Titans 14, Jets 10: Jets Lose to Titans as Sanchez Throws 4 Interceptions

No longer can the Jets kid themselves that this team they fielded, a group that barely defeated two of the worst teams in the N.F.L. the past two weeks, is good enough to contend. This team, a group that needed to win to remain in playoff contention, delivered the sort of performance that costs people jobs.

And there will be changes this off-season after the Jets were finally, mercifully, eliminated on Monday night in a 14-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans that should be submitted as evidence to the N.F.L. that the postseason field should be reduced, not expanded.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, the Jets (6-8) became the first team since the 1986-89 Miami Dolphins to miss the playoffs two straight years following consecutive appearances in the conference championship game.

“We had our chance,” linebacker Calvin Pace said, “and we fell flat on our face.”

The Jets have endured their share of debacles this season, and it is not a disproportionate share. They held fast to the delusion that they, with a sluggish offense and an erratic quarterback, could somehow slip into the playoffs. There is no credible way to spin their plight now.

A team that was humiliated on Thanksgiving night, in its last appearance on national television, just might have given the networks pause when they formulate their slate for 2013. Unless, that is, fans around the country are interested in watching an offense that does not score touchdowns, a quarterback who is gifted at throwing interceptions and a defense that, with little margin for error, cannot get a stop when it is most needed.

In the latest — but perhaps not final — debacle, the Jets committed five turnovers. Or rather, Mark Sanchez, their franchise quarterback, committed five turnovers. Three came in the final 7 minutes 26 seconds of the fourth quarter, which could have been his defining moment. Maligned and criticized, pulled from the Jets’ Dec. 2 game against Arizona, Sanchez had a double-barreled chance for redemption: changing the perception of him while keeping the Jets alive another week.

It was all there for Sanchez. Or not.

One interception. Then a second. Then a fumble, after the Jets, following a poor punt by Tennessee, took over at the Titans’ 25 with 47 seconds left.

“That situation is almost like a gift,” safety Yeremiah Bell said.

“It’s like the football gods were giving it to us,” guard Matt Slauson said, “but we couldn’t capitalize.”

“For that last play to happen,” Coach Rex Ryan said, “that was about as bad as it gets.”

Considering the stakes, Ryan is correct. But really, he has a catalog the size of a diner menu to choose from. Winnow that list of mishaps, and a theme emerges: the vast majority involves their offense, which reflects poorly on coordinator Tony Sparano, and even more on Sanchez — and not just because, as quarterback, he touches the ball on most every play.

When Ryan announced that Sanchez had fended off a challenge from Greg McElroy to retain his starting job for last week’s game at Jacksonville, he cautioned that Sanchez needed to make better decisions, that another bushel of fumbles and interceptions was unacceptable. And then came Monday. In 14 games, Sanchez has committed 24 turnovers.

“I’m not playing well enough for us to win,” Sanchez said. “I made a couple of bad throws.”

It is impossible to make a “couple of” bad throws after throwing two couples of interceptions. The script for a Sanchez news conference is, by now, as predictable as the interceptions he threw Monday night. He speaks of having to get better, of having to make fewer mistakes, of being more accurate.

It was said after the 34-0 blowout to San Francisco, the 30-9 dud against Miami, the 28-7 flop in Seattle, the 49-19 ignominy to New England and, yes, on Monday night, too. Asked if Sanchez had regressed, Ryan would not answer, instead saying, “I know this certainly wasn’t a good day, for sure.” Asked if Sanchez would start next week, Ryan said it was too early to announce a starter.

“I’m not ready to say,” Ryan said.

Who starts Sunday against San Diego, in front of what should be an unforgiving crowd at MetLife Stadium, is less of a concern than who starts for the Jets in 2013. Sanchez is owed a guaranteed $8.25 million next season, but after Monday’s failure — 13 for 28 for 131 yards, a 32.6 rating and, of course, those five turnovers — the Jets will have to seriously consider whether he gives them their best chance to win a Super Bowl.

“It all goes back to self-inflicted wounds, you killing yourself, and that’s something we can’t do, and that’s something that we continue to do,” Bell said.

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