This season, for me, has galvanized the reality that many Bills’ fans don’t want to hear a discouraging word, merited or not.

More than a few times this season, no matter how many complimentary pieces I’ve written, people, including friends, either face-to-face or via email, ask, “How come you’re so negative about the Bills?”

So, spoiler alert, if you’re a Buffalo fan and are satisfied with the 20-17 loss to the Jets Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, I suggest you stop reading.

But if you’re more pragmatic and realize that while they’re a very good team, they’re not perfect, then we have a lot to unpack.

THIS DEFEAT dropped the Bills to 6-2, 0-2 in the AFC East, a half-game ahead of the Dolphins and Jets, both 6-3, to whom they’ve already lost, giving them a head-to-head tiebreaker, and 1½ over the pesky Patriots (5-4).

It’s too soon to speculate whether this loss is as hurtful as last season’s defeats at Jacksonville and Tennessee in Buffalo’s bid for homefield throughout the playoffs … but it could be.

There are two major takeaways from the Bills’ stumble in the Meadowlands and it involves the last six quarters.

After dominating the Packers, 24-7, at halftime last Sunday night at Highmark Stadium, things unraveled. Oh, Buffalo held on for a 27-17 victory and was never really in danger of losing. But there were red flags in the Bills lackluster second-half performance.

First, Green Bay, despite the presence of Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback Aaron Rodgers, stampeded over the home team on the ground.

When it was over, the Packers had rushed for 208 yards, a season-high against Buffalo.

The spin from Bills’ defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was that his team had a solid lead and running the ball chewed up more minutes than being subjected to Rodgers’ quick-strike right arm.

And Green Bay took advantage, coming within a failed onside kick attempt for a chance to tie the game in the final minute. The Pack ended with a 7½-minute edge in time of possession.

Then there was quarterback Josh Allen who, after a near-perfect two-touchdown-pass first half, was miserable after intermission: 5-of-14 passing for 89 yards with two bad-decision interceptions.

FAST FORWARD to yesterday afternoon.

The Bills’ run defense was MIA again, this time surrendering 174 yards on 34 carries — over five per try — helping the Jets to a 6½-minute edge in time of possession.

And this time Allen had an awful passing performance the whole game. He finished 18-of-34 through the air for 205 yards with two fumbles, two ugly interceptions, five sacks and an anemic 46.8 passer rating.

That means, in the last six quarters, he’s 23-of-48 with four unsightly picks, no touchdowns, seven sacks, two fumbles and a passer rating under 60.0.

As usual, his legs worked fine against the Jets, rushing for two touchdowns, one a 36-yarder — giving him 35 in his 4 ½ -year career — but even that pointed to another Bills issue. For the sixth time in eight games, Allen led the Bills in rushing — nine carries for 86 yards — while Buffalo’s two running backs — Devin Singletary and James Cook — combined for 39 yards on a dozen tries.

AFTERWARD, Allen was as down in a postgame press conference as he has been following any loss during his time with the Bills, offering discouraged, clipped answers.

Of his own performance, he assessed, “You only get so many drives in this league and you have to make them count and I didn’t do it. I made some mistakes today and it just can’t happen.”

Coach Sean McDermott was equally miffed.

“It’s hard to win a game when you turn the ball over and play sloppy football,” he said. “We had opportunities overall (but) we shot ourselves in the foot and in some ways we beat ourselves.”

McDermott added, seemingly referring to play-calling, “I’ll look at the tape but I think we got a little too one-dimensional at times against a good defensive front.”

But when asked about Allen, he maintained, “I have ultimate trust in Josh … he’s a heckuva football player, (the game is) important to him. Those (interceptions) are going to happen from time-to-time … it’s percentages and how many times you throw.”

That’s certainly true, but Sunday’s loss also reminded Bills fans that what had seemed to be a secure run to the division title is now a genuine race.

As Allen wistfully summed up the defeat, “These are the games that can make or break you.”

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)