14 bad NY Jets games during their long NFL playoff drought

NEW YORK — The 2024 New York Jets are on a quest to snap a 13-year playoff drought — the longest active streak in the NFL and tied for the longest in the four major North American professional sports.

The Jets will take the field for their game against the San Francisco 49ers tonight as one of only two NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB teams that have missed the playoffs every year since the 2010-11 season. The other is the Buffalo Sabres.

With one of their most-talented rosters in quite some time this season, and a schedule that could work in their favor, the Jets have a golden opportunity to move on from one of the worst eras in team history. 

When was the last Jets playoff game? 

Rex Ryan was coaching, Mark Sanchez was quarterbacking, MetLife Stadium was less than a year old, and President Barack Obama was in his first term the last time the Jets were in the playoffs. 

On Jan. 23, 2011, New York was in the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row after thrilling wins against the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. But with a trip to Super Bowl XLV on the line, the Jets lost 24-19 to the Pittsburgh Steelers and haven’t been back to the playoffs since.

Ironically, Aaron Rodgers won his only Super Bowl to date that year, as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Steelers 31-25. Rodgers hasn’t been back to the Super Bowl since. 

The 2010-11 AFC title game was one of the most heartbreaking games in Jets history. Sadly, there are plenty to choose from over the team’s 64-year history. 

Here are 14 games from just the last 13 years that will always haunt Jets fans: 

Tim Tebow leads a 4th quarter comeback  

Call it a mile-high meltdown. The 2011 Jets season started looking grim in Week 11 as Tim Tebow led a painstaking 95-yard touchdown drive that gave the Broncos the lead for good in the final minute of the game in Denver.

The Jets traded for Tebow after the season, but never got anything close to the magic he had on that cold Thursday night. 

Victor Cruz scores a 99-yard touchdown

Rex Ryan talked a big game before this Week 16 showdown between the Jets and Giants, who were both still in the playoff mix. Then in the second quarter, Eli Manning slung a pass to Victor Cruz from deep in the Giants endzone. Cruz caught it at the 11, broke a tackle and sprinted the rest of the way down the sideline for a 99-yard touchdown.

The Giants took a 10-7 lead, and the Jets never recovered and lost almost all hope of making the playoffs three years in a row.

The Butt Fumble

The Jets embarrassed themselves at home quickly on Thanksgiving in 2012. The Patriots pummeled New York with 35 points in the second quarter, including one of the most iconic defensive touchdowns in NFL history: the Butt Fumble. 

Quarterback Mark Sanchez lost the football when he crashed into right guard Brandon Moore’s rear end. The Patriots scooped it up and took it to the house in a highlight for the ages. 

Jets’ playoff hopes end on a fumble

The 6-7 Jets had a narrow path to the playoffs in Week 15 of 2012, but they could not afford to lose. 

Down 14-10 in the fourth quarter, the Jets needed a touchdown and got a gift from Titans punter Brett Kern: a measly 19-yard punt that put the ball at the Tennessee 25 with less a minute remaining. But Sanchez — who already had four turnovers — fumbled the snap on the very next play and the Titans recovered to win the game.

As ESPN’s announcer Mike Tirico put in, “That’s the way this game should end. That’s the way the Jets’ season should end. Ugly!” 

Jets call timeout and lose a game-tying touchdown

The Jets’ Week 2 game in 2014 was a sign of things to come. 

Late in the fourth quarter in Green Bay, quarterback Geno Smith heaved a 37-yard pass to Jeremy Kerley that appeared to be a game-tying touchdown. But there was one problem: New York called timeout right before the snap and the play didn’t count.

The Jets lost the game, and their next seven.

Jets lose “win-and-in” game in Buffalo

After a dramatic overtime win against the Patriots, the Jets had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in four years in the final week of the 2015 regular season. 

The Jets had multiple opportunities to take the lead in Buffalo, but veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s three fourth-quarter interceptions cost the team dearly. 

The Jets lost 22-17 and let one of the franchise’s best offensive seasons go to waste.

Jets commit 8 turnovers in Kansas City

The Jets had high hopes entering 2016, but none of that optimism survived this early-season trip to Kansas City. 

Fitzpatrick tied the franchise record by throwing six interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. In all, New York committed a whopping eight turnovers — their most in a game in 40 years! 

Sam Darnold sees “ghosts” on Monday Night Football

The Jets looked lost against the Patriots from start to finish in this one, and Sam Darnold summed it up with his most memorable quote as a member of Gang Green. 

Mic’d up for the ESPN broadcast, Darnold was heard on the sideline saying, “I’m seeing ghosts.” 

The Jets’ first-round pick in 2018 only completed 11 passes, not including the four that were picked off by New England, in the 33-0 loss. 

Jets lose on a Hail Mary, then fire their defensive coordinator

The Jets were 13 seconds away from snapping an 11-game losing streak on Dec. 6, 2020, but nothing went Gang Green’s way that season. 

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr unleashed a 46-yard heave to Henry Ruggs III, who was wide open for a game-winning touchdown that sent the Jets to 0-12.

The play was so bad, the Jets fired their defensive coordinator Gregg Williams the next day. 

Jets snap 13-game losing streak, but lose 1st overall pick

The Jets were positioned to get the first overall pick in the 2021 draft, widely expected to be quarterback Trevor Lawrence, until they finally won a game. 

The key play came in the fourth quarter when the Jets punted leading 23-20. Punter Braden Mann stopped what might’ve been a go-ahead Rams touchdown on the return with a tackle at midfield. The Jets hung on for their first win of the season, but they no longer had the first overall pick.

In the end, the Jacksonville Jaguars picked Lawrence first overall and the Jets selected Zach Wilson second. 

Patriots score 54 points against Gang Green

This matchup between rookie quarterbacks Wilson and Mac Jones was quite lopsided. Wilson left with a knee injury early in the second quarter, while Jones led an offense that gained more than 550 yards. 

The Patriots’ 54 points were the most by any team against the Jets since 1978.

Jets lose on a punt-return touchdown in Foxborough

A special teams meltdown handed the Jets their 14th straight loss to the Patriots in one of the rivalry’s lowest-scoring games ever.

It seemed like this 3-3 game was heading to overtime when New York punted with 26 seconds left in regulation. Instead, Marcus Jones returned the punt 84 yards for the only touchdown of the game for New England. 

Aaron Rodgers tears his Achilles in Jets debut

The most anticipated season in Jets history got off to a nightmarish start when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear four plays into his Jets debut. 

The Jets wound up winning on a dramatic punt-return touchdown in overtime, but their chances of finally snapping the playoff-less streak took a massive hit. 

Tim Boyle throws a 99-yard pick-6 on Black Friday

The NFL’s inaugural Black Friday game was one Jets fans would rather forget. 

On the last play of the first half, quarterback Tim Boyle hurled a pass from midfield that was intercepted by Miami’s Jevon Holland at the 1-yard line. Holland ran it all the way back for a 99-yard touchdown. 

The Jets could’ve taken a knee and trailed by only four points at halftime. Instead, they opted for a Hail Mary and gave the Dolphins a greater lead.