Jets' non-competitive loss in finale mirrors dreadful season

ORCHARD PARK — One of the worst seasons in the Jets’ 66 years of existence is over, and it ended in a way that befitted their dreadful season.

The Jets did little right and were blown away by the Bills, 35-8, on Sunday in the final regular-season game at Highmark Stadium.

Aaron Glenn’s first season as a head coach started with seven straight losses and ended with the Jets dropping their last five games by a total of 134 points (allowing 188 in that span).

Glenn is expected to return next season, but there will be staff changes and a roster overhaul after the Jets finished 3-14 — the third-worst record in franchise history — and missed the postseason for the 15th consecutive year.

The final insult: the Jets are the first team to go an entire season without intercepting a pass.

An emotional Glenn took the blame for his team’s failures.

“Taking the season as a whole,” he said, “I let the players down, I let the organization down, and that burns me. It really does . . . I know the reason why I came here. I am not going to waver on my beliefs on what I think wins games in this league.”

The upside for this awful performance is that the Jets locked up the No. 2 pick in the draft. The downside is the Raiders are picking first. Like the Jets, Las Vegas needs a quarterback, so trading up will be difficult.

Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is expected to be the No. 1 pick. Oregon’s Dante Moore might be the Jets’ secondary option if he declares for the draft. The Jets also have a mid-first-round pick acquired from Indianapolis in the Sauce Gardner trade.

“We’re going to work our [butt] off to get this [expletive] exactly where it needs to be,” Glenn said. “But I’ll tell you this: This season’s on me. It’s on me. And I get that, but I tell you this, we’re going to work our [butt] off starting tomorrow to make sure we get this [expletive] right.”

This was a back-end-of-the-roster type of game for the Jets, who trailed 35-0 before scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown. Only 10 Week 1 starters on offense and defense played on Sunday.

Tight end Jeremy Ruckert was the lone skill player to start Week 1 and Week 18. The Lindenhurst product left the game briefly in the first half after getting poked in the eye, and it was swollen after the game.

Brady Cook was 11-for-22 for 60 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Beck. The Jets totaled only 122 yards of offense.

Josh Allen played only one snap for the playoff-bound Bills (12-5). Mitch Trubisky replaced him and completed 22 of 29 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. Ray Davis rushed for 151 yards and former Jet Ty Johnson had one rushing and one receiving TD.

Glenn took over a team that went 5-12 last season, and the Jets got worse. They were disappointing, frustrating, often noncompetitive and generally difficult to watch. “This season put a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths,” Quincy Williams said.

One of the first decisions that Glenn made was to release Aaron Rodgers. He wanted to start fresh with a new quarterback and hand-picked Justin Fields, giving him a two-year contract with $30 million guaranteed. Fields is likely to be elsewhere next season.

Glenn benched Fields — who didn’t reach 55 passing yards in four games — in Week 12 and turned to Tyrod Taylor. When Taylor got hurt three games later, Cook became the starter.

Quarterback play was a big reason for the Jets’ failure to look like an NFL team at times, but not the only one. The defense was a massive letdown. That reflected poorly on Glenn, who was the Lions’ defensive coordinator before getting the Jets’ job.

The Jets — who lost seven games by at least 15 points this season — were the NFL’s third-ranked defense in 2024 and one of the worst in the league this year with many of the same players.

They traded Gardner and Quinnen Williams before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, but the defense wasn’t good even with them. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was fired with three games remaining and replaced by Chris Harris.

Offensively, the Jets ranked at or near the bottom of most passing categories. Losing receiver Garrett Wilson, who played only seven games because of a knee injury, had an impact.

Defenses loaded up to stop Breece Hall — who did not play Sunday — and dared the underperforming quarterbacks to throw the football. It worked out well for the opposing defenses.

“This definitely has been the worst season I’ve been a part of as a team,” edge rusher Jermaine Johnson said. “Key word, a part of. I got my hands in it. My hands are bloody. Everybody’s hands are bloody in this. So for [Glenn] to say that’s on him, I don’t fully agree. I think everybody’s hands are dirty.”

In the end, it was one of the Jets’ worst seasons ever. That’s saying something.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.