BALTIMORE – The Jets lost to the Ravens 42-21 on Thursday night as Lamar Jackson had his way with the Jets. Here are some thoughts and observations on the game:

1. The Jets ran into the best team in football in this game and the gap between these two franchises was easy to see. The Ravens are rolling downhill. The Jets look like they are playing uphill. The Ravens’ second-year quarterback can do no wrong. The Jets’ second-year quarterback has flashes that make you believe mixed in with moments that make you wonder.

This is why Joe Douglas is the Jets general manager. The Jets have to be hoping he can bring a little of the Ravens with him to Florham Park after spending 15 years in the Baltimore scouting department. Former Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome is one of the best to have ever done the job. His parting gift before stepping down was Jackson, who is already a superstar. The Jets need to hope that Douglas learned plenty at the foot of Newsome.

This would not have been a fair fight if the Jets were at full strength. As it was, they were down key players on offense like Ryan Griffin, Bilal Powell and Demaryius Thomas (that is not even mentioning Quincy Enunwa, who has been out since Week 1). On defense, the absence of Jamal Adams was tough to overcome against this high-powered Ravens attack.

Right now, these are two teams in different classes. They may not play again for three years unless they finish in the same spot in their respective divisions next year, which seems unlikely. When they meet again, will the Jets have closed the gap? That is Douglas’ mission.

2. Jets coach Adam Gase spoke this week about how hard it is to prepare for Jackson’s speed and the overall speed of the Ravens offense. He was right. The Jets looked like they were on their heels defensively from the start. Jackson’s speed is remarkable to see in person. He looks like a Ferrari speeding through a lot of minivans. Throw in all of the pre-snap motion and fakes the Ravens use and this is an extremely hard offense to defend. Jackson is like a magician doing a card trick with the way he fakes the ball. You know he is doing a trick, but you can’t figure it out.

The Jets defense got run over Thursday night, but they are not the first and won’t be the last. It is going to be fascinating to see if anyone can solve this offense in the playoffs. The Bills did a good job last week against them, but still lost. I do think a team that has already played them once will have a better shot when they play a second time because they will be prepared for Jackson’s speed. The Jets were not Thursday.

3. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is going to have to deal with comparisons to Jackson now. The two were both selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and will be linked along with the other top quarterbacks taken that year.

Darnold is clearly behind Jackson and that is not all his fault. The Ravens are a much better team, which helps Jackson, and the Baltimore coaches have built an exciting offense around him.

For Darnold, Thursday night was what we have seen before from Darnold. Toward the end of the first half, I was thinking it was one of the better halves of football I’ve seen him play. Moments later, he threw an interception – a bad interception that looked like a bad decision and a bad throw rolled into one. He then fumbled in the third quarter, giving the Ravens the ball at the Jets’ 24 and ending any hope of this being a close game.

After the game, Gase was asked about how Darnold can cut out those bad plays that ruin games.

“Experience. It’s coming,” Gase said. “He’s improving every week. The entire year, every week he gets better and better. There’s going to be a point where he’s a really good player.”

When you watch the Jets, you see moments that make you believe this followed by moments that make you question whether it will ever be true.

4. There were two videos from this game making the rounds on social media that were both interesting. The first was of several Jets lining up to get autographed jerseys from Jackson. Robby Anderson, Le’Veon Bell and James Burgess were among them. Exchanging jerseys has become a big thing after games, but this was different. Jackson was signing jerseys for them that someone gave to him. It was not the jersey he wore in the game.

The old school in me really hates this. He just kicked your butt and now you’re asking for an autograph? But I do think it tells you just how much respect Jackson has from players around the league. He has proven critics wrong – really wrong – and is a fun, exciting player to watch. So, part of me thinks it is kind of cool, but the other part of me has a tough time with everyone being so giddy about getting an autograph after a loss.

The other video is from the end of the game and it looks like Darnold and Gase have some kind of unpleasant exchange on the sideline. It is impossible to know what was said, but body language and the facial expression of backup quarterback David Fales make it seem like it was not good.

First, we have no idea what happened so we need to ask some questions before speculating. Second, sideline dustups happen all the time, particularly when you are getting your butts kicked. They are only a story when the TV camera catches them. I also saw Gase and Darnold having their normal postgame chat in the locker room. So, I would not put too much weight into that clip. Was it interesting and noteworthy? Absolutely. Is it a sign of irreparable damage? I don’t think so.

It is also worth remembering that we watch NFL Films clips of Bill Parcells and Phil Simms arguing on the sideline and point to that as how great it was the way Parcells coached Simms. It is not always peaceful on a sideline.

Revealing stat: The Jets entered this game allowing 3.03 yards per rush, the best in the NFL. The Ravens averaged 6.4 yards per carry in the game. Lamar Jackson averaged 10.8 yards per carry.

Surprising snap count: Jets OLB Tarell Basham played 37 defensive snaps, which was more than Jordan Jenkins. Basham had some good moments in the game, including a sack and a blocked punt on special teams.

Game ball: Le’Veon Bell had his best game as a Jet with 87 rushing yards on 21 carries. Bell looked good after missing last week’s game with the flu. He plays his former team next week. Can he keep it going?