EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It had been so long since Jets fans had something to cheer for — particularly against the New England Patriots, a team they have beaten just once in the past 16 regular-season matchups.
With the Jets entering Sunday on a four-game win streak, the franchise decided to prod fans a little. Fireworks and bullhorns greeted attendees at MetLife Stadium as team staffers urged fans to get to their seats in time for kickoff.
By late afternoon, though, those fans were booing play calls — a draw on a long third down — and streaming out of the stadium after Zach Wilson, the second-year Jets quarterback, threw his third bewildering interception of the afternoon.
Through Week 7, the Jets had done things this season that the franchise hadn’t in years: Win a game in the month of September. Win an A.F.C. East game. But on Sunday, the team reverted to an all-too familiar outcome: A 22-17 loss to the Patriots, the Jets’ 13th-straight defeat to their division opponent.
These are not the same Patriots that lorded over the A.F.C. East for two decades. New England came into this game with a losing record, questions at the quarterback position and a roster thinned by injuries. For the Jets, a win would have been meaningful in spite of those things; a loss stung all the more.
The Jets’ unraveling began near the end of the first half. Until that point, Wilson had played well, finding a groove with rookie receiver Garrett Wilson, the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s N.F.L. draft, and scoring the game’s first touchdown on an 8-yard pass to tight end Tyler Conklin.
The defense was excellent, as it has been this season, securing an interception of New England quarterback Mac Jones in the second quarter after disrupting his throw. With two minutes remaining before halftime, the Jets stopped New England on a fourth-and-1 at the Jets’ 21-yard line, holding on to a 10-3 advantage.
But then Wilson threw his first interception, a bad mistake in which he passed off his back foot and sailed the ball on third-and-2 near midfield. The defense tried to make up for his error, promptly picking off Jones again and returning the ball for a touchdown, but that score was nullified by edge rusher John Franklin-Myers shoving Jones to the ground after he had released the ball, drawing a flag for roughing the passer.
The Patriots scored a field goal before the half and a touchdown to begin the next, a scoring sandwich their opponents have come to dread through the years. The Jets missed a 45-yard field goal on the following drive.
It was the cascade of bad events that Jets fans have come to expect as inevitable, bringing the team back to reality. Wilson’s second interception came on a pass he looked like he was trying to throw away. After his third one, on another sailed throw, Wilson sat on the bench and shouted a four-letter expletive. It was the second of Wilson’s passes picked off by New England cornerback Devin McCourty.
The Jets’ record entering this game, 5-2, was their best start to the season since 2010, when a stingy defense powered a team reliant on a strong running game. It is a similar makeup to this season’s Jets, who are confronting the same lesson their predecessors learned then: N.F.L. teams can only go as far as their quarterbacks are able to take them.
Wilson did throw a second touchdown pass, in the game’s final minutes. By that point, the empty gray seats outnumbered those with fans in them. The Patriots recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.