The script written in the days before this game was supposed to unfold much differently.

The Jets were coming off their best offensive showing of the early season against New England, coming off their nine-day "mini-bye week," playing for the Green & White faithful at MetLife. Aaron Rodgers, as stories during the week detailed, needed a "mere" 321 passing yards to join the NFL's elite 60,000-yard club. A 3-1 record was within grasp.

But instead of a Hollywood blockbuster, Rodgers and the Jets got a dose of reality in their soggy 10-9 Sunday loss to the visiting Broncos.

"No, not at all," Rodgers said when asked if he sensed a letdown off of the Jets' home-opening 24-3 win over the Patriots. "That's a really good defense. When your defense holds 'em to 10, you've got to win the game 100 percent of the time. That's on the offense, on me. It's not good enough."

There were multiple reasons for the Jets' underperformance, not all of them attributable to the play of No. 8, even though, as Rodgers said after completing 24 of 42 for 225 yards, being sacked five times and going 4-for-17 on third down, "I can't say I had a spectacular game."

Head coach Robert Saleh, when asked to assess his QB's play, said: "We'll see it on tape, but he was under duress most of the day. ... The issue wasn't the quarterback."

What were the issues?

First-Half Weather
The forecast for the Meadowlands was for overcast skies but problematic precipitation also fell through the first half. The Jets were nursing a 6-0 lead and a 101-46 yardage edge as they headed for their halftime locker room. If Rodgers' 8-for-16, 81-yard passing looked tame, what must Denver rookie Bo Nix (7-for-15, minus-7 yards) have been thinking of the sodden footballs?

"The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws," Rodgers said. "We had some chances but we made way too many mental mistakes and some poor throws, and we just missed some easy stuff, protection stuff, route adjustments that should've been easy. Our focus wasn't as sharp as it was the first couple of weeks."

Presnap Penalties
The yellow flag issue returned with a vengeance. The Jets were penalized 15 times, with 13 marked off for 90 yards. Eight of those 13 were presnap penalties. Five of those eight were offensive false starts.

"Unacceptable," Saleh labeled the presnap and postplay flags, adding: "It doesn't matter when they come, The operation had been good. For it to rear its ugly head at any point, short week, long week, doesn't matter."

Neither the HC nor his QB thought Rodgers varying his cadences should have been a problem but isn't a cinematic concern just yet.

"We had one false start before this," Rodgers said. "In practice we rarely have a false start. To have five today seems like an outlier, I don't know if we need to make mass changes because of an outlier game."

First-and-Goal
One thing Saleh, Rodgers and OC Nathaniel Hackett would like to change was an early chapter to a Green & White victory story. Late in the first quarter, after WR Allen Lazard was interfered with in the end zone, the Jets had first-and-goal at the Broncos 1.

But RB Breece Hall was stoned twice for no gain, Rodgers had no option on a third-down rollout, and on fourth down from just inside the 1, LG John Simpson had his second false start. The Jets settled for the first of three Greg Zuerlein field goals and a 3-0 lead.

"We had three good calls and we didn't execute any of 'em," Rodgers said. "You've got to get seven in this league to win. We had multiple opportunities to go up two scores and we didn't. That's why we lost."

Different Pages
The Jets moved to their 45 in time for the two-minute warning but Rodgers then threw three incompletions, with the last two hitting the ground without either Garrett Wilson on the first or Xavier Gipson on the second aware the ball was coming to him.

"They'll start to get in sync," Saleh assured. "Those things will come along. We obviously wanted them to happen now. We have to get in sync."

"I'm going to have to look at the film," said Rodgers, who was taken down hard and jarred his knee on the series. "We weren't really on the same page."

Despite all that, the Jets were still alive for a fantastic finish: the ball at their 40 after a Denver missed field goal, 1:27 on the gameclock and no timeouts left. A pass interference call against Denver's Riley Moss on Mike Williams moved the ball to the Denver 36 and into Zuerlein's 50-yard wheelhouse. But Legatron missed this game-winner from 50 and the Jets' fate was sealed.

And Rodgers was headed for the hot tub, then some intense film study, and his usual introspection and resolve as the Jets head into their next scheduling challenge, leaving for London late this week to play the 4-0 Vikings on Sunday.

"It's still very early," he said. "But at the same time, these are games you want to come away with, obviously. Looking back at it, we had opportunities. We just didn't take advantage of them. Not a single one."