Rex, Jets bow out winners against Dolphins, 20

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The Jets bow out winners and play spoilers by eliminating the Dolphins from the playoffs.

JETS 20, DOLPHINS 7

MIAMI -- Even though Rex Ryan's job with the Jets was already secure, his players made one last statement in favor of their coach to finish the 2013 season. Gang Green upset the Dolphins Sunday, 20-7, eliminating Miami from the playoffs in a game where the Jets technically had nothing to gain.

The win came just before team owner Woody Johnson confirmed Ryan would be back as coach for the 2014.

Ryan managed to win eight games with a roster that very few imagined could win more than six. Ryan has claimed the Jets are a team on the rise, and truthfully, they have looked it after winning three of their final four games. The Jets won back-to-back games for the first time all season.

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Geno Smith looked on the incline as well, completing 17 of 27 pass attempts for 190 yards while rushing for a TD. It was a homecoming of sorts of Smith, who had a strong performance just minutes from where he grew up.

After a scoreless first quarter, Ryan Tannehill and Mike Wallace finally hooked up for the first score of the game on a five-yard touchdown just over three minutes into the second quarter. Wallace beat Dee Milliner for the score.

But the Jets offense woke up, and Smith began to string together several strong drives that made him look like the better quarterback on the field. First, Smith led a 10-play, 71-yard drive to tie the game via a Sheldon Richardson's one-yard touchdown run. That play was set up by a five-yard dash by Smith, who converted a third-down on a QB run. With the score, Richardson had more touchdowns on the season than Santonio Holmes.

Smith led another big drive right before half time, culminating in another key quarterback run, this time a seven-yard touchdown on third-and-goal, with nine seconds left in the half to give the Jets a 14-7 lead as the teams went to the locker rooms. Smith's go-ahead score was his sixth rushing touchdown of the season.

After a more than rocky start to his rookie season, Dee Milliner's performance has improved of late. That continued Sunday. One play after Milliner broke up a would-be touchdown to Wallace in the third quarter he made an outstanding leaping catch on a comeback route for his second pick of the season.

With 4:18 left in the game, Nick Folk kicked a 35-yard field goal, after missing one from the same distance earlier in the quarter, to put the Jets ahead by two scores.

An Ed Reed interception on the next Dolphins drive iced the game and eliminated Miami from the postseason.

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