Jacked up: Jets continue their free fall

What went wrong for the Jets ...

1 Opening act — Rashean Mathis intercepted Mark Sanchez on the first play. The Jaguars rode Maurice Jones-Drew for a 55-yard scoring drive.  “It’s just a physical mistake and [an] underthrown ball,” Sanchez said.

2 Final statement — Thomas Jones’ 1-yard touchdown put the Jets up 22-21 with a little more than five minutes left. Then, the defense conceded a 12-play, 69-yard drive which culminated in Josh Scobee’s 21-yard field goal as time expired. The Jets once again failed to close out a tight game. “This could very easily be an 8-1 team,” said corner Donald Strickland.  

3 Nothing’s changed — Rex Ryan gave his team nearly the whole bye week off and they returned yesterday looking exactly the same as they had in Week 8. The defense took a step back, giving up rushing touchdowns to MJD and David Garrard, while the offense turned it over three times. “It’s mind-boggling around, it’s the same old thing,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said.

What went right ...

1 Get a grip — Much of Jacksonville’s 250 yards in the first half came after they shed a would-be Jets’ tackler. “No explanation,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said. In the second half, Rex Ryan’s defense got their grip and cut back significantly on the yards after contact. “We did well outside of those first and last drives,” corner Donald Strickland said. “Unfortunately, those [two] killed us.”

2 The stand — Trailing 21-13 in the third, Mark Sanchez threw a horrific interception right at Quentin Groves, who returned it to the Jets’ 4. On second down, Mike DeVito pounced on a David Garrard fumble to keep it a one-score game.

3 Go-ahead drive — Sanchez led a 16-play scoring drive to put the Jets up 22-21 with 5:04 left. The Jets ran the ball 10 times while Sanchez went 4-of-6, but they failed to cash in on the 2-point conversion. “I really thought we had it, after the defense carrying us all year, I thought we had it,” said  fullback Tony Richardson. Turns out, they didn’t.