The Jets have things to play for in their final five games of 2024, and besides the pride that QB Aaron Rodgers cites, Sunday would be pride in winning a game at Hard Rock Stadium and taking the Dolphins down another peg.

They have lost eight consecutive games at the Aqua & Coral's home base of operations. Of those losses, two were Miami shutouts, in '20 and last season, and the other six have been one-score Jets losses, by 4, 3, 7, 6, 7 and 5 points. The drought has continued so long that the Jets' last road win over the 'Fins wasn't in Miami but by 27-14 in London in 2015. Their last road win in South Florida was by 37-24 in the '14 season finale, when the stadium wasn't known as Hard Rock but as Sun Life.

While the Jets at 3-9 are seeking some victories to take with them into the offseason, the Dolphins find themselves in a similar spot to their AFC East brethren of a few weeks earlier. If they run the table — which would include a win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium in this season's finale — they would find themselves at 10-7 and alive for the AFC postseason grid.

QB Tua Tagovailoa, who rebounded from his month on the sideline due to a concussion with one of his strongest seasons individually, this past week lamented his side's still tenuous postseason position. "I don't think that shows the character of who we are as a team," he said of the 'Fins' 5-7 record.

The Jets have to contend with Tagovailoa's NFL-record-quality 75.4% passing accuracy and his career-high 110.0 rating, as well as old nemeses WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (but not RB Raheem Mostert, who is inactive today). And they'll have to do it without RB Breece Hall (knee) and CB Sauce Gardner (hamstring), both inactive, as well as defensive leader and MLB C.J. Mosley (neck), whose mostly lost season will conclude on Injured Reserve.

But the Jets also have some arrows in their quiver for this one. On offense, Rodgers in his 13th start for the Jets this season, has Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams to throw to as usual as well as Allen Lazard, who returns from IR after a chest injury interrupted his good first seven bounceback games that produced 30 receptions and 5 touchdowns. Rookie RBs Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis plus Kene Nwangwu, last week's kickoff star against Seattle, show promise of picking up the slack from Hall's absence.

On defense, the pass rush spearheaded by Will McDonald (team-leading 10 sacks, tied for 4th in the NFL) and Quinnen Williams, could team up with an increased amount of coverage from Brandin Echols for Gardner. Echols not only has the Jets' only 2 interceptions this season but also has a thing about playing against Tagovailoa, returned a pair of pick-sixes against him, at Miami in '21 and at MetLife last season.

This matchup of two top-10 NFL defenses and two underachieving offenses won't be easy for the Jets but it would be satisfying at this stage of their campaign if the Green & White could make the flight home from South Florida with a division win under their belts.

Here are the Jets' six inactives for Sunday's game:

• CB Sauce Gardner
• WR Malachi Corley
• RB Breece Hall
• CB Qwan'tez Stiggers
• OL Xavier Newman
• DL Braiden McGregor

And these are the Dolphins' seven inactives:

• QB Skylar Thompson
• CB Ethan Bonner
• RB Raheem Mostert
• OL Andrew Meyer
• TE Jack Stoll
• WR River Cracraft