The New York Jets were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday afternoon after a humiliating loss to their AFC East rivals, the Miami Dolphins. It was the team’s 13th consecutive season without making the playoffs.
As a result, the Jets now hold the record for the NFL’s, NBA’s, NHL’s, and MLB’s longest active playoff drought.
While things for the franchise seemingly haven’t changed much from the 2010–2011 season, things around the world certainly have.
How they got there
Rex Ryan, the head coach of the New York Jets, celebrates his team’s victory.
It was Rex Ryan’s second year as head coach of the New York Jets, and the team was coming off their first appearance in the AFC Championship since 1998. During the 2009 season, Ryan led the Jets to a 9-7 record in the regular season before they were eventually knocked out of the playoffs with a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
The Jets improved to 11-5 the following season, finishing second in the division to the New England Patriots.
The Colts hosted the wild-card round on January 8, 2011, a rematch of the previous year’s conference championship game. After trailing twice, the Jets pulled off a narrow victory to advance to the divisional round against the Patriots.
Mark Sanchez would outduel Tom Brady for back-to-back road playoff wins, and the Jets would advance to the AFC Championship game on January 23, 2011. Unfortunately, their run would come to an end there, and the Pittsburgh Steelers would advance to the Super Bowl, where they would eventually lose to the Green Bay Packers.
