It was a long, painful crash back to reality for the New England Patriots in Thursday’s 24-3 loss to the New York Jets. A few weeks ago, some fans wondered if the Patriots could make a playoff run after beating the Cincinnati Bengals.

That crowd exploded along with the Patriots offense on primetime television.

They couldn’t do anything against a Jets team that limited them to a field goal and 139 total yards. You could smell the stench from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford all the way back to Foxborough.

That said, the Patriots had a lot going against them, including injuries and a road game. Playing on a short week after going into overtime in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks was not an ideal situation for the team. Now, they get a short break to reflect on the current state of the team through three games.

Here are the five key lessons from Thursday’s match:

The offensive line is terrible, something needs to be done

There’s no help coming for the Patriots offensive line, or at least not the kind of help the unit desperately needs. They’ll have to wait until free agency and the 2025 NFL draft before they can really roll up their sleeves and do more than duct tape a busted engine.

But at the same time, HR executive Eliot Wolf can’t just fold his arms and accept things as they are. Today, fans are bickering over who should start at quarterback: Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye (we’ll get to that in a minute).

But the offensive line is so bad that there won’t be any debate when Brissett finally gets hurt. It’s inevitable if the Patriots continue with the same lineup they’ve been running. According to NextGenStats, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, the Patriots’ offensive line allowed 22 pressures on 35 dropbacks.

That’s incredibly horrible, even for the Patriots.

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and the Jets are feasting on quarterbacks like it’s a family dinner. They finished the game with seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits. It’s time to bring in veteran free agents with experience and see if they can at least get something out of them. David Bakhtiari, DJ Humphries and Donovan Smith should all be on the call sheet.

The defense eventually broke, but it was still competitive

Aaron Rodgers made it look easy.

The Jets established their run game early and Rodgers extended drives with his legs and pinpoint accuracy. Defensively, the Patriots looked worn out and exhausted.

Part of the reason was that the team had a short week on the road, and part of it was that the injuries were finally starting to show. Ja’Whaun Bentley is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle, and Christian Barmore is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots. Meanwhile, Oshane Ximines has been placed on the injured list for Thursday’s game.

Keep in mind, this is the same defensive unit that traded Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons in August.

It was a shadow of its former self against the Jets. Somehow they held Rodgers and the Jets offense to 24 points. In most other cases, the game would have been blown wide open and an even bigger loss would have been had.

Keion White continued to put pressure on the defense and Christian Gonzalez delivered another impressive performance against Jets star Garrett Wilson.

Strange attacking game plan didn’t help

The Patriots came out determined to turn the narrative of not being able to complete downfield throws around, breaking free from their bully game mentality of pounding the ball on the ground against the opposing defense.

It was a surprising departure, considering the Jets haven’t been great at stopping the run, and they were also missing five-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley. Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt admitted Friday morning that he regretted the game plan.

The Jets used the Patriots’ game plan against them in this matchup. They ran the ball effectively and Rodgers kept the chains moving on short third-down situations. The Patriots dug themselves a hole early and lacked the explosive offensive firepower to climb back out.

Drake Maye can’t save this team

The Patriots seem to have a better chance with Drake Maye under center. He won’t be as careful with the ball as Brissett, and he will make mistakes as a rookie. But he gives the team a chance to make explosive plays, and he can extend drives with his legs.

Then why wouldn’t the Patriots start him?

Maye made just one appearance Thursday night, getting sacked twice. The Patriots’ offensive line has been a mess when healthy, and now they could be without multiple starters heading into Week 4 against All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa and the San Francisco 49ers.

It makes no sense to just throw Maye into the fire to see if he can make things happen, while simultaneously getting completely beat up. The Patriots wrote the book on how to ruin a young quarterback with Mac Jones, and they need to be careful to avoid the same thing with Maye.

Letting Maye sit this year doesn’t make for a fun football season, but starting Maye doesn’t help the team’s long-term future. The Patriots aren’t making the playoffs this season, regardless of who’s under center. Nothing good can come of putting a 22-year-old quarterback behind the worst offensive line in football against the 49ers.

The difference in ball possession was a big problem

The Jets offense had the ball for more than twice as long as the Patriots did in the game. Frankly, they gave Aaron Rodgers way too many chances, and he gave them a slap on the wrist for it.

At the end of the game, the Jets had the ball for about 40 minutes, while the Patriots had the ball for just 19 minutes. Those kinds of final stats are a sure sign of disaster.

The Patriots have done some positive things on offense, most notably with some play-calling to get wide receiver DeMario Douglas more involved in the game, but they also can’t afford to get away from their rushing attack.

Winning in the trenches, dominating on the ground, avoiding costly turnovers and playing good defense: that’s the recipe for success in New England.

The team did none of these things against the Jets.

This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: 5 Biggest Lessons From the Patriots’ Thursday Night Slump Against the Jets