The New York Jets headed down to Miami in week 14 to play divisional rival the Dolphins. In what was officially a must-win game for New York to keep the slim playoff hopes alive. With a loss they would be mathematically eliminated for the 14th season in a row.
New York played a good game, and came close to pulling it out but in the end as usual the Jets found a way to lose the game which is the identity of this team. Miami defeated New York 32-26 in Overtime as the Jets fell to 3-10 on the season, and 0-7 in games that the score was decided by six points or less.
The Jets defense struggled to stop Tua Tagovailoa and Miami’s passing attack all day with Cornerback Sauce Gardner out for the game. Miami came right out the gate, moving the ball down the field as Tagovailoa connected to Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill on big throws to move the ball down the field.
New York would get them to a third and goal but D.J. Reed got called for a pass interference that extended the drive allowing De’Von Achane to run it in from two yards out for the rushing touchdown. Jason Sanders would miss the point after attempt but Miami with an impressive start to take an early 6-0 lead.
The Jets offense looked its best in a while including Aaron Rodgers who had his first 300 yard passing game since 2021. Running Back Breece Hall was out for this game so rookie Braelon Allen with other rookie Isaiah Davis took over the duties. New York was able to put together a good opening drive through both the ground and the air to get into the redzone.
Redzone offense has been a problem for New York all year, and it continued on this drive as they were not able to get into the endzone. They settled for three on a fourth and two to make it a 6-3 game.
The first quarter ended with the Dolphins offense not losing a step driving the ball right down the field on New York to get back into the redzone again. New York’s defense was able to come up with the stop though forcing Miami to settle for three making it a 9-3 score.
Rodgers was moving well all day, we saw signs of that in the first half last week against Seattle. He was able to connect with Garrett Wilson on a fourth and two at around midfield as he hit Wilson over the middle who then took it into the redzone of Miami. This was followed up by Davis who rushed in from 17 yards out to put the Jets up 10-9.
.@z4days for SIX!!! 🙌#NYJvsMIA on CBS & @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/0QQuc3Jceh
— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 8, 2024
Neither defense could buy a stop in this first half as Tagovailoa just continued to dish it out on the Jets hitting Hill to get into New York territory. The Jets were able to get Miami to a fourth down but Miami went for it. Tagovailoa was able to hit Waddle on a drag route to keep the drive going.
The defense was able to hold strong in the end holding the Dolphins to another field to make it a 12-10 score.
On the next drive, Rodgers hit Davante Adams on a deep throw to put the Jets into Miami territory. Miami’s secondary was looking questionable as Adams, and Wilson were shredding them all day, both going for over 100 yards. New York got back into the redzone but once again could not put the ball into the endzone as they had to take their three to go back up 13-12.
Miami had less than a minute left to do something on offense. Tagovailoa was able to hit Waddle over the middle for a gain of 16 to put Miami in field goal range just like that. Sanders nails the 57 yard kick to put the Dolphins up 15-13 at the half. Both defenses could not stop these offenses in the first half.
The second half kicked off with the Jets having the ball as they started off with a bang as Rodgers hit a wide open Wilson deep down the field to put the Jets already at the 26 of the Dolphins. The Jets would convert a fourth down on a pass from Rodgers to Davis bringing them to the goal line. On the next play, Rodgers rolls out and connects with Adams to give New York back the lead at 20-15.
.@AaronRodgers12 to @tae15adams CLASSIC TD!!!#NYJvsMIA on CBS & @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/16PssHpjr0
— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 8, 2024
On Miami’s next drive, Tagovailoa was able to hit Waddle for a solid pickup but after that finally New York was able to get a stop, and force the Dolphins to punt the ball. Giving the Jets offense back the ball with a lead.
New York’s offense kept going right at Miami as Rodgers was looking on the money connecting with Adams, and Wilson to keep moving the ball as they got into the redzone again. They were not able to score a touchdown to make this a two score game. They had to settle for three to make it a 23-15 game.
New York went into another fourth quarter with a lead, and they had the ball again after stopping Miami again. The offense had a chance to put a drive together to take a two possession lead but they could not do that as the Dolphins sacked Rodgers on a big third down forcing New York to punt for the first time all day in the fourth quarter.
Miami would not be stopped for a third time in a row as led by Tagovailoa they were able to drive down the field including a costly pass interference by Reed to put Miami on the goal-line. The Jets defense would show some fight getting Miami all the way to a huge fourth and goal but Hill gets open on the man-to-man coverage to score a touchdown. Miami would have to go for two and they got it as Tagovailoa connected with Waddle to make this a tied football game at 23-23.
The Jets had roughly nine minutes to work with to try and take back this lead. Miami’s defense though had other plans getting the stop. Giving their offense the ball back but now both defenses are showing some fight as now the Jets defense was able to stop Miami to give their offense another shot.
With a little over four minutes left now, Rodgers is able to lead his team down the field with throws to Wilson and Adams on repeat. The big throw to put them in field goal range went to Allen Lazard in his first game back off the injured reserve list. The Jets are going to the Jet though, they lose five yards on first down, then for some reason try to throw the ball, and Rodgers takes a sack. Leading to a third and 21 in which Rodgers does hit Adams to get a big chunk back but he is tackled out of bounds stopping the clock. Meaning when the Jets hit the field goal to go up 26-23 they left Miami with 52 seconds instead of like 15 seconds. Terrible game management by the Jets as of course then Miami has a big kick return to basically put them near midfield with 45 seconds left.
The Dolphins do exactly what they were supposed to, get into field goal range as Sanders nails the kick to tie this game back up as the game goes to overtime. New York could have had this game won but shoot themselves in the foot keeping Miami alive.
In overtime, the Dolphins got the ball first, and the Jets didn’t stand a chance. Jonnu Smith who had zero catches in regulation had three massive catches in overtime for 44 yards including the game winning touchdown as Miami just simply marched down the field. Rodgers and the offense do not get a chance as Miami puts the game away to give them the win.
Quite frankly, The Jets played a good game, the offense was driving all day, Rogers was ripping it to Wilson and Adams. The offense finally looked like the offense everyone thought they would be. At the end of the game, they did their job. They got into field goal range, all they had to do was now waste the clock. Get as little time left so that Miami does not have enough time to put a drive together. Bad play calling, bad game management decisions, just bad coaching is what cost them in the end. The defense was having a tough time but they battled in the end and got some key stops. This loss is simply on the coaching staff for failing to execute in simple late game management.
The Jets weren’t going to make the playoffs but this loss now officially eliminated them. They have the longest drought in football by far with 14 straight seasons now. A lot of uncertainty around the future of Rodgers but he played a great game against Miami. With a better coaching staff they win that game, they probably could win more of these close games with a better coaching staff. The roster isn’t perfect, they have issues, and Rodgers has had bad performances but games like this make you wonder what this team could have been this season with better coaching.
The organization has to make sure that the next Head Coach, and General Manager are the right guys or the cycle will just continue to repeat itself no matter how talented the roster is on paper.
