Within a span of 21 seconds, the New York Jets went from fighting for first place in the AFC East to landing with a thud in the division cellar. Their 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday was as brutal a gut punch as a team can take. We’ll break it down and share which Jets were most to blame in the Week 11 loss to the Patriots.

First, let’s start with who’s not to blame. That would be the Jets' defense.

Though the Patriots had a pair of long runs, including a 30-yarder, by Damian Harris and Mac Jones completed 23-of-27 passes (85.2 percent), they could not break through when it mattered most against New York.

The Jets allowed only three points and 13 first downs. They forced the Patriots to punt seven times. They sacked Jones six times, five when New England was driving in New York territory.

Contributions came from up and down the defensive depth chart. Six players had a sack. Sauce Gardner had his NFL-high 14th pass defended. Nathan Shepherd and Solomon Thomas filled in admirably with Sheldon Rankins sidelined with an elbow injury. Rookie Micheal Clemons played angry.

But the Jets managed to find a way to lose another game they should have won. Here’s who is most to blame for the Jets' Week 11 loss to the Patriots.

3. Jets' offensive line was offensive

There’s plenty of blame to be shared on the offensive side of the ball for the Jets. That’s obvious considering the Jets totaled 103 yards of offense — two (!) in the second half. They had six first downs (two by way of Patriots penalties) and five consecutive three-and-outs in the second half. It was statistically one of the worst offensive performances in Jets history.

Coach Robert Saleh described it as “dog s***.”

Zach Wilson was terrible. There were dropped passes and wrong routes run by the receivers. The running backs accounted for 33 yards on 19 carries, excluding Wilson’s 26 yards on three first-half scrambles.

But it starts up front where the offensive line was dominated by the Patriots. Wilson was sacked four times and under pressure throughout. There were no holes for Michael Carter, James Robinson nor Ty Johnson to run through.

In particular, the right side of the line was overmatched. Dan Feeney struggled at guard filling in for the injured Nate Herbig (who’d been filling in for Alijah Vera-Tucker, who’s out for the season). Cedric Ogbuehi, the fifth tackle to play the right side this season, also had a rough go of it.

But so did the rest of the line, from center Connor McGovern to guard Laken Tomlinson to tackle Duane Brown. No one was winning battles. It was a dispiriting performance by a unit that had its way against the Buffalo Bills just two weeks ago.

2. Braden Mann and the punt coverage unit

Ultimately, this one came down to one play in a 3-3 game late in the fourth quarter. New England’s Marcus Jones made the difference with a sparkling 84-yard punt return for the deciding touchdown (the only touchdown Sunday) with five seconds to play.

From the Jets' perspective, there’s absolutely no way it should have happened. Punter Braden Mann either did not angle his kick toward the coverage or the ball was knocked off course by the wind. But a line drive punt dead center down the field was not what the Jets wanted.

But it’s not all on him. Nor on special teams captain Justin Hardee, who accepted responsibility postgame. This was a complete 11-man failure — and more than a dose of excellence by the rookie returner.

New York’s special teams have been terrific all season. But in a game where a big mistake could not happen, this unit failed in a major way.

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1. Zach Wilson

There’s no way to sugarcoat how terrible Zach Wilson was Sunday. He was inaccurate, indecisive and simply could not make a play when the Jets absolutely needed him to step up. If the Jets received even mediocre quarterback play Sunday, they would have won the game. Wilson wasn’t even close to being mediocre. That’s how bad he was.

Wilson was not helped by offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who had a rough day calling plays. And as stated above, the line, receivers and backs all were subpar. But as the leader of the offense, not to mention the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Wilson had to find a way to make enough plays to win this winnable game.

The 22-year-old was 9-of-22 for 77 yards in the air. He missed wide-open looks to Denzel Mims and Braxton Berrios and bounced a pass in front of Elijah Moore. He should’ve been picked at least twice, once by Devin McCourty when Wilson airmailed a pass over the middle to Tyler Conklin. New York’s top receiver Garrett Wilson was visibly frustrated on the field and in the locker room.

Wilson then compounded his on-field mistakes with his postgame comments. He blamed the Foxborough wind. He said he gets frustrated with his receivers just as they expressed frustration with him.

And worst of all, he answered a flat “No” when asked if he let the Jets' defense down.

Inept during and after the game. The Jets needed, and will continue to need, better from Zach Wilson moving forward if they’re going to make a serious run at the playoffs.