The Jets lost a heartbreaker, 20-17, to the Lions on Sunday for their third straight loss. They are now 7-7 and their playoff hopes are hanging on by a thread. Here are some thoughts and observations from Sunday’s game:

1. The Jets defense is very good. Let’s start there because it feels like any time you criticize the defense people feel like you are not giving them enough credit. They played very well on Sunday. The Lions have a high-powered offense and the Jets defense only gave up 13 points; three of them were gifted to the Lions by a Zach Wilson interception. The Lions went 0-for-3 in the red zone despite being one of the best teams all season inside the 20. The goal line stand was huge to start the game. There was a lot to like.

But …

This defense continues to give up huge drives when the Jets need them to make a stand. It has happened in each of the last three games. The Jets offense scores and then the defense has a letdown. It is sort of like how in baseball when your team scores a bunch of runs, you then need the pitcher to have a shutdown inning to build off of it. The Jets never seen to come up with the shutdown inning.

Let’s look at the last three weeks:

In Minnesota, a Greg Zuerlein field goal cut the Vikings’ lead to 20-15 in the fourth quarter. If the Jets get a stop, now the offense has the ball with a chance to take a lead. Instead, the Vikings went 75 yards on seven plays and Justin Jefferson scored a touchdown to give Minnesota a 27-15 lead.

In Buffalo, the offense came out of halftime and put together a nice drive to tie the game at 7-7. It felt like the Jets finally had the momentum. On the next series, though, the Bills went 75 yards on six plays and Josh Allen scored a touchdown to put the Bills back up 14-7.

Sunday’s was the worst one. The Jets offense puts together a go-ahead drive in the middle of the fourth quarter. Wilson finds C.J. Uzomah for a 1-yard touchdown and a 17-13 lead with 4:41 left in the game. The Lions get the ball at their own 22 and they end up scoring when Jared Goff connects with Brock Wright on fourth-and-1 from their own 49. Wright somehow goes 51 yards for the touchdown and the Lions win.

The Jets defense is very good. But they are not an elite defense yet because of lapses like this. They also have now failed to get a takeaway in three straight games and they did not get near Goff, failing to get one sack.

2. It may feel like the Jets’ playoff hopes are dashed after that loss, but Jets fans should know there is still a lot of football left. They should think back to 2009 when a heartbreaking loss to the Falcons dropped the Jets to 7-7 and Rex Ryan said in his postgame interview that the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs. Ryan was wrong and the Jets ended up beating the Colts and the Bengals in the final two weeks to make the playoffs. They benefitted from facing two opponents who already had their playoff positions secured and rested players. It does not seem like these Jets will get that same benefit unless the Dolphins go on a tear before the final game of the season.

Still, there are three weeks left in the season. No one the Jets are fighting with for the wild card is unbeatable and there will be twists and turns before this thing is over.

3. The focus will be on the quarterback, of course, because it always is but the Jets problems on offense run deeper than one position. The offensive line is not playing well at all. The Jets did not have a run longer than six yards on Sunday and Wilson was sacked four times. The wide receiver room is really banged up now. The Jets were down to three wide receivers in the second half Sunday. It is unclear whether Corey Davis (concussion) will be back for Thursday’s game but it feels safe to assume Denzel Mims won’t be after he suffered a concussion on Sunday. Jeff Smith played well before injuring his knee. He also could be doubtful for Thursday night.

That leaves Wilson or Mike White, whoever the quarterback is, playing with a rough supporting cast. Mike LaFleur is going to have to get C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin more involved and get creative in the run game.

4. I’ve said before that sometimes you can’t tell how valuable a player is until he is not playing. Back in 2011, Nick Mangold had a high-ankle sprain and the Jets started Colin Baxter at center against the Ravens and it was a total disaster. That night I realized how good Mangold actually was.

Well, Quinnen Williams is the 2022 Jets team MVP. We don’t have to wait for it to be announced. There was not much doubt before Sunday but there is none now. The defense looked different without Williams in the middle. The pass rush was non-existent. The Lions offensive line is good but you have to think Williams, who leads the team with 11 sacks, would have made a difference. Williams attracts so much attention from blockers that it opens things up for others on the line. The Lions also had some success running the ball, something teams have not been able to do much with Williams in there.

Has a quarterback ever had such different quarters back-to-back? Zach Wilson had a brilliant second quarter. He completed 6 of 10 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown for a rating of 137.5. Something changed at halftime. His third quarter stats were 3 of 8 passing for 27 yards with an interception for a rating of 7.8.

Will Parks played all 68 defensive snaps in place of Lamarcus Joyner. Parks was released by the Jets on Thursday, signed to the practice squad Saturday and then elevated to the active roster. It was some impressive roster gymnastics that got Parks in the lineup.

Sauce Gardner was not targeted once in the game. He already has quite a reputation as a rookie cornerback and teams are starting to show him the respect usually reserved for veterans.