2012 New York Jets season The New York Jets season was the franchise ' s 43rd season in the National Football league , the 53rd overall and the fourth under head coach Rex Ryan . The Jets failed to improve their 8 – 8 record from 2011 and were eliminated from postseason contention . Transactions . 2012 Draft class . NOTES : Regular season results . Week 1 : vs . Buffalo Bills . The Jets erupted to a 21 - 0 lead in the second quarter following two Mark Sanchez touchdown throws and a Jeremy Kerley punt return score . Following Antonio Cromartie ' s interception return score and Sanchez ' third touchdown ( to Stephen Hill ) , Ryan Fitzpatrick , despite three interceptions , erupted to three consecutive touchdowns , but the Jets put the game away in a fourth quarter drive ending in a one - yard Shonn Greene touchdown run . Tim Tebow , acquired from the Broncos amid heavy publicity about his presence with the Jets and the team ' s plans on how to utilize him , rushed five times for just eleven yards . With their 6th straight win over the Bills , the Jets began their season 1 - 0 . Week 2 : at Pittsburgh Steelers . The Jets traveled to Heinz Field for a rematch of the 2010 AFC Championship game against the Steelers . The Jets limited the Steelers to just 68 rushing yards but Ben Roethlisberger tossed for 275 yards and two touchdowns . With the loss , the Jets fell to 1 - 1 . Week 3 : at Miami Dolphins . With the win , the Jets improved to 2 - 1 . Week 4 : vs . San Francisco 49ers . After their Week 3 road win over their division rival Dolphins , the Jets headed home to face their first NFC Opponent of the season , the 49ers . However , the Jets struggled in this game being shut out at home 34 - 0 by the 49ers . This was the first time since 2010 that the team has been shut out at home since the Packers shut them out 9 - 0 that year . With the huge shutout loss , the Jets fell to 2 - 2 . Week 5 : vs . Houston Texans . The Jets stayed home for a game against the red - hot undefeated 4 - 0 Texans . This game would mark the first time ever that the Jets have lost to the Texans , and as a result New York dropped to 2 - 3 on the season . Week 6 : vs . Indianapolis Colts . The Jets faced Colts rookie sensation Andrew Luck ; they sacked him four times and intercepted him twice . Shonn Greene and Joe McKnight combined to rush for 232 yards and three Greene touchdowns . Mark Sanchez threw for just 82 yards but had two touchdowns , while Tim Tebow had one throw for 23 yards but was limited to seven rushing yards . The huge win was the Jets ' first win over the Colts without Peyton Manning since 1997 . They improved to 3 - 3 and a four - way tie in the AFC East . Week 7 : at New England Patriots . With the AFC East a four - way tie , the Jets erased a 23 - 13 gap in the fourth quarter . After a Dustin Keller touchdown catch Devin McCourty fumbled the kickoff . Following back - to - back Nick Folk field goals , Tom Brady whipped the Patriots to the game - tying field goal in the final 1 : 37 . In overtime Stephen Gostkowski booted a 48 - yard field goal ; the Jets got the ball back but Sanchez was strip - sacked by Rob Ninkovich and Jermaine Cunningham , ending the game in a 29 - 26 Jets loss , dropping them to 3 - 4 . Week 8 : vs . Miami Dolphins . Despite losing rookie sensation Ryan Tannehill for the game after a first - quarter sack , the Dolphins raced to a 30 - 9 win , their fourth road win in the rivalry in their last five trips to New Jersey . The Dolphins scored on a blocked goalline punt , then added touchdowns by Daniel Thomas and a short toss from Matt Moore to Anthony Fasano . Sanchez managed a late touchdown to Chaz Schilens but the two - point throw to Dustin Keller failed . Week 10 : at Seattle Seahawks . The surging Seahawks under former Jets coach Pete Carroll limited the Jets to 185 total yards of offense and forced two fumbles . Golden Tate caught a touchdown from Russell Wilson then took a reverse and threw to Sidney Rice for a fourth - quarter score . The Jets only score came when Wilson was strip - sacked and Muhammad Wilkerson ran in a 21 - yard touchdown . It was the Jets ' second straight loss to the Seahawks , and they fell to 3 - 6 and 0 - 2 against the NFC West . Week 11 : at St . Louis Rams . The Jets posted their sixth win in their last seven meetings against Jeff Fisher . They picked off Sam Bradford once and forced two Rams fumbles . The two teams combined for just 570 yards of offense . The Jets improved to 4 - 6 while the Rams fell to 3 - 6 - 1 . Week 12 : vs . New England Patriots ( Thanksgiving Classic ) . The Jets were thoroughly dominated by the Patriots ; they scored five touchdowns in the second quarter , three of them in a span of 52 seconds of game clock . The first came on an 83 - yard pass to Shane Vereen after the Patriots recovered a Shonn Greene fumble . On the Jets ' ensuing drive , Mark Sanchez fumbled after running into lineman Brandon Moore and Steve Gregory ran back a 32 - yard score . The third touchdown came on the ensuing kickoff , Devin McCourty forced Joe McKnight to fumble , which Julian Edelman recovered and returned for a third touchdown ( he later caught a 56 - yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady ) . With the huge loss , the Jets fell to 4 - 7 , and were swept by Bill Belichick ' s Patriots for the sixth time . Week 13 : vs . Arizona Cardinals . Mark Sanchez was benched in the fourth quarter and Greg McElroy threw the winning touchdown . The switch escalated brewing controversy over Sanchez ' s declining play . Week 14 : at Jacksonville Jaguars . The Jets improved to 6 - 7 and stayed alive in the playoff race after twice intercepting Chad Henne , who ' d replaced faltering sophmore Blaine Gabbert four weeks earlier . The Jets had 166 rushing yards and two scores , limiting Mark Sanchez to just nineteen throws for 111 yards . Week 15 : at Tennessee Titans . Chris Johnson ran in a 94 - yard touchdown while following a Jeff Cumberland touchdown catch for the Jets Jake Locker ran in a 13 - yard score . Mark Sanchez threw four interceptions yet a short Titans punt gave the Jets the ball inside the Titans 25 in the final minute . The Jets blew the snap and the Titans fell on the ball , ending the game . With the loss , the Jets not only fell to 6 - 8 , but got mathematically eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight season . Week 16 : vs . San Diego Chargers . Following the loss to the Titans Rex Ryan announced that Greg McElroy would start for the Jets against the Chargers . Following a 63 - yard Michael Spurlock punt return touchdown McElroy led back to back scoring drives ending in 1 - yard Shonn Greene touchdowns . The Chargers took over the game in the third quarter with two Philip Rivers touchdowns and a Nick Novak field goal while McElroy was intercepted once and strip - sacked once . With the loss , the Jets fell to 6 - 9 , their first losing season since 2007 . Week 17 : at Buffalo Bills . The Jets ' plan to start Greg McElroy was changed due to a concussion he ' d suffered . As a result Mark Sanchez started and managed 205 passing yards but was intercepted by Bryan Scott in the first quarter for the Bills ' first touchdown of the game . The Jets led 9 - 7 in the second quarter before the Bills scored three unanswered touchdowns , including one from ex - Jet Brad Smith . Tim Tebow suited up for the game but was never used . It was the first win for the Bills in the rivalry since 2009 . Statistics . Statistical league rankings . Stats correct through week 14 .