Jason Taylor’s ready to hang it up, while the New York Jets are desperate to keep playing.

Taylor plans to retire after Sunday’s season finale for the Miami Dolphins. They’ll try to send him out with a win against the Jets, who need a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of making the playoffs.

Even if the Jets win, to earn a postseason berth they’ll also need losses Sunday by Cincinnati, Tennessee and either Denver or Oakland.

“This is the first time I have ever been in a situation like this,” said receiver Plaxico Burress, a 10-year veteran. “If we do get in, great. If things don’t work out, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.”

The Jets (8-7) lost control of their destiny when they were beaten last week by the Giants 29-14. Now the Jets are in danger of missing the playoffs after reaching the AFC championship game each of the past two years, and elimination could come at the hands of the AFC East rival Dolphins (5-10).

“It would be beautiful to ruin their playoff dreams,” Miami defensive end Kendall Langford said. “We’re playing for pride. They’re playing for a playoff spot.”

The teams meet in a regular-season finale for the first time since 2008, when the Dolphins won to clinch their only division title since 2000. That game eliminated the Jets from playoff contention.

This year the Dolphins have been consigned to a spoiler’s role since Halloween, thanks to their 0-7 start. Taylor’s retirement announcement this week provided some additional motivation for the last game.

The NFL’s active sack leader spent 13 of his 15 seasons with Miami, made the Pro Bowl six times and ranks with the greatest players in franchise history.

“His presence will be missed, not only in our locker room, but in this organization,” receiver Brandon Marshall said. “Those guys are once-in-a-lifetime guys. We would love for him to go out with a win.”

Coincidentally, Taylor played last season for the Jets before rejoining the Dolphins.

“He was a great teammate, and we loved having him here,” Jets tight end Dustin Keller said. “But they’re going to want to send him off with a big win, and we can’t let that happen. We know what kind of player he is and what he’s capable of, and we can’t let him disrupt the game.”

Taylor has 16½ of his 139½ sacks against the Jets, although he managed none when the teams met in October. New York won 24-6, and while the Dolphins have been a much better team lately, they’ll be without 1,000-yard rusher Reggie Bush because of a knee injury.

The Dolphins took a 17-point lead at New England last week before losing 27-24, which left them 0-5 in games decided by a field goal or less. The Jets’ loss to the Giants carried even more sting, because it may wind up costing them a playoff berth.

Coach Rex Ryan declared months ago that these Jets are even more talented than the two teams he took to the AFC title game. But New York has given up 74 points while losing the past two games, and the offense was so out of sorts against the Giants that Mark Sanchez was forced to throw a career-high 59 passes. The Jets rank 27th in the NFL in yardage, stirring speculation about offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s job security.

With typical bravado, Ryan insisted the season might yet be salvaged.

“We can do some damage if we get into the playoffs,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that, because I think we play excellent defense, I think we can run the football, and I think that’s what you have to do this time of year.”

But getting to the postseason is now a long shot. Three of the other games that will determine the Jets’ fate are late starts Sunday, which means that if they win, the Jets will likely be flying home when they learn whether their season is over.

“We’re just focused on the things we can control, and that’s trying to play well against Miami and coming up with a win,” Sanchez said. “After that, we’ll see what happens. Hopefully we get a win and on the plane we find out everything worked out in our favor. But all we can control is winning.”

The Dolphins, meanwhile, are bound for another offseason of change. Coach Tony Sparano was fired Dec. 12, and the next coach will be Miami’s seventh since the start of 2004. With a losing record for the third consecutive year — the Dolphins’ first such stretch since the 1960s — a roster shake-up is likely, too.

Given his team’s situation, the 37-year-old Taylor decided the time was right to call it quits. He’ll do it after playing his 204th game for the Dolphins, more than anyone aside from Dan Marino.

“It’s great to have a chance to walk away in front of your home crowd in a city that means a lot to you against an opponent that you’ve had a tremendous history against,” Taylor said. “I want to win the game, but not so I can say I won my last game. This is not about Jason Taylor and my career. There are guys in the locker room that are fighting for jobs, fighting for their futures, auditioning for their next jobs. So I’m just a small piece of this team train. I’m going to do my part Sunday to help win.”

Current and former Miami Dolphins players discussed the charitable contributions of retiring Dolphins standout Jason Taylor during the annual 3Cinteractive JT’s Ping-Pong Smash at the Hard Rock Live near Hollywood.

The event benefited the Jason Taylor Foundation, whose mission is to support and create programs that facilitate the personal growth and empowerment of South Florida’s children in need by focusing on improved health care, education and quality of life.

Taylor and his wife Katina — like former Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning and his wife Tracy — continue to help better the community. Staples in South Florida, they provide opportunity for the area’s youth.

