Cj Gunther/European Pressphoto Agency
The Jets' LaRon Landry, left, and Isaiah Trufant trying to tackle tight end Rob Gronkowski in Sunday's loss to the Patriots.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Jets' afternoon at Gillette Stadium began just as their week did, with Rex Ryan opening his mouth. On his way out of the tunnel and onto the field, Ryan took a moment to bark at some New England fans. He might have been provoked, but leading up to Sunday he rarely was. Ryan is consumed by all things Patriots — their championships, their coach, their quarterback — and he relished reminding them that the Jets had beaten them three times in the last three seasons and, even more, that they would do so again.
"I want them to know," Ryan had said.
By nightfall, the Patriots did know. The Patriots knew that the Jets — the short-handed Jets, the overmatched Jets, the underdog Jets — had restored a reputation sullied by ugly defeats, stifling the N.F.L.'s most dangerous offense en route to overcoming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. But the Patriots also knew they reigned in the A.F.C. East, leaning on two Stephen Gostkowski field goals — a 43-yarder as time expired in regulation, a 48-yarder on their opening possession of overtime — to subdue the Jets in the latest captivating installment of what could be the N.F.L.'s most entertaining rivalry. New England secured a 29-26 victory when Rob Ninkovich forced, then recovered a Mark Sanchez fumble with 7 minutes 28 seconds remaining in the extra period.
"This was a golden opportunity," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "A bunch of couldas, shouldas, wouldas."
Those what-ifs were spread like sawdust throughout a game that New England led, 23-13, with 5:45 left, but that within minutes the Jets felt they would win. There was the third-quarter field goal they settled for after failing on two plays from inside the 5. There was the third-down drop by Stephen Hill on their penultimate drive in regulation, forcing them to kick a game-tying field goal instead of seeking a go-ahead touchdown. But none engendered more regret than the sequence that followed Antonio Allen's recovery of Devin McCourty's fumbled kickoff return, at the New England 18, just before the two-minute warning.
The Jets lost 7 yards on their next three plays, with Sanchez taking a 10-yard sack when his intended target, Jeremy Kerley, slipped on his route. Nick Folk kicked a 43-yard field goal, but the Patriots, operating their no-huddle offense to perfection against a soft zone defense, marched 54 yards in 1:37 as Gostkowski forced overtime.
"I'm thinking we've got this, but I'm thinking I've seen this same story before," Pace said, referring to Tom Brady's penchant for last-minute comebacks. Referring to a touchdown that never happened, he added: "I just knew in my heart we had seven right there, I really did. It just didn't happen for us."
Instead of celebrating an uplifting victory, the Jets changed afterward in a locker room so quiet that the sound of athletic tape ripping could be heard in a distant corner. Moral victories do not exist in the zero-sum culture of the N.F.L., but especially against this opponent, at this stadium, with first place in the division at stake. They arrived here seeking credibility. They left good, but not good enough.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight, there's no question about it," Ryan said. "I tell you, it stinks being on this end of it."
The Jets are 3-4, with a treacherous schedule ahead: games against pesky Miami and at Seattle bookending a bye week, with a road meeting at the Rams after that. Then New England visits MetLife Stadium on Thanksgiving night, and by then the Jets will know more about themselves. Already they have revealed tremendous resilience since losing Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes to severe injuries, playing markedly better after being blown out by San Francisco on Sept. 30.
What troubled them so on Sunday was that they had largely contained Brady, who still threw for 259 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to Rob Gronkowski; had largely neutralized Wes Welker; and had limited the Patriots to 10 points over the final 43 minutes of regulation — and yet they still lost.
"It stings," Sanchez said. "It just stings."
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