EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Near the end of his postgame news conference Sunday, New York Jets coach Todd Bowles was asked if there were any positives from the blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills. The question comes after almost every defeat, and he usually answers, "No, we lost." This time, Bowles was quick with a reply. It was hard to tell if it was an attempt at gallows humor or a message to his critics.

"We had one penalty," said Bowles, long criticized for his team's high penalty rate.

Oh, the irony.

On the worst day of Bowles' head coaching career, the Jets finally cured an old bugaboo. (Cynics will note the Jets had three holding calls on that one play, two of which were declined.) For Bowles, it was nothing to brag about. It was akin to the captain of the Titanic gloating about the exquisite linen in the dining room. None of it matters, because the coach likely is going down with his ship.

Barring a miracle, Bowles will be fired at the end of the season, perhaps sooner. The Jets head into their bye week Monday, that dreaded window for coaches on the hot seat. A coaching change wouldn't accomplish anything except give a pound of flesh to the angry mob of fans. Chances are, ownership will let this play out, enduring another six weeks of misery.

The Jets (3-7) have lost four in a row, and it'll be five because they face the New England Patriots after the bye. That could get ugly. (Six Thanksgivings ago, the Butt Fumble was born in a Jets-Patriots game.) Right now, they look like a four- or five-win team. As much as he likes Bowles, CEO Christopher Johnson can't sell that to his fan base.

The look of angst on Johnson's face as he walked briskly past reporters late Sunday afternoon said everything. We've seen that long before. In 2014, it belonged to his big brother, owner Woody Johnson, who made up his mind to fire Rex Ryan after a late-season loss to the Bills. In 2008, it was Woody Johnson again, this time after a season-ending defeat to the Miami Dolphins. Hours later, he instructed general manager Mike Tannenbaum to fire coach Eric Mangini.

On Sunday, Christopher Johnson, mired in his first crisis as acting owner, was in no mood to chat. Who could blame him? His team was positively awful in its most embarrassing loss in years, a 41-10 debacle that will live forever on that dusty old shelf that includes the worst moments of the Rich Kotite years in the mid-1990s. Yeah, it was that bad.

Afterward, players in every corner of the locker room professed their support for Bowles. Offensive guys, defensive guys. Loud guys, quiet guys. Whether it was out of loyalty, political correctness or actual belief, they came to his defense. Yes, everybody loves Todd, but it was the ultimate mixed message, because they played like they wanted him fired.

This was a Wizard of Oz game: The Jets played with no brain (Scarecrow), no heart (Tin Man) and no courage (Lion). Cornerback Morris Claiborne summed it perfectly. When asked if he was embarrassed, he replied, "Hell, yeah. That's the first time I felt like someone smacked us and we didn't do nothing about it. We didn't do nothing about it."

There can be only three reasons for that:

1. The players weren't motivated.

2. The players weren't properly prepared from an X's-and-O's standpoint.

3. The players weren't good enough.

Forget about No. 3. The Jets didn't lose to the Bills of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith; they played dead against a Buffalo team that signed its quarterback (Matt Barkley) off the street and its leading receiver (Robert Foster) off the practice squad. The Buffalo no-names made a mockery of the Jets' starting defense, which was intact for the first time since September.

Johnson was said to be furious after the game, and he wasn't the only one in the organization. He wanted the team to be ascending in the second half of the season, showing improvement with rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. The Jets are going in the wrong direction, having been outscored 125-43 during their losing streak. In the first two losses (Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears), they were outmanned. In the last two, they were outcoached.

Bowles has been working under a vague set of matching orders. He doesn't have a playoff mandate, per Johnson, but he must demonstrate progress. How can that be defined? Johnson said in previous interviews the answer on Bowles would become obvious to everyone.

And indeed it has.