No-show Jets crushed by Dolphins to officially mark 15th straight season with no playoffs

This day was inevitable for the Jets. When you start 0-7, the quarterbacks play poorly and the  defense doesn’t live up to expectations,  having meaningful games late in the year is unlikely.

The Jets know that all too well. It’s been a long time since they’ve played in a December game that matters.

Maybe next year.

The Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Sunday’s 34-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. They extended their futility streak to 15 years — the longest active streak in the four major professional sports.

“It’s a yearly thing,” fourth-year running back Breece Hall said. “It definitely starts to weigh on you. At the end of the day, you start to look at yourself. You see your peers, and you see other guys that you know you’re just as good as if not better than, and they get to just have a lot of fun.”

This game was a microcosm of the Jets’ season under first-year coach Aaron Glenn. They started very slowly, the quarterback play was terrible and the defense didn’t show up.

The Jets (3-10) wore their Gotham City Rivalry uniforms, and not even the Dark Knight could have saved them.

Miami (6-7) scored the game’s first 21 points — in the first quarter — and cruised to its fourth straight win. The game was so lopsided that the Dolphins put in former Jet Zach Wilson late in the fourth quarter.

Glenn shouldered the blame for the loss.

“The only thing that I can say is I didn’t have these guys ready to play,” he said. “That was obvious by the way we went out there and played.”

For the third straight season, Miami beat the Jets to knock them out of the playoff race.

“Very disappointed, for real, man,” said Quincy Williams, a Jet for five seasons. “Just because I haven’t been there, and I want to be there.”

Jermaine Johnson, a Jet since 2021, called it a “[expletive]” feeling.

“Nobody likes losing,” he said. “I love the Jets. I want to do everything in my power to change this thing around. It’s just the same step backwards. We just got to dig deep and we got to figure out how to do this thing.”

Undrafted rookie quarterback   Brady Cook made his NFL debut, replacing Tyrod Taylor,  who left in the first quarter with a groin injury. Cook completed 14 of 30 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions, both in the end zone.

“Forcing the ball into the end zone, trying to make plays,” he said.

The Missouri product was the Jets’ No. 2 quarterback with Justin Fields out with a knee injury. Taylor was 1-for-4 for 6 yards and an interception.

Glenn said they will figure out the quarterback situation this week. If Fields is healthy, he could regain his starting job.

The Jets’ offense struggled from the beginning and finished with 207 total yards. Their only touchdown was a 78-yard punt return by Isaiah Williams late in the first quarter.

Rookie tight end Mason Taylor had five catches for 51 yards. Hall rushed for 43 yards on 14 carries.

The Jets drove into the red zone three times, but Cook threw two interceptions and John Metchie III dropped what would have been a walk-in touchdown. They settled for a field goal by Nick Folk that made it 24-10.

“I felt ready to play,” Cook said. “Obviously, I didn’t do enough to get a win.”

The Jets allowed the Dolphins to rush for 239 yards. Jaylen Wright ran for 107 yards and a touchdown. De’Von Achane, who left in the first half with a rib injury, had 92 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Jaylen Waddle had five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.

Tua Tagovailoa, who was 13-for-21 for 127 yards and a touchdown, is 8-0 against the Jets (7-0 as a starter). It was the first time the Miami quarterback has won a game in which the temperature at kickoff was below 46 degrees after starting 0-7 in such circumstances.

The Dolphins were up 7-0 after only four plays. The Jets allowed a 21-yard rush by Waddle and a 39-yard run by Achane to the 3, and Waddle caught a 3-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

After the Jets went three-and-out, it took five plays for Miami to get back in the end zone, four of which went for at least 13 yards. Achane ran it in from 13 yards out.

The Jets gave the football right back to Miami as Tyrod Taylor’s third-down pass was thrown behind Mason Taylor, deflected and intercepted by Tyrel Dodson. The Dolphins took over at the Jets’ 29, and six plays later, it was 21-0 after Wright’s 2-yard run.

That 11:21 stretch to open the game illustrated why the Jets’ season has gone the way it has.

“The only thing that we can do is improve and get better,” Glenn said. “Before you can start to consistently win — I’ve said it a number of times — you have to improve in all areas. That’s including us as coaches. We all have to improve. So if we want to consistently win in this league, we have got to get better.”

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.