Jets-Patriots Final Score: Jets Can’t Overcome Mistakes, Officials, McCown in 24-17 Loss

The Jets lost to the Patriots today at the Meadowlands 24-17. New York fell to 3-3.

This is about as frustrating of a loss as you will find. The Jets clearly don’t have the talent New England has, but this game was not decided by the mismatch in talent.

The Jets made plenty of miscues along the way to help bring this fate on themselves.

Perhaps there was no greater culprit than Josh McCown. McCown got off to a red hot start, but he cooled off considerably before the first half ended. The Jets are paying McCown over $6 million this season to provide some veteran stability. You want a player in this role to protect the football, avoid bad sacks in key spots, and not waste timeouts. These were all things McCown failed to do in this game. The quarterback did seemingly everything in his power to give away the last two games that the Jets ultimately won, but he got the job done today.

But it would be remiss to not mention the hand the officials played in deciding this game. Four major calls went against the Jets that were shaky if we are being charitable. The worst of which was a play ruled a touchdown on the field in the fourth quarter. Austin Seferian-Jenkins bobbled the ball as he was running, but video evidence gave us no indication of whether he had failed to regain possession as he crossed the goal line. It wasn’t just a lack of indisputable evidence. There was no evidence at all to overturn the call on the field of touchdown.

You longtime readers know that I am typically not a believer in blaming officials for a loss. I think bad calls are part of the game and something you need to fight through. But this case is too egregious to write off. CBS announcer Dan Fouts noted it was one of the worst calls he has ever seen. It took an important touchdown off the board for the Jets.

We will be back with more later. Discuss this loss below.