Jets landing in last place yet again in the AFC East
Back at the bottom of the division for the 5th time in last 6 seasons
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Jets are finishing in last place. Again.
It’s now official: New York will end the season alone at the bottom of the AFC East. The Jets were locked into that spot Sunday, their 31-24 loss to Miami sending them to 3-11 on the season and four games behind the Dolphins in the standings with only three games remaining.
This will be the fifth time in the last six seasons that the Jets finish last in their division. The only other team on such a dismal pace is Jacksonville, which lost to Houston on Sunday to fall to 2-12 and into last place in the AFC South, now well on its way to a fifth last-place finish in that six-year span.
“I thought we had some good opportunities there for plays,” Jets quarterback Zach Wilson said.
They did, just not enough. The Jets’ last offensive play of the game was a microcosm of the season: They needed 10 yards to keep the drive alive, and got 9. A couple of kneel-downs by Miami later, and it was over.
Things had looked hopeful for the Jets. They had a halftime lead for the first time all season, 17-10, yet couldn’t finish things off.
“We could never get anything rolling in the second half when it comes to sustaining drives,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said.
Dolphins running back Duke Johnson tied it early in the third with a 6-yard run to cap an eightplay, 76-yard drive, and Christian Wilkins gave Miami a 24-17 lead 33 seconds into the fourth quarter with a 1-yard TD catch. Tua Tagovailoa’s pick-6 throw cost Miami the lead, but then his 11-yard touchdown pass to Devante Parker with 3:37 left capped the scoring.
It can’t be a surprise that the latest rebuilding project for the Jets wasn’t a speedy mission for Saleh, their first-year coach. Turnarounds take time, especially in the NFL.
“The underlying message is that this is December football,” Saleh said. “You had a Dolphins team trying to stay in the playoff hunt.
“We got everything they had. We gave them everything we had, and I promise you, they gave it right back.”
Saleh’s is the fourth regime the Jets have tried during their current playoff drought, which is now up to 11 seasons and counting. Rex Ryan and the Jets were last in the AFC East in 2014, his final season with the club. Todd Bowles couldn’t steer the Jets higher than a last-place finish in three of his four seasons. Adam Gase was there for two years; he finished third in Year 1, fourth last season.
Jets safety Elijah Riley was taken off the field on a backboard after being injured during the third quarter. Riley’s head was stabilized before he was removed from the field on a cart. Thankfully, it all ended up being precautionary: Saleh said Riley would return to New York with the Jets on Sunday night.