5 biggest takeaways from Patriots' Thursday night meltdown against the Jets

It was a long and painful crash back down to reality for the New England Patriots in Thursday's 24-3 loss to the New York Jets. A couple of weeks ago, some fans wondered if the Patriots could make a playoff run after upsetting the Cincinnati Bengals.

That crowd imploded along with the Patriots offense on primetime television.

They couldn't get anything going against a Jets team that held them to a field goal and 139 total yards. You could smell the stench from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford all the way back in Foxborough.

With that said, the Patriots had a lot of things working against them, including injuries and being on the road. Playing in a short week after going into overtime in last week's loss to the Seattle Seahawks wasn't an ideal situation for the team. Now, they get a mini break to reflect on the current state of the team through three games.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from Thursday's game:

The offensive line is atrocious, and something must be done

Help isn't coming for the Patriots offensive line—or at least the kind of help the unit desperately needs. They'll have to wait until free agency and the 2025 NFL draft before they can really roll up their sleeves and do more than using Duct Tape on a blown engine.

But at the same time, lead personnel executive Eliot Wolf can't simply fold his arms and accept things as they are, either. Today, fans are bickering about who should start at quarterback between Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye (we'll get to that in a bit).

But the offensive line has been so bad that there won't be any arguments when Brissett finally gets injured. It's inevitable if the Patriots continue to go with the same lineup they've been trotting onto the field. According to NextGenStats, via the Boston Herald's Doug Kyed, the Patriots' offensive line allowed 22 pressures on 35 dropbacks.

That's unbelievably horrendous even for the Patriots.

It isn't even Thanksgiving yet, and the Jets were feasting on quarterbacks like a family dinner. They finished the game with seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits. It's time to bring in veteran free agents with experience and see if they can at least figure something out. David Bakhtiari, D.J. Humphries and Donovan Smith should all be on the call list.

The defense finally broke, but it was still competitive

Aaron Rodgers made it look easy.

The Jets established their run game early, and Rodgers extended drives with his legs and pinpoint accuracy. Defensively, the Patriots looked depleted and gassed.

Part of the reason was the team being on the road in a short week, and the other part was the injuries finally catching up. Ja'Whaun Bentley is out for the season with a torn pec, and Christian Barmore is sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots. Meanwhile, Oshane Ximines was put on injured reserve ahead of Thursday's game.

Keep in mind, this is the same defensive unit that also traded Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in August.

It looked like a shell of its former self against the Jets. Somehow, they still managed to hold Rodgers and the Jets offense to 24 points. In most other cases, the game would have been broken wide open for an even bigger loss.

Keion White continued to give the defensive front a major boost in the pressure department, and Christian Gonzalez had another impressive performance against Jets star wideout Garrett Wilson.

Weird offensive game plan didn't help matters

The Patriots came out as if they were determined to flip the narrative that they couldn't complete downfield throws. They got away from their bully game mentality of pounding the ball on the ground against opposing defenses.

It was a surprising deviation considering the Jets haven't been great at stopping the run, and they were also missing five-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley. Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt admitted he regretted the game plan on Friday morning.

The Jets used the Patriots' game plan against them in this matchup. They ran the ball effectively, and Rodgers kept the chains moving on short third-down situations. The Patriots dug themselves an early hole, and they lacked the explosive offensive firepower to climb back out.

Drake Maye can't save this team

The Patriots look like they have more of a fighting chance when Drake Maye is under center. He won't be as careful with the football as Brissett, and he's going to make mistakes as a rookie. But he gives the team a chance to make explosive plays, and he can extend drives with his legs.

So why shouldn't the Patriots start him?

Maye was only in the game for one drive on Thursday night, and he was sacked twice. The Patriots offensive line was a mess when it was healthy, and now, they could be down multiple starters heading into Week 4 against All-Pro pass-rusher Nick Bosa and the San Francisco 49ers.

It makes zero sense to just throw Maye into that fire just to see if he can make things happen, while simultaneously being pounded into the dirt. The Patriots wrote the book on how to ruin a young quarterback with Mac Jones, and they need to be careful in avoiding the sequel with Maye.

Sitting Maye this year doesn't make for a fun football season, but starting Maye does nothing to help the long-term future of the team. The Patriots aren't making the playoffs this season regardless of who is under center. Nothing good can come from putting a 22-year-old quarterback behind the worst offensive line in football against the 49ers.

Time of possession difference was a major problem

The Jets offense had the ball more than twice as long as the Patriots in the game. Quite frankly, they gave Aaron Rodgers far too many opportunities, and he spanked them for it.

By the end of the game, the Jets had the ball for roughly 40 minutes, while the Patriots only had the ball for 19 minutes. That kind of end-game stat line is a surefire sign of disaster.

The Patriots did some positive things offensively, most notably with some of the play-calls to get wide receiver DeMario Douglas more involved in the game. But they also can't allow themselves to get away from their rushing attack.

Winning in the trenches, dominating on the ground, avoiding costly turnovers and playing great defense is the recipe for success in New England.

The team didn't do a single one of those things against the Jets.