That is precisely what the Pats did when Leigh Bodden took an errant throw from Sanchez 53 yards for the opening score. The Jets’ defense had actually played well to that point.

They held Brady and the offense to a three and out on their first possession and forced a fumble, which the Jets recovered, on the second. But every Sanchez mistake became increasingly difficult to overcome.

You could feel the air go out of the Jets sails. Pro football is a game of emotion and momentum swings and it is becoming more obvious with each passing game that Sanchez’ poor play is having a ripple effect on the entire team.

After Bodden’s touchdown the Jets faced a 3rd and two from their own 17. Sanchez threw a short pass to Braylon Edwards over the middle that would have given the Jets a first down but he dropped the ball.

I don’t want to make any excuses for Edwards. That ball has to be caught but his drop is symbolic of what has plagued the Jets all season.

Bad plays beget more bad plays and vice versa and Sanchez keeps setting a negative tone that rubs off on the rest of the team. We all know quarterback is the most important position on the team, if for no other reason than he touches the ball on almost every play.

That is why good things must happen when he is handling it. The Jets are not going to win many games when their QB has four interceptions and a fumble.

Sanchez’ turnovers led to 17 points for New England which turned out to be the margin of defeat in this 31-14 loss. For those who are keeping track, we can safely say that Sanchez is the primary reason for three of the Jets’ six losses.

In those three games (New Orleans and Buffalo were the others) Sanchez threw one touchdown vs. 12 interceptions and two fumbles. He completed 42% of his passes and had a passer rating of 41.7.

These are the growing pains we all knew were coming when Ryan named Sanchez the starter but they seem much worse once you experience them. Right now the most frustrating thing about him is that he is not learning from his mistakes.

His first three interceptions resulted from inaccurate throws but his fourth was inexcusable. After being flushed out of the pocket and rolling to his left he should have thrown the ball out of bounds.

There was no play to be made there and trying to make something happen, although admirable, is the kind of play that just kills your team. In time Sanchez will learn to throw that ball away. It was a classic rookie mistake as was his last turnover.

On a 1st and 10 at New England’s 24, Sanchez had plenty of time to throw but no receivers were open. He held the ball too long and Tully Banta-Cain hit him from behind knocking the ball loose.

New England recovered. Game over.

Sanchez still has not developed that internal clock that goes off after 3 seconds and tells him to get rid of the ball. That will come in time too.

But the news was not all bad in this one. I thought Rex Ryan made some good adjustments at half time and his team played much better as a result.

Offensively they used a lot of no huddle and that helped Sanchez get into a rhythm. The Jets drove the ball down the field on their first possession going 80 yards in five minutes.

Sanchez made a beautiful throw to Cotchery on a 29-yard pass in the end zone. It drew the Jets to within 24-14 and injected some much-needed energy into the team.

Sanchez looked good on the drive and completed passes to Dustin Keller of 12 and 21 yards. The latter came on a clutch 3rd and 9 play that kept the drive alive at the Jets 47.

The defense responded and forced the Patriots into three consecutive punts, largely due to the Jets’ stepped up intensity. This defense was more aggressive in the second half and made the Patriots’ receivers pay after every catch.

The whole unit was more aggressive but David Harris and Bart Scott clearly set the tone. Harris punished both Kevin Faulk and Wes Welker on separate plays and forced both to the sideline.

They would return but these kinds of plays have an accumulating effect on an offense. Eventually they wear down a unit and lead to turnovers.

Despite Ryan’s promise that his defense would be a physical, intimidating unit, we have not seen it often enough. We saw it in their first three games but it has been largely missing ever since.

In the second half we saw glimpses of it and it had a profound impact on the game. Bart Scott did some punishing of his own as he delivered two nice hits to Tom Brady and his trash talking seemed to get into the heads of New England’s players.

I identified both Harris and Scott as keys in this game. They played poorly against Jacksonville and needed to step up in this one. The defense feeds off their energy and so they must take their game to another level for the unit to play aggressively on a consistent basis.

Darrelle Revis continued his mastery of Randy Moss, holding the Patriots’ star to 5 catches for 34 yards. Moss was never a factor despite his one touchdown, which was a quick-hitting play near the goal line.

Revis took away the opponent’s biggest playmaker and with this dominating performance might have convinced many in the league that he, and not Nnamdi Asomugha, is the best corner in the NFL.

Revis finished the game with 3 passes defensed (the only three for the whole team) but his contributions are not fully captured on the stat sheet. What is harder to measure is the number of times his blanketing coverage leads the quarterback to throw elsewhere.

The unfortunate side to Revis’ dominance is that the other defensive backs are picked on incessantly. Without a true #2 corner, the Jets have no answer for Wes Welker.

He had a career game, catching 15 balls for 192 yards. The Jets tried covering him with Dwight Lowery, Donald Strickland and Drew Coleman but with no success.

If the Jets are ever going to compete with the Patriots, they have to find someone who can match up with Welker. Lowery, Strickland and Coleman are good nickel and dime backs but do not have the coverage skills to stay with him one on one.

The Jets are all but mathematically out of the playoffs. Their 4-6 record and 4-5 conference record effectively eliminates them from the wildcard race.

At this point they have to work on getting better. Their season has turned on the poor play of their rookie quarterback and poor coaching from their rookie head coach.

These guys have to show improvement that can be carried over into next season. Ryan did a better job of making halftime adjustments and it had a noticeable effect on the team.

Sanchez improved at the midpoint as well and had the Jets threatening with plenty of time to go. But he made the same mistakes that have plagued him throughout the season. He is making bad decisions, especially under pressure, and is not protecting the football.

If he can clean up these tendencies the Jets stand a better chance of being a contending team in 2010. But right now he continues to cost the team games and is on pace to being one of the worst rated quarterbacks in the league.

Sanchez is going to be a good one but that is little concession to Jets fans who have had to endure yet another ugly season.

It is far too common for this franchise to be out of contention by the time Thanksgiving rolls around. The last month of the season is when good teams step to the forefront and propel themselves into the postseason but for the Jets, it is another season of looking to the future.

With a rookie quarterback, that is all we have for now.