FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Nick Mangold fiddled with a Lego set on Sunday night, while 225 miles to the northeast, Tom Brady fiddled with the Saints’ defense. As Mangold, the Jets’ center, played with his nephew, a television showed New England’s winning drive, which culminated in a touchdown pass by Brady with five seconds remaining. No, Mangold did not smash the Legos or fling them across the room.

“That wouldn’t go over too well with a 5-year-old,” Mangold said.

Nothing about Sunday went over too well with a certain team residing at One Jets Drive. Not the Jets’ 19-6 loss to Pittsburgh, which exposed deficiencies in their pass defense and an absence of continuity in their offense. And not the Patriots’ 30-27 victory against New Orleans, for reasons that extended far beyond Coach Rex Ryan’s empathy for his twin, Rob, the Saints’ defensive coordinator.

The stakes for New England’s approaching visit to MetLife Stadium on Sunday have been reset. Instead of pursuing A.F.C. East supremacy, the Jets (3-3) now must try to avoid falling three games behind the Patriots (5-1).

“You can’t be worried about somebody else,” Rex Ryan said. “With that being said, heck yeah, you want them to lose. You want every team in your division to lose. In particular, New England, of course. For us, we’ve got to fix ourselves before we really worry about anybody else.”