taylor pass deflected off rookie tight end Mason Taylor and into the arms of Miami linebacker Tyrel Dotson at the Jets 29-yard line.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Just six plays after the Jets\u2019 turnover, the Dolphins made it 21-0 when running back Jaylen Wright scored on a 2-yard TD. He was untouched by a Jets defender until he got into the end zone. Inexcusable.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Taylor never returned after the Jets\u2019 second possession because he was knocked out with a groin injury, making way for rookie Brady Cook to make his NFL debut.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Not surprisingly, that didn\u2019t go well.<\/p>\n
Cook looked shaky, fumbling twice in the first half, though not losing either, and throwing an INT.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Jets, who didn\u2019t get their first first down of the game until inside the two-minute warning, cut the lead to 21-7 with no help from their offense.<\/p>\n
Jets wide receiver Isaiah Williams (18) is upended by Miami Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold (30) as he returns a punt for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins during the first half at MetLife Stadium Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
\u00a0It was kick returner Isaiah Williams who electrified the stupefied home crowd with a 78-yard punt return with 20 seconds remaining in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0For Williams, it was a dream day of redemption since he\u2019d been cut by the Jets after their loss to Miami in October when he\u00a0lost a fumble on a kickoff and made a fair catch of a punt on his own 3-yard line with the Jets trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cThat was a big part of the game, and I let the team down,\u201d Williams said after that game.<\/p>\n
\u00a0As it turned out in this game, Williams, who was re-signed by the team and brought back to the regular roster, was one very few players who didn\u2019t let the Jets down.<\/p>\n
Dolphins running back De\u2019Von Achane (28) runs the ball for a touchdown during the first quarter in the Jets and Miami Dolphins game in East Rutherford, NJ. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n
\u00a0When the first quarter was over, Miami had 199 yards to 18 for the Jets, 11 first downs to none and had run 20 plays to just nine for the Jets.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Jets shook things up a little bit late in the third quarter when they converted a fake punt late that led to a 31-yard Nick Folk field goal to cut the lead to 24-10 at the time.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Down 24-7 and facing a fourth-and-8 from their own 25, rookie safety Malachi Moore took a short snap and pitched it to running back Isaiah Davis, who ran for 19 yards and the first down.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Dolphins had taken a 24-7 lead with 1:56 remaining in the first half on a 43-yard field goal by Riley Patterson.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Jets looked like they might take some momentum into halftime, getting the ball to the Miami 16-yard line thanks to a 39-yard pass interference penalty on Minkah Fitzpatrick on Williams.<\/p>\n
\u00a0But Cook threw an INT into the arms of Miami cornerback Rasul Douglas at the goal line with 30 seconds remaining before the intermission.<\/p>\n
\u00a0As Glenn walked off the field and did a brief interview with CBS, he was asked if he\u2019d reference that this marked the 25th anniversary of the \u201cMiracle at the Meadowlands\u2019\u2019 comeback by the Jets against the Dolphins.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cAbsolutely,\u2019\u2019 Glenn said. \u201cAbsolutely.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
\u00a0After 30 more minutes of football, though, history absolutely did not repeat itself.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been a feel-better few weeks for the Jets. \u00a0After the 0-7 start, they entered Sunday\u2019s home game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63668,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2680,9,11,430,10,22,319,7639],"class_list":{"0":"post-63667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-miami-dolphins","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-tyrod-taylor"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}