Biggest Takeaways from New York Jets' Week 7 Loss

The New York Jets were not hoping to keep it close with the New England Patriots; they were hoping to win. 

So you can understand why there was a dejected feeling in the locker room on Sunday after a 30-23 loss, especially after the Jets had squandered late opportunities to keep their lead and to regain it once they had lost it.

"I am pissed," said guard Willie Colon, "because I feel like we had them. I feel like we were the better team out there but obviously we were not. ... They beat us fair and square and that is the bottom line. We have to do better and execute better. We have to make more plays."

The Jets should take some pride in their performance, but ultimately, they have to respond to the loss. Here are some of the other key takeaways from the Jets' loss to the Patriots.

Brandon Marshall Penalty Was Not Sole Reason for Loss

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Naturally, the brunt of the focus has been on Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall's penalty for failing to get set before the final play with one second remaining. That play, with its 10-second runoff, was what lost the game for the Jets in the end.

But that mistake came only after several other mistakes along the way. 

The mistakes really began with about 10:46 left in the fourth quarter. On 3rd-and-17, the Patriots picked up a first down on a pass to Julian Edelman, keeping a drive alive that would eventually lead to a touchdown and the Patriots' lead. If the Jets had prevented that conversion from happening, who knows if the outcome would have been different. Thankfully for safety Dion Bailey, that wasn't the only mistake the Jets made.

With roughly six minutes left near midfield, needing a first down to keep the drive alive, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick targeted tight end Jeff Cumberland and wide receiver Devin Smith on back-to-back plays. It's a surprise that the Jets didn't even try to get wide receiver Eric Decker the ball in that situation, especially considering he was wide open on the play and has been dominating his matchup all day long. 

The Jets settled for a field goal and recovered the ensuing onside kick to give themselves one last chance to tie the game and send it to overtime. Then, with 14 seconds left and no timeouts, instead of throwing for the sideline, the Jets went down the middle with the intention of clocking it. But Marshall had just run the length of the field and had to get all the way back to the 37-yard line before the Jets could snap it.

He never got set, but who knows if he would have ever been in that situation were it not for several other mistakes by the Jets.

Chris Ivory's Injury Is Worth Monitoring

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The Jets rushing attack went down the minute running back Chris Ivory went down for a four-yard loss on the Jets' opening offensive play of the game. 

"I felt a little tightness in my hamstring the first play," Ivory said after the game. 

The Jets rotated him in and out, giving him a chance to rest and/or stretch his hamstring when he needed it, but he admitted that the injury affected him throughout the game.

"I didn't have the confidence in getting around the edge," he added.

The Patriots held Ivory to just 17 carries for 41 yards (2.4 yards per rush attempt), along with two receptions for 12 yards and a touchdown. Those numbers are far below what we've come to expect from Ivory this season; the veteran back was averaging 115 rushing yards per game and 5.5 yards per rush attempt. 

Ryan Fitzpatrick can be an effective quarterback, but his effectiveness goes down as his pass attempts start to pile up. He is 11-39-1 as a starter when he attempts 31 passes or more and 26-20 when he attempts 30 or fewer. 

Special Teams Had an Impact on the Loss, Too

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The Jets were caught off guard on Saturday by sudden swelling and bruising in punter Ryan Quigley's shin that rendered him unable to play on Sunday, which led them to sign Steve Weatherford.

"There was no explanation," Bowles said of Quigley's shin. "It may have something to do with meds or something like that, but it swelled up on him and it got real bad, so we acted accordingly so we wouldn't be without a punter."

With a diagnosis like that, who knows how long Quigley will be out. The way Weatherford punted on Sunday, the Jets are probably hoping Quigley comes back soon. Weatherford was completely unprepared, and it showed. He shanked a pair of punts on Sunday—his first, which traveled 31 yards, and his last, which went just 36 yards. 

"I punted three times over the past six weeks," Weatherford said after Sunday's loss. "The last time I punted was last Sunday, in a park with my seven-year-old throwing me snaps." 

Maybe he'll get better with time, but if not, the Jets need to keep their fingers crossed that Quigley isn't out too long. 

The Jets Might Have Found a Blueprint for Beating the Patriots

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Even in defeat, the Jets might have laid out a blueprint for how to beat the Patriots. 

It's a four-step formula, and none of it comes as any surprise: a suffocating four-man pass rush, physical coverage from the cornerbacks, quick passes to exploit matchups against the Patriots secondary and long sustained drives on offense.

The Jets got all four of those components on Sunday, and along with multiple drops from the Patriots receivers, they had the rare fourth-quarter lead over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Ten minutes later, they had undone 50 minutes' worth of hard work. 

The Jets can revisit this blueprint on their own home turf in December, but they have eight more games between now and then.

The Jets Must Respond to Adversity Once Again

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The Jets have faced adversity a couple of times this season already, but they have responded each time. They bounced back after a 24-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles with a 27-14 win over the Miami Dolphins. They were facing a 13-10 deficit at halftime against the Washington Redskins but came back to win that game in convincing fashion 34-20.

The Jets will have to respond in convincing fashion once again after a letdown loss to the Patriots. 

"Games like this, situations like this, create championship teams," said wide receiver Brandon Marshall, "or it creates teams that fold."

Whether there is such thing as a moral victory is hotly debated, but if there is, this loss has a chance to bear that kind of outcome. That being said, it's all about how the Jets respond. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.