New York Jets lose in uneventful fashion to the New England Patriots

The New York Jets fell to 0-3 following a lackluster, but not unexpected Week 3 loss to their division rivals, the New England Patriots, on the road.

The New York Jets are a lost franchise right now. Any and all preseason optimism had completely faded quicker than anyone could have imagined. And now, the team sits at 0-3 following yet another embarrassing loss, this time to the New England Patriots.

But let’s not act as though this game, this loss, was unexpected. Even the most optimistic of Jets fan had to be feeling a wave of pessimism prior to Sunday’s matchup.

The Jets didn’t just lose on Sunday. In fact, it’s hard to put into words exactly what we saw unfold. The Jets and the Patriots didn’t belong in the same league as each other, let alone on the same field.

The matchup was more reminiscent of a college football meeting between a national powerhouse and a lowly FCS opponent.

Think Alabama versus Montana State.

The final score of 30-14 isn’t indicative of the incredibly wide talent gap between these two teams. A garbage-time pick-six from Jamal Adams off of backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham and a muffed punt recovered by Arthur Maulet for a score cloud this game with a result of lies.

If the Patriots kept their foot on the pedal, this could have wound up a 40-50 point game at the end of the day. And unlike some previous Jets losses, there are really no positive takeaways.

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The offensive line is still an absolute mess as the unit allowed five sacks and reached the double-digits in QB hits surrendered. Quarterback Luke Falk did his best but was held to just 98 passing yards on the day.

But ultimately, the blame has to fall on the coaching staff as well. Dealing with an undermanned offense, Adam Gase dialed up the most vanilla gameplan imaginable — something that has been a theme through three weeks.

There was no excitement, no enthusiasm, and no chances taken as Gase and the Jets looked content with the state of the game. It’s as if they had already determined the outcome prior to kickoff.

The lack of energy is alarming given that it’s only Week 3 and it will be on Gase and the rest of the coaching staff to keep the team motivated. But on top of pure motivation, the play-calling needs to improve.

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• NY Jets officially place the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye

Pretending that the returns of Sam Darnold, C.J. Mosley, and Quinnen Williams — among others — will fix all of the team’s problems is foolish.

The Jets’ cornerbacks got absolutely picked apart this week. Leonard Williams and Henry Anderson continue to be invisible on defense as the lack of a pass rush is startling. And literally everything about the offense minus Le’Veon Bell is a problem.

There is no easy solution in sight, but a week off to regroup and get healthy certainly won’t hurt.

The Jets certainly aren’t ready to compete with Tom Brady and the Patriots yet, and it sure looks like they don’t belong on the same field. Fortunately/unfortunately, they’ll get another crack at them in Week 7.

But for now, the Jets will head into their bye week with the Philadelphia Eagles awaiting them on the other side.