Miami, FL – The Miami Dolphins put the nail in the Jets' coffin.
The Jets needed a win Sunday and a lot of help to earn a playoff berth for a third straight year, something never accomplished by the franchise. But they couldn't even hold up their end of the bargain, as the Dolphins played spoiler and came away with a 19-17 victory at Sun Life Stadium.
Even with a win, New York would still have failed to qualify as Tennessee's victory against Houston would also have kept the Jets out of the postseason. The Jets lost their final three games to end the year with an 8-8 mark.
Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore capped a 12 1/2-minute drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter and the Miami defense picked off Mark Sanchez on each of New York's next two possessions, leading to a pair of Dan Carpenter field goals that helped seal the outcome.
Sanchez was picked off three times overall and threw a touchdown pass with 1:15 remaining, but the Dolphins recovered the ensuing onsides kick to complete a nice turnaround after a disastrous 0-7 start.
Miami (6-10) won six of its final nine games and finished 2-1 under interim coach Todd Bowles, who took over after Tony Sparano was fired on December 12.
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