Zach Wilson throws 3 interceptions as Jets fall to Patriots for 13th straight time

The Patriots still own the Jets.

An unbelievably costly penalty, an ugly second-half performance and a three-interception game by Zach Wilson sent the Jets to their 13th consecutive loss against New England, 22-17, on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets (5-3) had been one of the NFL’s biggest surprises this year. They talked about wanting payback after the Patriots scored 54 points against them last year. They had a chance to exorcise one of their demons and prove they’re for real.

Instead, they showed up the day before Halloween looking like the Jets of seasons past.

Bill Belichick brought the Jets back down to earth, doing what he always does against his AFC East rival. He took away what they do well — run the ball — and forced Wilson to beat him.

The second-year quarterback failed miserably, raising more questions about his ability to be a franchise quarterback.

“I had some boneheaded plays,” Wilson said after the Jets’ winning streak ended at four games. “I need to play better.”

Wilson shouldn’t have to shoulder all of the blame, though. There was plenty to go around.

With the Jets leading 10-3 late in the first half, after Wilson threw his first interception, Michael Carter II intercepted Mac Jones and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown. The pick-6 was called back, though, because of a roughing-the-passer penalty called against John Franklin-Myers.

Robert Saleh said the explanation he was given by the officials was that Jones “was hit too hard.”

The Patriots (4-4) retained the ball and Nick Folk kicked the second of his five field goals as time expired in the first half. On the first possession of the third quarter, Jones threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers on fourth-and-1 to give the Patriots a 13-10 lead.

“That was a huge momentum-shifting play,” defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said of the roughing-the-passer call.

Franklin-Myers saw the replay and said his opinion of the penalty doesn’t matter. They called it,” he said. “Ain’t nothing I can do about it. As a D-lineman, the way the league’s going, you can’t play any slower. Whatever. They called it, so you got to live with it.”

The Jets had a chance to tie it at 13 on their next series, but Greg Zuerlein missed a 45-yard field goal, and they never did catch up.

A greater concern for the Jets is Wilson. The No. 2 pick in last year’s draft hasn’t taken the jump that many quarterbacks make in Year 2. In the previous three games, he didn’t throw a touchdown pass or an interception, serving as more of a game manager with the Jets relying on running back Breece Hall.

The Jets, however, lost Hall for the season last week with a torn ACL. The Patriots’ intent to stop their running game — they totaled 51 yards on the ground — meant Wilson had to do more. He ended up making poor decisions and poor throws. “The self-inflicted wounds have got to get cleaned up,” Robert Saleh said.

Wilson was 20-for-41 for 355 yards and two touchdowns. In the second half, he completed only 10 of 23 throws.

All three of Wilson’s interceptions came while he was under pressure. Two should have been thrown away but weren’t, and it cost the Jets.

On his first pick, he overthrew Ty Johnson and it sailed into the arms of Ja’Whaun Bentley. That turnover led to a field goal.

On the second one, Wilson was scrambling away from Matthew Judon and tried to throw the ball out of bounds but didn’t. Devin McCourty picked him off close to the sideline. Wilson couldn’t believe what he had just done, putting his hands on his helmet. McCourty’s knee may have been out of bounds, but the call stuck after review.

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On the third interception, Wilson was chased from the pocket again. He threw it downfield right to McCourty, who returned it 37 yards to the Jets’ 36. That set up another field goal for a 22-10 lead.

“Every time I get out of the pocket, it just gets frustrating to throw the ball away,” Wilson said. “That’s what I’ve done the last four weeks to put us in a good position to not turn the ball over. I just got to be able to keep doing that when something’s not there.”

Jets tight end Tyler Conklin caught touchdown passes of 8 and 9 yards, the second of which came with 1:51 left. The Jets tried an onside kick, but the Patriots fell on it. The Jets were out of timeouts, and Jones knelt three times to close out the game.

“We wanted to win this one,” Rankins said. “We were riding some good momentum and playing well. But this doesn’t take away from anything we want to accomplish.”

The Jets sacked Jones six times, had an interception and allowed only one touchdown, but it was a killer. Rhamondre Stevenson got that drive started, breaking tackles for a 35-yard run on first down. Five plays later, Jones found Meyers.

“You can’t allow a team to run a play, a simple run play, and be able to break those tackles and be able to make their way down the field and score,” Rankins said. “Coming out after halftime, not being able to get that stop and get the ball back to our offense was crucial and ended up haunting us down the stretch.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.