What a blown opportunity. With the Dolphins losing to the Titans, the Jets could have controlled their own destiny with a win but instead they are all but mathematically out of playoff contention.

The Jets’ field goal unit was the most glaring culprit in this loss. They left nine points on the field as Kellen Clemens, Jay Feely and James Dearth each had their hand in blowing an easy kick.

The Jets defense is also to blame for not being able to close the deal on Atlanta’s final drive. After dominating the Falcons all game it could not come up with a stop at the end.

The defense could not finish off an opponent it had dominated and collected yet another loss on their last series. That makes four games this season in which the Jets’ defense could not close the deal.

The others were the first Buffalo game, Jacksonville and the first Miami game. Despite being ranked first in the league, this is not a championship-caliber defense, at least not yet.

Rex Ryan knew how the Falcons would try to beat him. They would target Tony Gonzalez on 4th down in the end zone. He called the perfect defense to defend it, crowding Gonzalez with four defenders, unfortunately no one stepped up to make a play.

Everyone just stood there. No one read Ryan’s eyes and made a play on the ball. Four guys (David Harris, Eric Smith, Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland) were all in the vicinity but no one made a play.

The Jets’ offense rounded out the collapse by bogging down all day, unable to get in the end zone, save for the long bomb to Edwards. The Jets made five trips into Atlanta territory and came away with no points, thanks in large part to the pathetic job of their field goal unit.

The Jets had a terrible offensive game plan. With cold conditions and the #1 ranked rushing attack, Brian Schottenheimer had Sanchez throwing way too often.

In uncharacteristic fashion, the Jets ran only 51% of the time despite averaging 57% runs for the season (the highest in the NFL).

Schottenheimer clearly noticed that the Falcons’ pass defense had been terrible all year and wanted to take advantage but the Jets’ receivers were not getting open consistently enough which left Sanchez holding the ball with no where to go with it.

The Falcons were geared up to stop the run, crowding eight and nine men in the box on first and second downs. Schottenheimer did the right thing by continuing to pound the ball at the smaller Falcon’s front but he did not use play action to capitalize off it.

The Falcons’ linebackers were selling out to stop the run and would have vacated their zones if the Jets snuck their wide receivers or tight ends behind them after good play action fakes.

That would have forced them to respect this action and not crowd the line as much. Instead, Schottenheimer focused more of the game plan on wide receiver screens and throws down the field, with few of these plays coming off play action.

Rex Ryan’s color code system did not work well either. Sanchez once again threw up too many balls into tight coverage.

On this third interception he was trying to make a play in a tough spot so it is hard to fault him but the first two were throws he never should have made.

Sanchez still does not understand when to throw the ball and when to throw it away so he cannot be trusted. It is bad coaching to make a young QB, unaccustomed to the windy, cold conditions, throw the ball downfield as much as Sanchez did.

Atlanta’s defensive backs are all small and quick so with the Jets’ bigger receivers it made more sense to attack them with size and power. The Jets should have posted them up and used a more physical and conservative passing game.

Instead Sanchez took needless chances and turned the ball over as a result.

Most young quarterbacks struggle on deep and intermediate throws but Sanchez has struggled with his accuracy on short routes. That might be a reason why the game plan did not feature more safe passes specifically designed to get first downs and keep the chains moving.

But with all the offense’s issues, the defense kept bailing them out. Unfortunately it could not finish the deal in crunch time.

During Ryan’s press conference he was right to stick it to his defense. They were great all game but if you are the #1 unit in the league, you have to come up with a stop with the game on the line.

Donald Strickland, a good player for the Jets this year, was one of the goats. He allowed a 16-yard catch to Roddy White on a third and 9 play then added insult to injury with a 15-yard facemask penalty.

The D looked disheveled and disorganized on the next play when Atlanta ran a simple dive up the middle for 20 yards by Snelling. The Jets hadn’t given up a run for more than 7 yards to that point.

The Jets had an unbalanced line with four linemen aligned to the left of the center. Atlanta ran it right up the middle and both Scott and Harris were well blocked on the play.

Howard Green was in position to make the tackle but whiffed. Had he made the tackle, it would have been a three-yard gain.

In two plays the Falcons went 51 yards. That is unacceptable.

The Jets would tighten up on first goal but missed a golden opportunity on third down. Darrelle Revis, who played another great game, dropped a potential game-ending INT.

That was Revis’ second ball he could have grabbed. He joined Kerry Rhodes who also dropped two balls he should have intercepted. Lito Sheppard, David Harris and Jim Leonhard also had chances at pics but could not come up with them.

This game should not have been close. Between the Jets’ field goal unit missing opportunities and its defense dropping interceptions, the Jets should have coasted in this one.

The Jets still had a chance after the Gonzalez TD but right off the bat they shot themselves in the foot with a personal foul penalty, this one on Alan Faneca.

That is two brutal penalties in the last three minutes of the game by two seasoned veterans, one an eventual Hall of Famer (Faneca) and another (Strickland) who should know better. That cannot happen.

Things looked good early for the Jets when Michael Turner twisted his bad ankle and did not return after only 1 carry. The Falcons were forced to alternate Jerrious Norwood and Jason Snelling but the Jets held them in check, allowing 61 yards between the two before their last drive.

The Jets defense allowed only 152 passing yards and held Matt Ryan in check all game. Darrelle Revis did his usual superb job by limiting Roddy White to 3 catches for 17 yards.

Revis had three passes defensed and three tackles. One of his tackles was an absolute knockout shot to FB Ovie Mughelli. Revis did a great job dishing out some punishment to a guy who outweighs him by 54 lbs.

Kerry Rhodes actually had a good game. He had six tackles (one for loss) and three passes defensed but he will be remembered more for the play he didn’t make.

He whiffed on a tackle that allowed Jerrious Norwood to gain an extra 20 yards on a 38- yard pass play. This type of breakdown is becoming more common with Rhodes and highlights his lack of aggressiveness.

Rhodes got the start after being demoted three games ago yet despite his improved play, he remains a guy who does not have a killer instinct at a position that requires it.

On offense Braylon Edwards had his most consistent game of the year. He not only came up with a great 65-yard catch early, he also made 3 other tough catches (for 19, 14 and 8 yards), all for first downs.

This was a physical game and Atlanta’s defense was hitting just as hard as the Jets, if not harder. The Jets’ offense never matched the intensity level of the Falcon’s defense.

Atlanta stacked the line all day with 8 and 9 defenders and the Jets’ offense could not counter. Sanchez made some nice throws but made critical mistakes as well.

In addition to his interceptions, he was called for intentional grounding on a third and 7 at Atlanta’s 35-yard line. The 10-yard penalty pushed the Jets out of field goal range.

The Jets had all the reason in the world to be up for this game. They were playing for a playoff spot in front of their own crowd with weather conditions that favored their style of play.

They were also facing a team that was beat up and had a number of key players who were either out of the line up or were questionable coming in. The Jets are the more physical team but they did not show it on Sunday.

Everything was right there for them. Miami and Denver, two other teams competing for a wild card, would eventually lose and would have put the Jets in great position but they could not get it done.

With their next game against the undefeated Colts in Indianapolis, the Jets will be major underdogs and are unlikely to win. With their finale against Cincinnati, another playoff team, the Jets will have to play much better if they hope to have a chance at a .500 record this season.

This Jets team is loaded with talent and despite having a rookie quarterback who cost them games, they should be better than 7-7.