American Football
Jets eliminated from playoffs, extend longest postseason drought in American pro sports
The longest active playoff drought in American professional sports hits another year.
The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins in overtime on Sunday, falling to their AFC East rivals by a final score of 32-26. Aaron Rodgers connected on 27-of-39 passes for 339 yards and a touchdown against Miami, but the Dolphins scored 11 points in the fourth quarter — including a 52-yard field goal from Jason Sanders in the closing seconds — to force overtime.
Then the Dolphins won the game in walk-off fashion, when Tua Tagovailoa connected with Jonnu Smith for the game-winning touchdown:
TUA AND JONNU FOR THE WIN IN OT! pic.twitter.com/3TJFKzI55M
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024
The loss officially eliminated the Jets from playoff contention, and extended the longest active playoff drought across multiple leagues:
With a loss today at Miami, the Jets now have been eliminated from the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, extending the longest active drought across the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and the WNBA. pic.twitter.com/Sxj0vpaXC0
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 8, 2024
That’s right, the last time the Jets advanced to the playoffs came back in 2010. Rex Ryan was their head coach, Mark Sanchez was their starting quarterback, and the Jets advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the second straight season, before losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers by a final score of 24-19.
Also on that roster as the team’s leading rusher that season? LaDainian Tomlinson, who was selected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017, his first year of eligibility.