The Jets' chances at the playoffs were slim, but now they're dead following their 22-6 loss to the winless Bengals on Sunday.

After winning three-straight games heading into Week 13, the loss came as a bit of a shock. With the tides turning, could the Jets have overlooked the Bengals, leading to their demise?

Quarterback Sam Darnold says no.

"No, not at all," Darnold said on the Michael Kay Show on Monday. "Every time, every NFL game is a challenge no matter what the other team's record is. That's a really good defense we played."

Over their four remaining games, the Jets can still avoid a losing record by winning out. However, 8-8 will rarely get a team into the postseason. Along with potentially going .500, the final quarter of the season will be used as a stepping stone for the second-year QB... or so the Jets hope.

New York head coach Adam Gase dialed up 48 passing playing in the game for Darnold, 28 of those were completed for 239 yards, but the Jets couldn't muster up a touchdown. Despite not turning the ball over against the Bengals, Gase said he's hoping Darnold takes another step in regard to not giving away the ball and using his mobility over the final games of the 2019 season.

"It is just the consistency on the ball security. I think he has done a good job of that the last few games. I thought yesterday there was some opportunities for them to get the ball out and he did a good job of securing it and making sure that at least we had possession of the ball. Sometimes punting is a lot better than turning it over and I thought he did that on a couple of his sacks where the ball got kind of loose with the amount of guys that were hitting him and he didn't let it happen," Gase said.

"I think there has been times and we've both talked about this, when he's got a lane, sometimes it might be better to take the five yards running it, instead of trying to make that incredible throw that he makes so many times," Gase added.

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