It doesn't get any more raw or deflating for the Jets. A game that seemed to be within their grasp slipped away in the 80-degree heat at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
After the Jets (3-10) took a 3-point lead with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Anders Carlson's fourth field goal of the game, Miami used a long kickoff return and 6 plays to cover 20 yards before Jason Sanders tied the game with a field goal from 52 yards with 12 seconds left.
"We're supposed to kick that out of the end zone," interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said, referring to the late kickoff "We just missed the kick, so it went into play. We gotta cover what's kicked."
Miami returner Malik Washington returned the kick 45 yards to the Dolphins' 46-yard line while one of the Jets' best special teams players, Irv Charles, was out injured.
The Dolphins (6-7) won the coin toss before overtime and drove down the field for the winning TD on a 10-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Jonnu Smith. Miami 32, Jets 26.
"We got to find a way to finish and close these things out, we got to be at our best and our best required ... and we're not getting that accomplished," Ulbrich said. "And I got to look at myself first. So, yeah, that last drive is, it's interesting. I'm gonna stay up some nights thinking about that last drive because the instinct is to be ultra-aggressive. But I think it was three or four screens on it. So he [Tagovailoa] was definitely playing this for pressure, trying to get after him. So got to provide a better answer for our players."
The Green & White, who entered the game with an 0-6 record in games decided by 6 points or fewer this season, squandered another four-quarter lead. The loss, which mathematically eliminated New York from postseason contention, was the Jets' fourth in a row and ninth in the last 10 games. The last victory came on Halloween night against Houston.
With four games to play, beginning at Jacksonville next Sunday, Ulbrich said that his players remain engaged and committed, regardless of the team's record in a season that's become defined by turbulence.
"Aa huge credit to that locker room, because especially in this day and age, I think there's some teams that might relent a little bit, that might relax a little bit, might start thinking about the offseason, start thinking about their own thing," Ulbrich said. "And I haven't felt that from that locker room at all. They have absolutely stayed together. They continue to fight. They continue to stay together, and it's a great testament to them."
On the positive side, QB Aaron Rodgers (27 of 39 for 339 yards and a TD pass) surpassed 300 yards passing for the first time since 2021. His TD pass to Davante Adams was the 79th score for the duo. And with RB Breece Hall out injured, the rookie twosome of Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis combined for 83 rushing yards, with Davis scoring the first rush TD of his NFL career on a 17-yard dash in the second quarter. WRs Garrett Wilson (7/114) and Adams (9/109) each eclipsed 100 receiving yards
"A big part of is my appreciation for them," Ulbrich said. "You know, they work the right way. The process is intact, and that's what makes this so much more frustrating and just maddening, because the process is right. The guys are working hard during the week. Walk-through meetings, the whole thing, details. Energy is high, execution is high, and it's not translating to the field on Sundays well enough. So, it's very frustrating."
The overtime loss capped another unsatisfying trip to South Florida for the Jets, who have not won at Miami since 2014 (the Jets did defeat Miami, which was the home team, in a game at Wembley Stadium in London in 2015). The two teams will clash again in the regular season finale in Week 18.
"Extremely shocked and disappointed and frustrated and every other adjective you can think of," Ulbrich said. "This group works so hard at it; I would venture to say they work harder than most. And because of that, it makes it more frustrating, and it makes me feel that much worse for that group, because they're doing things right. We got to find a way to finish this thing."
