KANSAS CITY, Mo.—In one sense, the Jets beat the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The two teams didn’t play, of course, and the Jets didn’t actually beat anybody. But their 14-point loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was 13 points prettier than the 41-14 pummeling New England took here on Sept. 29. For a Jets team that has now dropped eight straight games with Sunday’s 24-10 loss, every bright spot matters, and a favorable Chiefs-beating differential vis-à-vis the division-leading Patriots wasn’t even the only cause for cheer...