KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Things couldn't have gone more differently for Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The reigning AFC offensive player of the week for his near-perfect performance against Buffalo came back with one of the worst games of his career, a six-interception meltdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday that doomed New York to a 24-3 defeat.
"It's tough," Fitzpatrick said. "The NFL, football in general, is a humbling game. Every single week is a different week no matter the opponent, no matter how good you're feeling. We went out there and didn't play well today. Obviously, that's an understatement."
The about-face occurred in a matter of 10 days.
Fitzpatrick was 24 of 34 for 374 yards and a touchdown against the Bills, the fourth-best game of his career in terms of yardage. He was 20 of 44 for 188 yards against the Chiefs, and three interceptions came in the end zone just as the Jets were about to score.
The awful offense wasn't only his fault.
Running back Matt Forte, who scored three times against the Bills, was held to just 65 yards by a Chiefs defense intent on stopping him. Bilal Powell was limited to 30 yards rushing and had a fumble, one of the eight turnovers by the Jets -- just two off the franchise record.
Brandon Marshall caught three of his 10 targets, playing through a slight knee sprain. Eric Decker had his only catch in the fourth quarter, failing to score for the first time in seven games. And emerging star Quincy Enunwa was a non-factor, catching four passes on 11 targets.
All told, the Jets managed just 305 yards of total offense.
"We had a couple of extra days to rest and prepare for this game and we came out flat," Decker said. "In a game when you get behind fast like that against a good team, it's going to be tough crawling back."
The other two facets of the game didn't help their offense.
While the Jets defense held Kansas City to just 293 yards, it also surrendered 15 plays of 10 or more -- including a 42-yard reception to tight end Travis Kelce. And on special teams, rookie Jalin Marshall fumbled a kick return that the Chiefs returned for a touchdown.
"We missed tackles. We had trouble with leverage. We had trouble with minor things," Jets coach Todd Bowles said. "When nothing works we got to change everything. It was a (lousy) game plan, obviously. By the execution and the score, it was (lousy). You can't point to one thing."
But Fitzpatrick is at least pointing to one thing: himself.
"I'll take it," he said. "I'll put it on me. I didn't play well. When I don't play well like I did today, then we're gonna have a hard time winning football games that's just the nature of the NFL and the nature of being a quarterback. I've got to forget about this one, move on and show up next week."
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