EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Jets wouldn't confess that all the gimmicks and gadget plays and gambles they used, to save themselves from the Monday night massacre everyone was predicting against the unbeaten Texans, were an admission that embattled quarterback Mark Sanchez and their feeble offense need this kind of extravagant propping up.

Mark Sanchez had his opportunities Monday night, but he ended up disappointed. Kirby Lee/US Presswire

And in the end, despite throwing everything they could think of against the wall, the result was the same: Sanchez couldn't deliver the handful of game-changing plays that might've made the difference in the Jets' 23-17 loss.

When there was a touchdown drive to finish off or an open receiver to hit, when the game was encouragingly close early on or surprisingly still sitting there for the Jets' taking deep into the fourth quarter, the Jets got something less from Sanchez instead.

Sanchez wasn't as gawd-awful as he's been in other weeks. But it wasn't the sort of performance that will end the quarterback controversy swirling around him anytime soon. All this game did was buy Sanchez a little time, tourniquet the ugly booing he faced from his very first incompletion, and betray that the coaching staff's takeaway from the Jets' 34-0 trouncing by the 49ers a week earlier was the same as most outsiders' take: The Jets just aren't good enough to line up toe-to-toe and beat the NFL's best.

The Jets' game plan for the Texans screamed that they know that. And, very quickly, the Texans recognized that the Jets felt that way, too.

"What all of it said to me is the Jets think we have a pretty good defense," Texans cornerback Brice McCain said -- choosing his words carefully, as a little smile played across his face.

The other way you could look at it was, the Jets think they have a bad offense of their own.