In what might have been the final game of his Hall of Fame career, Aaron Rodgers threw a season-high four touchdown passes and reached a career milestone while leading the host New York Jets to a 32-20 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.
Rodgers completed 23 of 36 passes for 274 yards, threw an interception and finished with a 112.5 passer rating as the Jets (5-12) played spoiler against their longtime AFC East rivals. Even before the time expired, Miami (8-9) was eliminated from playoff contention once the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas Chiefs to clinch the AFC’s final wild-card berth.
The Dolphins missed the postseason after making it each of the past two seasons.
Rodgers’ first touchdown pass on Sunday was the 500th of his career. He tossed a 5-yarder to Tyler Conklin with 7:57 left in the second quarter to put the Jets ahead 7-6.
Rodgers became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach the 500 touchdown pass mark, joining Tom Brady (649), Drew Brees (571), Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508).
Rodgers would follow that with touchdown passes to two of his former Green Bay teammates — Allen Lazard and Davante Adams. The latter was a 4-yard connection to Adams in the back of the end zone with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter to put the Jets ahead 23-15.
Tyler Huntley started at quarterback for the Dolphins for the second consecutive week as Tua Tagovailoa sat out again with a hip injury. Huntley’s fifth start in relief of Tagovailoa didn’t go nearly as well as last week’s win at Cleveland, however, as he threw a pair of costly interceptions and lost a fumble. The Jets’ defense forced four turnovers overall.
Huntley completed 25 of 41 passes for 227 yards and found Jonnu Smith for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 5:21 to go to cut New York’s lead to 25-20. It was Smith’s eighth touchdown catch of the season, setting a new franchise record for a tight end. De’Von Achane ran for 121 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
The Jets sealed the outcome on Rodgers’ final touchdown toss — a 6-yarder to Breece Hall with 2:30 left.
