EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Shortly before midnight local time, Woody Johnson climbed into the passenger row of a golf cart that would transport the New York Jets brass from the locker room to the entrance of their MetLife Stadium vehicle.

Six days had passed since Johnson had exercised his control as team owner to fire head coach Robert Saleh.

Fewer days had passed since the Jets relieved offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett of his play-calling duties, a responsibility that fell to passing game coordinator Todd Downing on Monday against the Buffalo Bills.

Now Johnson and Co. driving through the tunnels of MetLife Stadium, his claim that this Jets team is the most talented he’s had in 25 years seemed to further validate. So did the question of whether that talent would fulfill its potential.

Because even as the Jets unlocked their run game and solidified their explosive passing game, the first game of interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich’s tenure will be in the same column as Saleh’s last two: a loss.

The Bills improved to 4-2 atop the AFC East with a 23-20 win, while the Jets fell to 2-4 and third in the division.

Their season wasn’t over yet. But according to the New York Times playoff prediction model, their odds of making the playoffs hovered at 40%. Their chance of winning the division: 10%.

A close game on Monday night slipped out of their grasp, taking with it some of their postseason viability.

“This was a golden opportunity,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, after a late interception doomed the Jets’ last chance to close a deficit that had looked manageable all night. “Some games you win in the NFL and some games you give away.

“This was a competition.”

The Jets are wondering: How much more than a Week 6 game have they given away?

How quickly and how can they achieve that elusive victory?

A three-game losing streak hung over the heads of a locker room that was dead silent as players began heading to the showers. Any murmurs increased and then slowly the mood.

Cornerback Sauce Gardner thought back to Ulbrich’s postgame message to his locker room.

“We dug ourselves into a hole, and it’s going to get better,” Gardner said. “The story will be great if we dig ourselves out.”

The Jets offense started well, but was unable to finish

The Jets’ offense started off smoother on Monday than it has this season.

After averaging 142.2 yards per game over five weeks, the Jets raced to 225 in two quarters. After averaging 9.7 points in the first half in five Saleh games, this Jets squad scored 17 points before halftime in a group of over .500 Bills.

Rodgers and Wilson seemed to be in a better rhythm than in previous weeks as running back Breece Hall also found lanes more easily. The offensive momentum peaked when Rodgers unfurled a Hail Mary as the first half expired, traveling 61.4 air yards … and somehow ending up in the waiting hands of Allen Lazard in the end zone.

Rodgers completed 23 of 35 passes for 294 yards, two touchdowns and an interception that night.

“When he throws the deep ball, you don’t know what can happen,” Hall said after a night of 113 yards and 6.3 yards per carry. “It was a crazy play. But it doesn’t really matter if you lose the match.”

The recipe for a loss was relatively easy to identify, but less easy to solve.

The Jets marched to the red zone four times, but scored a touchdown only once. Kicker Greg Zuerlein missed two of the four field goal attempts they settled for, with Zuerlein achieving the statistically improbable feat of hitting the left upright on consecutive attempts (technically two, one from each end zone).

And while the Jets’ defense held the Bills to just three points in the second half, the 20 they allowed in the first half were too many to overcome their improved, but still unfinished, offense.

The Bills rushed for 149 yards, including a punishing 110 in the first half. That doesn’t include the yards the Jets allowed when they failed to contain quarterback Josh Allen, whose breakaways powered throws like a 42-yard heave to rookie Ray Davis that seemed to mock physics and a 12-yard touchdown to Dawson Knox.

Ultimately, the Jets had plenty of opportunities to rally against a Bills team that sputtered in the second half. Instead, they faltered because of missed passes, miscommunication between Rodgers and his targets and a series of penalties so disruptive that Bills and Jets fans united to boo the officials.

The Jets outgained the Bills 393 yards to 353, but couldn’t finish as often as they needed to.

“Obviously we were very okay with the craziness that happened this week and obviously the change in play-caller,” Lazard said. “We really came together and united as a team and especially as an offense … took that personally.

“It was us, especially as an offense that was lacking and unable to produce when we needed to, that was the problem. And that continued tonight.”

Aaron Rodgers isn’t happy with the Jets’ mistakes – or with the referee

Both coaches and players preached responsibility, discipline and looking in the mirror.

Their optimism about climbing out of the hole they dug varied from locker to locker, but ultimately they were all able to identify areas that needed improvement.

Rodgers led the callouts, noting that on his final throw, which was intercepted, his accuracy wasn’t the problem. He expected Lazard along the seam and Mike Williams along the red line. He threw a no-look pass to Williams’ intended spot, and the receiver ran a cutback instead.

Quarterback left no doubt as to whether his receiver completed the intended route.

Rodgers believed this reflected why the Jets have lost three straight games by one score.

“You can literally go back to any of those games and look at the little details,” Rodgers said. “I also have my own criticism. But there are many possibilities if we all just do the little things, do the details.”

Also receiving criticism from Rodgers: the officials.

The Bills accepted 11 penalties for 94 yards; the Jets: 11 for 110. Were flags exaggerated?

“Yeah, it seemed a little ridiculous,” the quarterback said. “Some of them seemed really bad, including the passerby bothering me. That’s not harassing the passerby. We might as well be playing Sarcastaball if we’re going to call those things. And I thought (Javon) Kinlaw’s didn’t bother the passerby either.

“We had chances. We had a walk-in touchdown on Braelon (Allen) and we had a phantom guard call. Had two chances at G (Garrett Wilson). I thought we had our chances.”

The next opportunity for the Jets comes in prime time, when they travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers to play a short week of Sunday Night Football.

Ulbrich expressed confidence in his team’s ability to rally and in his kicker’s ability to recover from six missed points.

Wilson, who caught eight of 10 passes for a season-high 107 yards and a touchdown, described the sense of urgency after a “demoralizing” night.

“It’s as high as it’s ever been,” Wilson said. “You can’t think about it too much, but the reality is… there’s no time.

“We dug ourselves into this hole. And there’s not much wiggle room.”