The Jets, playing the part of Jonathan Martin, were bullied in their own home by the Dolphins, who played the part of Richie Incognito.
How is it possible that — in their own stadium where they were 4-1 this season, with their playoff lives hanging in the balance and after a week of practices that players insisted had a “sense of urgency’’ — can Dolphins 23, Jets 3 take place the way it did Sunday at MetLife Stadium?
This is how: The Jets, losers of three in a row and looking progressively worse with each game, have morphed into exactly the bad team we thought they would be when the season began — a team with no franchise quarterback, limited offensive skill position players and an overrated defense.
A team with no direction.
Four games ago, after a home win over the NFC-power Saints, we praised the Jets and coach Rex Ryan for their collective overachievement and talk of a stunning playoff berth and a Ryan contract extension escalated.
Now, after what we’ve witnessed the last three weeks while they’ve been outscored, 79-20, and watched their offense become so anemic it would struggle to score touchdowns against Summit High School, the Jets look like a team that might not win another game this season.
Ryan? Just three weeks after so many of us sang praise for the job he has done this year, Ryan is now on the John Idzik’s clock and no one but the perpetually unavailable general manager knows how many ticks before that clock strikes midnight for Rex.
Ryan’s future now seems as murky as the future of the team’s franchise quarterback. Geno Smith was benched in the second half after completing 4-of-10 for 29 yards and an INT.
Rookie cornerback Dee Milliner, the Jets top draft pick, was benched in the third quarter after whiffing on Miami receiver Mike Wallace on a 28-yard touchdown pass.
Hall of Fame-bound safety Ed Reed, the mid-season pickup who was supposed to be a key piece to push the Jets toward a playoff berth, has been a rumor since his arrival. Reed, who’s supposed to be the best “center fielder’’ since Willie Mays, whiffed on an attempted tackle of Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline on a 31-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
The Jets defense, even with its stout front, is a myth. If not for the Dolphins’ self-inflicted gaffes (a missed field goal and two failed fourth-down plays in the first half), Miami could have doubled its point total en route to amassing 453 yards of offense and controlling the ball for 38:52.
The 5-7 Jets have lost all the credibility they accrued with the 5-4 start. To be so out-played by an ordinary team like the Dolphins in a game they positively had to have is as inexplicable as it is inexcusable.
“It’s sickening, man,’’ linebacker Calvin Pace said. “It’s getting to the point where everything is stacking up against us and we’re not responding. Only we can fix it.’’
If the snapshots from inside the Jets postgame locker room Sunday are any indication, it’s difficult to believe they can or will fix this season.
-  Rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, perhaps the most exuberant soul on the roster and one of the team’s best players, sat alone facing his locker dressed in only a towel with his head down and his eyes closed for some 15 minutes before slowing walking out of the locker room declining to speak to reporters.
- Veteran right guard Willie Colon, one of the most amicable, available and intelligent voices on the team, uttered, “I’m not talking today,’’ as he walked away from his locker — obviously afraid of the damning things he might say.
- Reed pulled the age-old and tired “I’ve got to go to the trainer’s room’’ slip when approached by The Post, never returning to the locker room to speak.
- Receiver Santonio Holmes, who’s supposed to be a star on this team that really doesn’t have one, droned on in double-talk to reporters about why he was on the field for only three plays — calling it a “coach’s decision’’ he didn’t play more often.
-  Smith delivered the “huh?’’ quote of the day when he said, “I think I am the best option for this team with the way I work and the progress we’ve made as an offense.’’
Maybe he was just punch drunk from the afternoon of bullying administered by the Dolphins.