There was some debate about precisely how much John Franklin-Myers’ roughing the passer penalty late in the second quarter cost the Jets.

It set them back 15 yards, of course. It erased a would-be Jets touchdown. It enabled the Patriots to kick a field goal before New England opened the second half with a touchdown.

“Ten-point swing, was it? Seventeen maybe,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “It was a costly penalty.”

“If we had the pick-six before halftime,” Jets safety Jordan Whitehead said, “we blow them out.”

Instead, the Patriots blew by the Jets in a deflating, 22-17 loss at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, which became the latest game affected by a back-breaking penalty on the defensive end.

The Jets were ahead 10-3 in the closing minutes of the half when Mac Jones dropped back, looked left and threw directly to Michael Carter II. The cornerback caught it at the Jets’ 16 and sprinted 84 yards the other way for a touchdown that would have provided a commanding lead.

Carter began to celebrate and looked up at the Jumbotron, seeing there was a penalty on the play.

“Dang, that was my first touchdown,” Carter said.

After Jones had released the ball, Franklin-Myers launched himself and hit the Patriots’ quarterback hard. Franklin-Myers said he did not receive an explanation because the officials were not going to reverse the call.

“[Jones] was hit too hard,” Saleh said he was told.

“If I don’t get [to the quarterback], it’s a problem,” said Franklin-Myers, who sacked Jones once on the day. “If I get there, it’s a problem. I ain’t going to play any slower.”

Playing apparently too fast drew the flag, which returned the ball to the Patriots, who kicked a field goal to enter the half down just 10-6.

New England needed just six plays in its first drive of the second half to score a touchdown and take a lead it would not surrender.

“This is a team that feasts on your mistakes,” Saleh said. “If you’re just off by a hair, you’re going to pay for it.”

The loss would be easier to swallow for the Jets if it were not to the Patriots, and the penalty would be easier to swallow if it were not Franklin-Myers who committed it. The fourth-year defensive lineman repeatedly has been on the wrong side of roughing calls.

In the Week 3 loss to Cincinnati, Franklin-Myers pushed Joe Burrow to the ground shortly after the Bengals quarterback had released an incomplete, third-down pass. A flag flew, and the Bengals’ first-quarter drive was given a second life. Four plays later, Burrow found Tyler Boyd for a 56-yard touchdown.

Last year, the Jets’ defense had put together a late stop against the Dolphins, forcing an incomplete pass on third down that would have forced Miami to settle for a field goal in a tie game.

But Franklin-Myers shoved Tua Tagovailoa to the ground seconds after he threw the ball that drew a penalty Saleh called “unacceptable.” Four plays later, Tagovailoa threw the go-ahead touchdown in a game the Dolphins won.

A year later, Franklin-Myers has not learned to slow down and has not learned how he can prevent costing his team significantly.

“As a D-lineman, the way the league’s going, you can’t play any slower,” Franklin-Myers said.

— Additional reporting by Ryan Dunleavy