3-FALLING

JETS HAMMERED BY JAGUARS IN THIRD-STRAIGHT LOSS

JACKSONVILLE, Fl a . — Todd Bowles stood in a small TV studio in the bowels of TIAA Bank Stadium, searching for an answer and not finding one.

The question to the Jets coach was simple: How could he explain the way his team played in the first half of Sunday’s 31-12 loss to the Jaguars?

“I wish I could sit here and explain it,” Bowles said. “We didn’t look very good, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We never gave the offense a chance in the first half. We gave up way too many yards on way too many things that we see every day. It was not very good.” No, it was not. The Jets looked lost on offense, unprepared on defense and not in the same class as the Jaguars, who hung 503 yards on a Jets defense whose reputation is much better than the reality right now. The Jets looked like the JV scrimmaging the varsity.

The end result is the Jets finished the first quarter of the season 1-3, losing three straight. The opening-night good feelings from Detroit feel like a lifetime ago.

“I thought the first three games we fought and made a lot of progress,” Bowles said. “I thought we took a step back today.”

The step back began when the Jets got off the bus. Some would question if they even showed up to this game.

The Jaguars dominated the first half, controlling the ball for 19 minutes and rolling up 270 yards to the Jets’ 86. Blake Brady, er, Bortles threw for a career-high 388 yards as the Jets had no answer for underneath throw after underneath throw. Wide receiver Dede Westbrook had 130 yards on nine catches, leading the way for Jacksonville.

“We made [Bortles] look amazing,” linebacker Avery Williamson said .“We just didn’t do our jobs.”

The Jets showed a brief pulse in the second half, forcing three turnovers and finally getting on the scoreboard, but the comeback fell flat.

“We usually fight to be in ballgames,” Bowles said. “We’re usually in every ballgame. I thought we shot our- selves in the foot too much in the first half. We’ re back to the drawing board in every phase — offense, defense, special teams.”

Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold had another shaky outing. He did not turn the ball over (although he came close a few times), but he struggled to find any rhythm. He completed 17-of-34 passing for 167 yards with one touchdown.

Darnold did not get much help from offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates, who abandoned the run early. His pass-happy ways were most evident and egregious just before halftime. The Jets had third-and-1 and fourthand-1 plays, and Bates dialed up deep passes both times. Darnold missed Bilal Powell on the first play and Quincy Enunwa could not haul in the fourth-down pass.

Enunwa had an interesting answer when he was asked about the offensive struggles. He paused for about 20 seconds and then seemed to express some unhappiness with the play-calling.

“I think we expected one thing and got another,” Enunwa said. “I don’t know. I don’t call the plays.”

Enunwa walked those comments back, saying he was not criticizing the play-calling, but he sounded frustrated.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Enunwa said when asked if he was frustrated with the play calls. “I think we just didn’t execute. There were opportunities there, obviously for me. I had an opportunity before the half and I missed it. How do I get frustrated with play-calling? I just do what I’m told. I can’t get frustrated with playcalling when there’s plays we left on the field.”

Darnold said the Jets just needed to do a better job of making plays.

“It’s just about executing,” Darnold said. “It’s not that much more complicated than that.”

The Jaguars completely controlled the game early. Their first two series lasted 15 and 12 plays, respectively, and both resulted in field goals and an early 6-0 lead. Bortles, who completed his first 11 passes, found running back T.J. Yeldon for a 31-yard touchdown with 1:47 left in the first half to extend the lead to 13-0. After the Jets failed to convert on fourth-and-1, the Jaguars took over and tacked on another field goal for a 16-0 halftime lead.

A safety against the Jet sand a Bortles 67-yard touchdown pass to Donte Mon crief, who beat Trumaine Johnson, made it 25-3 and pretty much ended any hope the Jets had. They would cut it to 25-12 on a 2-yard pass from Darnold to Jordan Leggett, but no one thought the Jets were pulling off the comeback.

The Jets defense now must figure out how Bortles and Co. rolled up 503 yards. That was the first time the Jets had allowed 500 yards or more since Nov. 13, 2008, when the Patriots did it in a game that went into overtime.

“You can’t ever allow 500 yards as a defense,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “That was piss-poor by us. We can’t let that happen again.”

The Jets have three straight home games after t his, so there is time to turn the season around. Can they regain the form they showed in Detroit or will the losing streak last?

“It’s really tough, especially with that first game,” Enunwa said of the 1-3 start. “It kind of makes [the win over the Lions] seem like a fluke. We don’t believe that it is, but I’m sure everybody else does. I think we’re a really good team. I think we call really good plays. We just don’t execute them sometimes.”