Jets clinch ninth straight losing season; could Aaron Rodgers be benched? 

Aaron Rodgers was acquired to help the Jets win close games and put an end to all the losing that this franchise has experienced. Rodgers has been unable to do either, and now there could be a quarterback change.

This was unthinkable a few months ago, but the Jets found yet another way to lose a football game Sunday and clinched their ninth consecutive losing season.

Rodgers played a big part in their 26-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium. Afterward, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich was asked if he would consider sitting Rodgers, and he wasn’t as strong as he’s been in the past about sticking with him.

“Not as of today,” Ulbrich said.

This was a brutal defeat that dropped the Jets’ record to 3-9. They led by 14 points twice in the first half before melting down offensively and defensively. Seattle (7-5) scored the game’s final 19 points.

This was the Jets’ eighth loss in their last nine games. They will be playing for little in the last five games.

Rodgers, who turns 41 on Monday, said his choice is to finish the season on the field if he’s healthy. He said he hasn’t given much thought to the Jets making a quarterback change.

“I don’t know. We’ll figure that out when we have those conversations,” he said. “I’ll have a conversation with ’Brich if that’s what he’s thinking.”

The organization already is looking ahead to next year, having hired an outside firm to help in their general manager and coaching searches. It seems unlikely that Rodgers will return next season, so it’s possible that the Jets will turn to Tyrod Taylor or Adrian Martinez.

This loss wasn’t all Rodgers, but he didn’t lead a scoring drive after the first quarter.

With the ball at the Seahawks’ 9 and a chance to give the Jets a 28-7 lead in the second quarter, Rodgers overthrew a wide-open Garrett Wilson. On the next play, he threw a pick-6. Former Jet Leonard Williams caught it and took it 92 yards for the touchdown, a sequence that totally changed the game.

“The two-play stretch where I missed Garrett open to go up 28-7 and threw a pick-6 changed the momentum of the game,” Rodgers said, admitting he didn’t see Williams.

Said Williams: “He’s an older guy, doesn’t want to take big hits like that anymore. So sometimes if you feel the guy coming full speed at him, he’s going to chuck it and duck it.”

Williams sacked Rodgers twice on the Jets’ final drive. He also had an earlier tackle for loss and blocked an extra point.

Rodgers completed 21 of 39 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Davante Adams had five catches for 66 yards and a touchdown. Wilson caught five balls for 41 yards.

Former Jet Geno Smith was 20-for-31 for 206 yards and a touchdown for Seattle.

On the bright side for the Jets, their special teams unit had a big game. Kene Nwangwu, elevated from the practice squad for this game, had a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to give the Jets a 21-7 lead and also forced a fumble. The Jets recovered two fumbles on kickoffs in a wild first half and still found a way to lose.

“It’s unacceptable, especially how the game started,” said cornerback Sauce Gardner, who left the game with a hamstring injury and will undergo an MRI on Monday. “I’m kind of shocked. I never seen nothing like it. Everything going our way, we still lose. That’s just straight up. I’m not sugarcoating nothing. I don’t know how that happened.”

A lot led to this loss.

The Seahawks turned Breece Hall’s second-half fumble into three points. The Jets’ defense couldn’t get off the field in the fourth quarter on the game-winning drive. They committed four penalties, three of them on fourth down, including two in their own territory. The Seahawks went for it because they lost punter Michael Dickson to an injury.

The Jets were flagged for too many men on the field, defensive pass interference and a horse-collar tackle by Solomon Thomas on Zach Charbonnet on a tackle for loss. Charbonnet had an 8-yard touchdown run with 5:31 left to put the Seahawks on top.

Jets cornerback D.J. Reed tweeted at NFLOfficiating after the game: “You [expletive] suck, yall should be ashamed of yall selves!”

And Rodgers just hasn’t been sharp, especially in potential game-winning drives.

This was the fifth time that he had the ball with a chance to lead the Jets to the win on their last drive. They’re 0-5 in those situations.

The Jets’ last series started at their own 28 with 5:25 left. After getting a first down, the Jets were called for an illegal shift, followed by Rodgers being sacked by Williams for an 11-yard loss. He hit Isaiah Davis for a 24 yards on third-and-26 and then connected with Adams for 5 yards on fourth down.

The Jets later had a first down from the Seattle 29 but lost yardage from there. Williams sacked Rodgers on third down. Rodgers, under pressure, overthrew Wilson in the end zone on fourth down.

But it was the other overthrow to Wilson he was thinking about the most.

“It’s disappointing,” Rodgers said. “What else can you say? We’ve had a lot a chances in these situations. A lot of these games come down to one play, whether you make it or miss. Sometimes that play happens in the second quarter. You make that play, 28-7, different ballgame.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.