Good signs, but Jets need to improve fast

FOXBORO, Mass.

The Jets have been telling us since Day 1 of training camp that the idea this year was to pile up the wins early, stay on a roll and earn a home playoff game or two.

Enough of this sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card and winning twice on the road to get to the AFC Championship Game, only to lose it the last two years. Better to beat the Patriots outright for the division title, play at home in January and get to Indianapolis in February.

Good thought.

Too bad it's looking less and less likely that it will happen.

Instead, after a 30-21 loss to the Patriots Sunday at Gillette Stadium, it's looking as though the Jets will have to do this thing the same way they did it in Rex Ryan's first two years on the job. If they even make it that far, that is.

The Jets now have their first three-game losing streak since the rookie seasons of both Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez, completing the hat trick of road losses after getting smacked around by Oakland and Baltimore.

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It was a much more competitive game against the Patriots, one that Ryan chose to look at with a glass-half-full angle. But it was a loss just the same, and only five weeks into the season, the Jets already are two games behind the Patriots and the surprising Bills.

There were more offensive woes, as the Jets went three-and-out seven times in 11 possessions. This against a defense that was last in the NFL in yardage allowed and had produced only eight three-and-outs in its previous four games combined.

And the defense, which played well in spots, wore down at the end and couldn't get New England off the field after Sanchez enlivened the offense with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes to make it 27-21 with 7:14 to play.

But it was enough for Ryan to stress the positive after blistering postgame lectures to his players the previous two weeks.

"Obviously, they're the better team right now. The score indicated that," he said. "[But] I was encouraged. We did some good things. We're searching. We'll find the answer. There were some encouraging signs, just not enough of them."

I'll agree with Ryan about the encouraging signs, because the Jets did play a much better game against a team that finished 14-2 last season. It wasn't on the level of the Jets' playoff upset last January in Foxboro, but they did hang with the Patriots, and it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if the defense had gotten Brady off the field on that last drive.

I'm not big on moral victories, and neither is Ryan. But he's smart for stressing what his team did well against an elite team like the Patriots instead of dwelling on the negatives.

Look, we all saw what the problems were: a 27 percent third-down conversion rate on offense, a 50 percent third-down conversion rate on defense, and 446 yards offense by the Pats.

But the defense did play well in spots, holding New England to 10 points in the first half. And Sanchez did rally the Jets with a terrific 11-play, 85-yard drive to make it a one-score game.

Not finishing it off showed there still is much work to be done, especially with a tough schedule after what should be a win against the Dolphins next Monday night at home. After that, five of their next six games are against teams with winning records, including the Patriots, two games against Buffalo, and one against the Chargers and Redskins.

So yes, there's still time to get this thing straightened out. But not if they don't improve substantially on both sides of the ball, even if there were some signs of improvement Sunday.

"I've seen enough football to know this is too early to start panicking and throwing in the towel and worrying about this or that," running back LaDainian Tomlinson said.

The key, according to Tomlinson, who has been through slow starts before in San Diego, only to reach the playoffs: "This is the time to stick together. It's not about panicking, pointing fingers and separating this team."

That's exactly what Ryan told his players afterward. Message received.

"Rex gave us a great speech about just sticking together and getting ready for Monday night," Darrelle Revis said. "It's a long season. You've just got to keep working hard, pushing to be consistent."

There's no question in Holmes' mind that the team will not fracture. "I didn't sign to come back here with the New York Jets and doubt coach Ryan that we can get the job done," he said. "So yes, I do believe. Let's find a way to win."

Words to live by for a Jets team desperate for some hope.

Oh, and just a word of advice from the peanut gallery: Enough with all this talk about the playoffs. Just go out and win a game.