Football being the imperfectly perfect team sport that it is, some units rise up while others fall back from week to week. Complementary can be hard.

Sunday in North London, it was the Jets defense's turn to roar back from a rough home showing against Dallas to perform inspirationally on the London stage against the Denver Broncos. But it wasn't enough to prevent the Jets' agonizing 13-11 loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"We played as a unit today," said MLB Jamien Sherwood, one of the main cogs in the defense with a season-high 13 tackles, not to mention a third-down over-the-middle pass breakup, all of which helped tie the Broncos down to one first-quarter TD drive and 246 yards of offense. "We got some key pieces back. Everybody was more comfortable. We eliminated gray areas in our defense. We were able to play fast."

And, Sherwood mentioned, almost in passing, the Jets came up with their first takeaway of the season after going their first five games without a TA for the first time in their history. And the TO didn't wait long to present itself outside nearby White Hart Lane Station. On the game's third offensive play, Sherwood applied the hit on QB Bo Nix, nickel Jarvis Brownlee Jr. administered the punchout against WR Troy Franklin, and S Andre Cisco latched onto the ball for dear life in the middle of the pile at the Denver 37.

One of those pieces to return to the mix was edge Jermaine Johnson, who missed virtually the entire 204 season with an Achilles injury and the past three games with an ankle injury. He was a little ticked at himself for whiffing on his first QB takedown in nearly two years on that aforementioned takeaway before Sherwood's official QBH.

"I know I missed a sack on that first series," Johnson said. "I know we ended up getting a takeaway, but that could've been a [strip] fumble, it could've been something where we walked away with those points. And clearly we needed it."

But Johnson made his presence felt the rest of the way with five tackles, including the sack that forced one last Denver 3-and-out punt — and one last Jets chance to retake the lead for good with 2:23 to play.

That was the only sack of Nix, but other plays and players kept the hot young QB and dangerous Broncos offense in check most of the way.

■ Backup LG Matt Peart, getting the start due to injury, was flagged three times in the first half, twice for holds, the second hold coming against Johnson and wiping out a 24-yard completion to the Jets 19 and forcing a punt.

■ RG Quinn Meinerz grabbed Micheal Clemons' jersey on a pass rush in the end zone, resulting in a safety and the 11-10 lead the Jets soon after took into the fourth quarter.

■ Nix and his offense became increasingly stifled by the Jets' gritty defense. After a 175-yard first half, the "visitors" in this game were limited to 9 third-quarter yards — Jets opponents' second-fewest in a third frame since 2014 — and 71 second-half yards.

■ A big reason for the Denver downturn in the final 30 minutes was Nix going from 15-of-20 first-half passing to 4-of-10 in the second half. And a big reason for that was Sauce Gardner's blanket coverage on leading Broncos WR Courtland Sutton, held to one catch for 17 yards. "I'm happy to have Sauce on my team," Sherwood said. "It's just a blessing to play alongside him."

The problem for the Jets defense, though, was that lack of an equally effective game from the offense, something that head coach Aaron Glenn and QB Justin Fields among others acknowledged.

"I thought our defense played well, probably our best game. We got us a takeaway. I think we were on the better end of the penalties, which was a positive on both ends," Glenn said of the Jets' two penalties for 15 yards — neither flag on the D. "But the offense ... they [Denver] gave it to us and we all saw that."

"The defense had a hell of a game today," Fields said. "The offense has to do a better job complementing that. All in all, we didn't have a good game on the offensive side of the ball."

Johnson isn't worried now about his ankle or his Achilles. He was more concerned with — yet confident in — his and his teammates' four fingers not pointing one way but the fifth pointing back at themselves.

"Be a thumb pointer," Johnson said about what he and his mates have to do after missing their Tottenham opportunity to put a win on th board. "I know it could've looked different if I didn't miss those games. That's just where my head goes, and I know where these guys' heads are going to go, and the staff as well. We've just got to keep being thumb pointers, look in the mirror and see what we can improve on.

"And I know we're never going to be finger pointers. That's how it breaks down and breaks apart."

And sooner or later how the Jets will put it back together. They'll try again with Sunday's return stateside to MetLife Stadium, when they take on Carolina.