As hard as it was for the Patriots, it's even worse for the Jets | Matt Vautour

FOXBOROUGH – As Jeff Ulbrich stood on the podium Sunday after his team's fifth straight loss, he said his team was facing “a moment of darkness.”

One moment?

The Jets' interim coach massively underestimates how long the darkness has lasted. The Jets train is hurtling toward the franchise's 10th straight losing season and shows no signs of slowing down. Sunday's 25-22 loss to the Patriots dropped them to 2-6. Asking a team that has never gotten out of crisis to climb the mountain is unrealistic.

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It's been a tough few years for Patriots fans, who have had a severe hangover since Tom Brady's departure and most of the winners followed him. But as bad as it was in the Foxborough area, it's not nearly as bad for Jets fans.

The Jets have done their best this season. Even at 2-4, they traded for Davante Adams because the near future is even bleaker, no matter what happens this year. They are only designed for the short term and the present quickly gets out of hand. Instead of the hoped-for Super Bowl, they're going for a top-five draft pick.

On the surface, it looked like the Jets were extremely unlucky last year when Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury just moments (actual moments, not Ulbrich moments) into the season. And maybe they did.

Another year of Zach Wilson certainly wasn’t a recipe for success. But it could be that he overestimated Rodgers. The future Hall of Famer was already in decline in his final year in Green Bay and often seems more interested in spreading his conspiracy theories than remaining an elite quarterback.

The Patriots players noticed that on Sunday.

“Hall of Fame quarterback, I hate to see him go out like that, but I'll always get a win against him,” Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux said in his Louisiana dressing. “He definitely doesn’t look the same. … He doesn’t look mobile at all.”

Nevertheless, Jets fans have to support Rodgers, who is no longer particularly good and not particularly likable, because they don't have much of an alternative. There is no quarterback of the future waiting in the starting blocks.

This should be their week of doing everything right. Against a Patriots team that was thwarted by a bad Jacksonville team last week, the Jets were hoping to stop the slide and gain momentum.

They have already fired their coach. You have already made a big trade. There aren't many big steps available anymore. You better hope the Yankees extend the World Series for a while, because when baseball is over, the city's two terrible football teams will be in the media spotlight.

“We understand that it will be really loud outside now,” said Ulbrich. “But the one thing I know in life is that when things get dark and hard, you work and point the finger at yourself and look within and figure out what I can do better from an individual perspective.”

The Patriots have plenty of problems of their own as Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf try to prove they are worthy of the great responsibility Robert Kraft has entrusted to them.

But at least they're starting with Drake Maye, not having decades of ineptitude poisoning the well, and at least intentionally rebuilding it. It's not a fun process.

But it's better than being on the Jets.

Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.