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Geno Smith did not have a turnover for the second straight game, both Jets wins.

(Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- In the Jets' locker room following an uplifting victory over the Miami Dolphins Sunday, John Idzik hugged Geno Smith. The quarterback's rookie season had just concluded -- a season of learning, as the general manager called it -- with another turnover-free performance.

Smith’s ups and downs have largely dictated the Jets’ results this season. It was not a coincidence that Woody Johnson, the Jets owner who announced after the game Rex Ryan would return as head coach, cited Smith curtailing his turnovers over the final two games as a reason the Jets concluding with a pair of wins.

“He’s getting more comfortable,” said David Nelson, the wide receiver who caught five of Smith’s passes Sunday for 66 yards, both team highs. “He’s letting things come to him, what the defense is taking him, instead of forcing things.”

For Smith, this game marked a complete swing from Dec. 1, when he was pulled by Ryan at halftime after completing just four of 10 passes for 29 yards and throwing an interception.

After that game, Smith said he had to do “a lot of soul searching” to recover and lead the Jets to three wins over the season’s final quarter.

“There is no teacher like experience and I think that showed through the season,” Idzik said.

For a second straight week, the Jets offense found its gear in the final drives of the first half. Trailing the Dolphins by a touchdown, Smith led the Jets on a 71-yard march to the end zone. The quarterback completed all five of his throws, netting 49 yards.

The Jets offense has succeeded in recent weeks by molding itself to Smith’s strengths. He has lined up more frequently in shotgun, used a no-huddle tempo and demonstrated a quick and elusive step on run plays designed for the quarterback.

After a third-down sweep in which Smith somersaulted over a defender to the one-yard line, Sheldon Richardson, the defensive lineman and rookie of the year candidate, barreled into the end zone to tie the game.

With 2:21 left in the half, the Jets regained the ball, and Smith began orchestrating another touchdown drive. He hit Jeremy Kerley for 12 yards, Santonio Holmes for 10 and Nelson for 31 as a rusher dove at his leg.

With nine seconds on the clock, the Jets had reached the Dolphins’ 7-yard line, and coordinator Marty Mornhinweg called Smith’s number in the huddle. Out of the shotgun, Smith weaved through line and bounced into the end zone for his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, most on the Jets.

With 190 yards throwing Sunday, Smith became the 13th rookie passer in NFL history to eclipse 3,000 yards in his first season. His sum through 16 starts was 3,046.

Smith also added 44 rushing yards to his season total. With 366 yards this season, Smith is second to only Al Durrow, who had 453 in 1960, for most by a Jets quarterback in a single season.

Smith capped his rookie year with a homecoming. Sun Life Stadium is a five-minute ride from one of the houses where Smith was raised, and he watched the Super Bowl in 2010 from the jumbo-sized scoreboard mounted atop the upper bowl.

But when asked if Sunday’s occasion had a special feel, Smith shrugged.

“It’s still a game and I’ve been playing in Florida my entire life so it’s no different,” he said.