Usually athletes host golf tournaments or bowling events, but ping-pong is a unique charity concept, pairing business people with athletes and celebrities.

The event offered a good mix of talent including current and former Miami Dolphins, former Florida Marlins, DJs and radio personalities. Taylor, a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, plays his final game on Sunday against the rival New York Jets.

• Miami Dolphins defensive end Ryan Baker said: “It’s really cool seeing all these celebrities out here, interacting with all these kids and playing ping-pong. It’s real competitive, but we’re having a great time for a great cause.”

How was your ping-pong game?

“It was rusty at the beginning,” Baker said, “but I picked it up and did real well.”

What’s it like being involved in charity event and giving back to the community?

“Well, Jason’s the king at that,” Baker said. “He does a great job, and I like to take notes at what he does. So hopefully I can do that for the Ryan Baker Foundation.”

• Former Miami Dolphins tight end and South Florida radio and television sports personality Joe Rose said: “This is a lot of fun. It’s a different type of a charity event than we usually do. It’s a different atmosphere, a different environment and everybody can play. So it’s a great time, and also it’s nice to see the active players and a lot of the former players here.”

Rose’s ping-pong game is pretty good.

Rose said: “Not really. My game is not very good. I wish it was better.”

• Former Miami Dolphins receiver Randal Thrill Hill had a smile on his game face.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s all about the kids, but I like competition. I don’t care if it’s ping-pong or anything. So being able to help the kids is added fun for me, because it’s all about the competition — whether it be ping-pong, jacks, hop-scotch. I don’t care. It’s all about winning and having fun.

“I’ve won [JT’s Ping-Pong Smash] a couple of years. I’ve been in it four years. Two years I didn’t have a good partner.”

• Miami Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby said: “It was an awesome event. I had a blast — giving back to the community and having fun with the fellas. I loved it.”

Dansby wanted to reach the final round.

“My [ping-pong] game was OK,” he said. “Unfortunately I didn’t make it to the last round, but it’s OK. I did all right.”

Reggie Bush is out for the Miami Dolphins against the New York Jets on Sunday (Jan. 1), leading fantasy football owners to find someone to fill in. That answer has come in the form of running back Daniel Thomas, the guy that the Dolphins will rely on for most of the carries in Week 17. The knee injury to Bush had led to many fantasy owners dropping him as quickly as possible. At the same time, many owners are adding Thomas in the hopes that he will put up some nice numbers against the Jets.

Thomas got listed as probable for the game, so he isn’t exactly in perfect health as he tries to recover from his own knee injury. It looks like he will play though, and it could become a chance for him to post some big numbers. Last week he only had 2 rushes for 3 yards against the New England Patriots, but the week before he had 42 yards on 11 attempts against the Buffalo Bills. In 12 games this year, Thomas has 153 rushes for 553 yards and no touchdowns. He also has 10 catches for 60 yards and a receiving touchdown in those games.

After Bush finally passes the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for a season, this is a huge step back for the Dolphins lead running back. At the same time, it gives Thomas the chance to prove what he can do. Way back in Week 2, Thomas ran for 107 yards on 18 carries against the Houston Texans, possibly proving that he could put up big numbers again this week. He also played against the Jets already this year though, rushing for just 47 yards on 15 carries back in Week 6.

A lot of fantasy owners still playing in Week 17 think that Thomas is a good answer to go up against the Jets defense. I do not agree with that assessment though, as I think the Jets will shut him down just like they did back in Week 6. He averaged just 3.1 yards per carry in the first contest and I see no real reason to think that the re-match is going to go any differently. Sure, he has more experience after getting selected No. 30 in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Dolphins, but I don’t think he is ready to go against a really ticked off Jets defense. Start him at your own risk.

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Sources:

Week 16 NFL Scores

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Yahoo! Fantasy Football

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Published: Dec. 29, 2011 at 1:59 PM

MIAMI, Dec. 29 (UPI) — Miami Dolphins linebacker Jason Taylor says he will retire from the NFL after Sunday night’s season finale against the New York Jets.

He made the announcement Wednesday in Miami.

“After 15 years of doing this and 13 here in Miami this will be my last game as a Miami Dolphin and as a professional football player,” Taylor said at a news conference. “So I look forward to enjoying this week and soaking it all in for the next few days, but we have a game left to play, so while there will be a time for thank yous and good-byes and all that, this is not the time.”

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said Taylor exemplifies what it means to be a professional athlete and a role model.

“While he may be retiring as a player, he will always remain an integral part of the Dolphin family, contributing to the team and the community he has grown to love,” Ross said in a statement. “We congratulate him for all he has done, and we are looking forward to continuing to work with him as he begins the next chapter of his life.”