The New York Jets aren’t the toast of the AFC East anymore.

New York (3-3) suffered their third loss in a row Sunday as they fell to the Buffalo Bills, 16-13, in overtime at Giants Stadium.  It was the Jets’ second consecutive defeat to a divisional opponent after falling to Miami last Monday night.

“We’re upset over this game,” cornerback Darrelle Reevis said. “We let one slip pass.”

The Jets had plenty of opportunities — and time — to figure out a way to win.  In the end, it was Buffalo (2-4) kicker Rian Lindell’s 47-yard field goal with 2:44 left in overtime that sent them home to upstate New York with the victory.

“We had really good field position in the overtime period,” Bills head coach Dick Jauron said. “We recovered kicks well and the penalties helped us.  It was a good win”

The lone highlight for the Jets was Thomas Jones, who set a Jets single-game record with 210 yards on the ground.  Jones also had the longest run of his career on a 71-yard trounce into the endzone.  That was the furthest run by a Jets player since Adrian Murrell’s 78-yarder against the Arizona Cardinals in 1996.

New York needed Jones’ legs because the passing game was obsolete.  Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez (10-29, 119 yards) struggled all afternoon, throwing five interceptions and finished with a rating of 8.3 — 158.3 is perfect.  It was a performance that led Jets head coach Rex Ryan to consider benching the 23-year-old.  Sanchez could have blamed the windy conditions or the blistering cold, but he didn’t, instead taking full responsibility for his mistakes.

“I’ve never played like this ever,” Sanchez said. “Not even close.  This was bad.”

Both teams traded field goals in the first quarter before the Jets added two scores heading into halftime, one coming on a second Jay Feely field goal and the other being Jones’ record-setting run.  Feely’s 22-yard field goal in the opening quarter was his 22nd in a row for the Jets, a franchise record.  He’d miss, however, with time expiring at the half.

“It didn’t mean a whole lot because I felt like mostly it was last year, especially since we lost the game and I missed one earlier,” Feely said.

The second half was all Buffalo, who had to play most of the game without starting quarterback Trent Edwards, who suffered a concussion earlier on a sack by David Harris and Calvin Pace.  Six minutes after a Lindell field goal, backup quarterback Ryan Fitpatrick hit Lee Evans 37 yards down the field for their first touchdown of the game.  That score tied the game at 13.

Buffalo did have an opportunity to end the game in regulation, but Lindell pushed his 46-yard field goal wide right as the clock ticked down to zero.  It was just this second miss in 12 chances this season.

The Jets had their chances in overtime, even winning the coin toss and electing to receive.  On that drive, a holding penalty on the Buffalo 30 pushed them back 10 yards, setting up a 50 yard field goal.  Ryan elected to kick, but the snap was mishandled by holder Steve Weatherford.  The Bills would put the game away eight minutes later.

Not only did they lose the game, but they may also be without defensive tackle Kris Jenkins for the rest of the season.  Jenkins injured his knee late in the second quarter when teammate Shaun Ellis apparenently fell on him.

Jones was the star of the afternoon for New York, but they also received a strong contribution from Leon Washington, who rushed for 99 yards.  The 318 total yards on the ground by the Jets is the second most by a losing team in NFL history.

“When you run for 300 yards in this game, you win, but we didn’t.” safety Jim Leonhard said. “It’s tough.”

Defensively, the Jets defense struggled to get to the Bills quarterbacks.  They were able to hit Losman and Fitzpatrick just four times combined, only one of them for a sack.  On the outside, cornerback Dwight Lowery had the Jets’ only interception of the game.

One player that was not a factor for the Bills was Terrell Owens, who caught just three passes for 13 yards.  Afterwards, Owens didn’t express any frustration at not being targeted in several big situations.  Instead, he sounded every bit the team player.

“We were going with the plays that were called,” Owens said. “The most important thing today is that we got the win.”

The Jets head to Oakland next week.  It is a homecoming of sorts for Sanchez, who grew up in southern California and went to college at USC.  Perhaps this is what he needs to turn things around.  The Raiders, however, are coming into the game off a big win at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.

New York has a lot to work on over the next week.  As Sanchez said, this team is practicing too hard to not have positive results on game day.  With Sunday’s performance as sad looking as it was, the Jets need more than practice to right this ship.