Sunday’s regular season finale looked a lot like the games the Jets were imagining when they traded for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers threw for 274 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Jets to a 32-20 win over the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium. Unfortunately, the win only moved the Jets’ record to 5-12 so they will not be playing any postseason games with the veteran quarterback.

The Dolphins won’t be playing any either. They came into Sunday with hopes of advancing to the playoffs, but the Broncos crushed the Chiefs second-string to sew up a playoff berth and eliminate the Dolphins before they officially eliminated themselves with the loss.

Rodgers hit tight end Tyler Conklin with his first touchdown and that made him the fourth player in NFL history to reach 500 career passing touchdowns. He ends the season with 503, which is five behind his former teammate Brett Favre for fourth place in league history. The questions of whether Rodgers will keep playing and, if he does, where he’ll be playing will be storylines to watch as the offseason gets rolling.

In addition to figuring out Rodgers’s situation, the Jets have big questions to answer about their next head coach and General Manager. Those decisions will chart a new course for a team that has now gone 14 seasons without making the playoffs.

The New York Giants closed out their 2024 regular season schedule with a trip down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The Eagles began the week locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC and sat many of their key players, including former Giant running back Saquon Barkley, who was on pace to set a new NFL single-season mark for rushing yards.

The Giants were playing out the string and had most of their healthy starters on the field but played without inside linebacker Micah McFadden, center John Michael Schmitz, and right tackle Evan Neal again.

• The Giants could not muster much offense against an Eagles defense comprised of mainly backups. They had just 238 yards of total offense.
• The Eagles went 2-for-4 in the red zone, scoring two pass plays while the Giants only had one trip into the red zone and ended up kicking a field goal.
• The game was largely even statistically with the exception of penalties. The Giants had six for 40 yards while the Eagles had just one accepted penalty for zero yards.

Drew Lock’s pass deep left intended for Jalin Hyatt was intercepted  by Eagles defensive back Sydney Brown at the Philadelphia 33-yard line and returned to the Giants’ 46 with 36 seconds remaining in regulation.

That killed any hope the Giants had of a comeback victory and sealed the 20-13 win for Philadelphia.

The Bills (13-3) routed the Jets (4-12) in a 40-14 final. New York only put up points once both teams pulled their starters from the contest in the fourth quarter, only further displaying Buffalo’s dominance on Sunday. 

With the victory, the Bills have locked up the No. 2 overall seed in the AFC ahead of the 2024 NFL postseason. That means Buffalo earned a “defacto bye” in Week 18, which will give their starters some well-deserved rest.

The battle for the 2024 NFL MVP Award continues to go back and forth between Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. Allen staked another claim against the Jets. 

Allen was 16-for-27 passing for 182 yards with two touchdowns. Allen rushed in another score and did not turn the ball over.

The Jets only put points on the board when they took quarterback Aaron Rodgers out and put former Bill Tyrod Taylor under center. Buffalo’s defense essentially shutout New York. Both sides of the ball were fantastic for the Bills.

The top highlight for Buffalo was AJ Epenesa’s safety. Rodgers had a few backup offensive linemen in front of him due to injury. The Bills had four sacks, hit Rodgers six more times, and had two interceptions, even defensive tackle Jordan Phillips hauled one in. Over his past eight games, Rodgers only had one pick.