NFL

Antonio Cromartie burned twice in Jets loss

With a rookie quarterback and limited offensive-skill position talent, the Jets’ margin for error is relatively scant.

So the last thing they can sustain in a game and survive is to have one of their best defensive players directly responsible for giving up 10 points to the opposition — especially when the offense managed to score only two field goals.

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie was the difference in the game in a 19-6 Jets loss to the Steelers Sunday at MetLife Stadium — for all the wrong reasons.

First, Cromartie was smoked by Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who made an inside move on him and scored on a way-too-easy 55-yard touchdown to give the Steelers a 16-6 lead 2:30 into the second half — a lead that felt more like 36-6 the way the Jets’ offense was running in water.

“I looked up and saw Emmanuel running by himself and I kind of hesitated for a moment, because I couldn’t believe he was so open,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethisberger said.

“All I know is when the ball was in the air, I was wide open and the rest was history,” Sanders said.

The second Cromartie gaffe came later in the third quarter in the form of a 25-yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover receiver Antonio Brown on a deep ball. That moved the ball from the Pittsburgh 38-yard line to the Jets’ 37. A few minutes later, the Steelers made it 19-6 on a 32-yard Shaun Suisham field goal.

Cromartie was actually fortunate not to have allowed a second touchdown pass, but Brown dropped the ball on a back-shoulder move on the Jets cornerback.

To his credit, Cromartie, who suffered a hyperextension of his right knee in Thursday’s practice and was a question mark to play, got through the entire game and made no excuses afterward. Cromartie, who has never missed a game since he came to the Jets, was admirably accountable for the Sanders touchdown.

“We were in cover zero, they gave us a certain look and I stayed square too long,’’ Cromartie said. “[Sanders] went back underneath me and by me staying square too long I wasn’t able to flip my hips fast enough to get back up the field. I just got beat inside. On cover zero [single man-to-man coverage with no safety help], that’s something we can’t do.’’

Asked about the effect of the knee injury, Cromartie said, “The knee didn’t impact anything at all. It was just me playing better technique on that one play and that’s it.’’

Cromartie, speaking publicly for the first time since the injury, revealed he feared the worst when he hurt the knee.

“Honestly, I thought I tore my ACL,” he said. “I felt the same pop that I felt in my left one [in college]. It was a freak accident, non-contact, I made a plant and the knee gave out.’’

He conceded there was “a little concern’’ about whether he would be able to play Sunday after he was hurt, but said he knew on Saturday he’d be able to go.

“I felt good in pregame, felt good throughout the game, it didn’t hinder me at all.’’

Unfortunately, his technique hindered him and it cost the Jets.