The conventional wisdom said the Patriots were already better than the Jets, and adding Randy Moss just widened the gap.

The conventional wisdom was right.

The Jets’ season-opening 38–14 loss yesterday doesn’t mean they can’t make the playoffs, and it doesn’t make the Patriots destined to win the Super Bowl. But it does show that the Jets have a long way to go to catch the Patriots and become one of the league’s elite teams.

Moss, the immensely talented wide receiver who wore out his welcome in previous stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders, thoroughly abused the Jets’ secondary, particularly cornerback Justin Miller, who simply couldn’t keep up with Moss downfield. Moss ended the day with nine catches for 183 yards — his best yardage output since 1999.

The Jets’ pass defense was a mess, and the secondary wasn’t helped by the line’s complete inability to pressure Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. It’s not just that the Jets failed to sack Brady all day, but they rarely even got close to him. Jets coach Eric Mangini evidently thought it was more important for the Jets’ linebackers to drop into pass coverage than to blitz Brady, and as a result, Brady had all day to wait for Moss to get open. Brady seemed happy with the time to pass that the Jets’ game plan provided him, and he completed 22 of 28 passes for 297 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Jets kept things close early with a combination of good luck and good play calling. The good luck came in the form of the Patriots dropping balls: New England receiver Wes Welker ended a drive by dropping an easy pass on one third down, linebacker Adalius Thomas bailed out Chad Pennington by dropping what should have been an easy interception, and backup quarterback Matt Cassel botched the hold on a field goal try when he dropped a perfectly good snap.

The good play calling was by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who drew up a play with wide receiver Laveranues Coles lining up in the backfield in the second quarter. That created a matchup that forced New England linebacker Rosevelt Colvin to cover Coles one-on-one. Colvin doesn’t have the speed to keep up with Coles (no linebacker has the speed to keep up with Coles), and as Coles ran into the flat, Pennington lobbed him a touchdown pass that tied the game.

The score was tied 7–7, and it appeared to be anyone’s game late in the second quarter, but the Patriots scored a touchdown just over a minute before halftime and added another on the opening kickoff of the second half. The game was never really in doubt in the third quarter, and the fourth was mostly garbage time.

The kickoff return made NFL history, as Patriots return man Ellis Hobbs made the strange decision to run back Mike Nugent’s kick even though he was eight yards deep in the end zone. He then proceeded to bolt past the Jets’ entire coverage unit, and when he crossed the goal line, he had recorded a 108-yard touchdown, the longest kickoff return in NFL history.

As unsuccessful as the Jets were at pressuring Brady, they were equally unsuccessful at protecting Pennington. Although New England played without its best defensive lineman, the injured Richard Seymour, the Patriots’ defense dominated the line of scrimmage all day. The Jets’ offensive line looked like it missed left guard Pete Kendall, who was traded to the Redskins after repeatedly complaining about his contract, and the Patriots recorded five sacks.

On one of those sacks, Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green beat Jets left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, twisting Pennington’s leg under his body. Pennington tried to walk off the field, stumbled, fell to the ground, tried to get up again, and eventually hopped to the sideline. The home crowd cheered for backup Kellen Clemens and cheered him again when he completed his first pass (even though it went for just six yards on thirdand-20), indicating that many fans think the Jets need a change at quarterback.

But on the basis of this game, Pennington (who returned to the field with his right ankle heavily wrapped) is not the team’s problem. The offensive and defensive lines, the secondary, and the special teams all have problems that, if they aren’t corrected, will keep the Jets from being a good football team no matter who is under center.

One of the few bright spots for the Jets was Coles, who showed some of his trademark speed and seems to be improving as a route runner. In addition to the touchdown catch that tied the game early, Coles beat Asante Samuel, the Patriots’ best defensive back, on a jump ball in the end zone for a touchdown in the third quarter. Coles got open regularly, although Pennington didn’t often have enough time to get him the ball.

The Jets have now lost nine of their last 10 games against the Patriots, butthere’snotimefordwelling on that, as the Jets’ schedule doesn’t get any easier. They visit the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, and without a much better team effort, they’ll start the season 0–2.

But the good news is that the Ravens don’t have any receivers like Moss. If the Moss who showed up to the Meadowlands yesterday is the same Moss we’ll see all season, the Patriots deserve to be considered the favorites to win the Super Bowl. And if the Jets’ pass defense can’t play better over the next 16 weeks than it did yesterday, their 2007 season will be a major disappointment.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.