EAST RUTHERFORD -- You kept waiting for it, the moment when you would wince at one of Geno Smith's decisions, when Smith would slap a "Yeah, but ... " onto an otherwise solid game.

Sure enough, it happened — and then happened again — at two of the most critical points in the Jets' 17-16 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. Sure enough, Smith, the Jets' second-year quarterback, showed why his franchise almost certainly will pursue another quarterback in the offseason to perhaps unseat him, or at least legitimately challenge him.

"We always talk about making those clutch plays instead of being on the opposite end of it," Smith said. "I felt like my decision-making was pretty good all day. When you have those situations where one or two plays can really turn the game for you, you really want to avoid it. I tried my best to do so. Today, we fell short. Man, I feel terrible."

Credit Smith for what he did well Sunday, and he did several things well against a potential Super Bowl team that is now 12-3. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 210 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown to tight end Jeff Cumberland — just the 10th touchdown pass of the year for Smith.

He also spoiled most of that by throwing an interception late in the third quarter, leading to the go-ahead touchdown, and by taking a sack that pushed the Jets out of field-goal range on their final possession of the game.

As usual, it was a "Yeah, but ... " type of day for Smith. Twenty-eight starts into his NFL career, he has just six turnover-free games. He has 34 interceptions and 40 total turnovers, compared to 22 touchdown passes. He was supposed to be better this year, but through 12 starts (and 13 games played), he has 15 turnovers, including 13 picks.

The Jets are 3-12 for many reasons, but Smith's continued lack of ability to play a complete game is right at the top of the list. Two more glaring examples came late in Sunday's game.

The Jets led, 13-10, when Smith dropped back to pass from the Jets' 20-yard line with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter. Hit as he threw, Smith had his pass for tight end Jace Amaro fall short, and linebacker Jamie Collins picked it off. The Patriots took advantage by marching 38 yards for a touchdown. They never trailed again.

But the Jets got a prime opportunity to regain the lead with 6:08 left in the game. Down, 17-16, they faced third-and-four at New England's 24. Then Smith took a sack for a loss of 10 yards, and Nick Folk missed a 52-yard field goal, after Vince Wilfork tipped it. The Jets never got the ball back.

Afterward, Jets coach Rex Ryan looked he was about to throw up when talking about Smith's two late-game miscues. Ryan sounded exceedingly frustrated with Smith.

"Poor throw," he said of the pick.

The sack, Ryan said bitterly, "was pretty dang critical. That's something that, obviously, you've got to learn from. You can't take a sack there. I don't care who's in your face. Get rid of the football. But you can't take sacks in those situations."

This, by the way, is about as critically as you'll hear Ryan talk about a player. He obviously is not pleased with Smith's lack of progress.

Smith tried his best to explain the pick and sack, but there is no explaining away his continued mistakes in big spots like these.

To hear Smith tell it, he never really had a chance to throw the ball away on the sack.

The Patriots' pass rushers "got on me fast," he said. "As soon as I got the snap, I felt immediate pressure. In those situations, my job is to throw the ball away, prevent the sack. But I was bottled up in the pocket. I didn't have a chance or an outlet to really throw it away to. I didn't feel like I could get it off, so I just tried to take the sack and limit the loss (in yardage)."

There is no quick fix to errors like these. The Jets, with one game left, are inching closer to hiring a new coaching staff next season, and probably implementing an entirely new offense for Smith to learn entering his third season.

The current one clearly isn't working. The Jets finished tied for 27th last year in red zone percentage. This year, they were 31st entering Sunday. They went 0 for 3 in the red zone against the Patriots, and are 4 for 17 in their past seven games. That's almost impossibly bad. When they lost 27-25 at the Patriots earlier this year, they went 2 for 4.

"It always comes back to haunt," Ryan said of the red zone.

Maybe the Jets' next offensive coordinator can turn the Jets' red-zone production and Smith's athletic potential into something more than Marty Mornhinweg has.

Or maybe Smith is destined to spend all of 2015 on the bench. He will have only these "Yeah, but ... " games to blame.

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.