Jets drop season finale in 35-8 drubbing from Bills' backups

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The New York Jets’ miserable 2025 season mercifully came to an end Sunday.

Mitchell Trubisky‘s 259 yards and four touchdowns helped the Buffalo Bills (12-5) roll past the Jets (3-14) 35-8 in what will likely be the final game at Highmark Stadium.

The Jets lost their final five games to end the 2025 season and were outscored 188-54 in those games.

“I’m not happy with the way that it went down,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said. “Anytime you lose in that manner, it’s hard to be happy about that.

“But again, I’m not hiding, I’m not running from that. You know it’s something we have to eat. I know as the head coach, I gotta do whatever I got to do to make sure we get it turned around.”

Josh Allen played just one snap on Sunday and then exited the game to preserve the NFL’s longest active consecutive starting streak for a quarterback, with 122 — 134 in a row, if you include the playoffs. He aggravated his foot injury during the Bills’ Week 17 loss to the Eagles.

Allen didn’t practice Wednesday and Thursday. Considering they already clinched a playoff berth and couldn’t win the AFC East, there was doubt whether Allen would play in Buffalo’s finale.

Considering Sunday likely marked the final Bills home game at Highmark Stadium, also known as The Ralph, Allen also likely wanted to start one last time in the building. Buffalo will move into a new stadium next season for the first time in 53 seasons.

The Jets won’t say this, but they have been actively tanking games to get a better draft pick in April’s NFL draft. Following Sunday’s loss, the Jets will pick second in the NFL Draft, with the Raiders having the No. 1 overall selection.

Trubisky carved up the Jets defense, which had a makeshift secondary after several injuries. Gang Green’s starting secondary on Sunday was Malachi Moore, Tre Brown, Sam Womack, Keidron Smith and Ja-Sir Taylor.

Starting cornerback Brandon Stephens was ruled out due to a neck injury. Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (hip), and safeties Tony Adams (hip) and Andre Cisco (pectoral), who have started most of this season, are all on injured reserve.

The Jets defensive line struggled to get to Trubisky all day, after not registering a sack or even a quarterback hit in the first half. In addition to giving up a total of 424 yards, backup running back Ray Davis finished with 151 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown.

The Jets' defense did make history Sunday for all the wrong reasons. The Jets became the first team since the start of the NFL (1933) to finish an entire season without registering an interception.

“That’s never something you never want to be in the record books for,” Jets pass rusher Jermaine Johnson said. “Maybe if I get to the quarterback more, you know, at a more violent fashion, you throw some bad balls, we get a pick.

“This is just as much on me as it is the back end, as it is the coaches. That’s not something you want to be a part of, but again, everybody’s got their hand in it. I know the characters of these guys, and we’re gonna go attack this and hopefully never feel this again.”

The Jets as a team had just four turnovers all season, the fewest in the league.

As woeful as their defense was, the Jets’ offense was equally bad. They started rookie undrafted free agent Brady Cook for the fourth consecutive game, and the results looked very much like his previous three starts, all of which were losses.

Cook finished 11 of 22 with 60 yards and a touchdown pass to fullback Andrew Beck. However, he had trouble just completing simple passes to his receivers.

The Jets offense was without starting running back Breece Hall (knee) and backup running back Isaiah Davis (concussion). That led to Kene Nwangwu and Khali Herbert receiving a bulk of the carries.

The Jets finished with just 122 total yards.

“It was a tough one,” Cook said. “They had our number. We didn’t execute for most of the game, and it’s a lot to learn from.

“Not to beat a dead horse, we have to learn from it. My reps, my experience that I got, this team’s experience that we got this entire year as a whole, we have to learn from, we have to move on from it. We can’t let it happen anymore.”

After finishing their 10th consecutive season with a losing record and 15th without making the playoffs, the Jets will enter an offseason full of several questions. But one of them will not be coach Aaron Glenn’s job status after he signed a five-year contract last January. He is expected to return for a second season as Jets coach, but his staff and the Jets roster will likely face several changes.

Glenn already fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks following an embarrassing Week 15 loss to the Jaguars. Chris Harris was the interim DC for the final three games of the season, but the Jets were outscored 100-16 during that span.

In addition to a new defensive coordinator, the Jets have 23 players who are impending free agents, including running back Breece Hall, guard John Simpson and linebacker Quincy Williams. With a projected $90 million to spend in salary cap money and eight draft picks, the Jets will need every bit of it to improve a roster that’s full of holes on both sides of the ball.

After Sunday’s game, the Bills’ focus will shift to the playoffs and their road matchup against the AFC South division-winning Jaguars.

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