Recent history has not been kind to the New York Jets when it comes to facing the New England Patriots, and they aren't forgetting that.
New York hasn't won a game against their AFC East foe since 2015, and hasn't taken home a regulation victory since 2011. Under the Bill Belichick regime, the Patriots have a 35-11 record against the Jets and have thoroughly dominated the series at MetLife Stadium, the site of Sunday's matchup, 9-3.
These two teams last faced off on Oct. 24, 2021, with the Patriots putting an absolute beatdown on the Jets, 54-13. The game had it all from New England's perspective, they put up 551 yards on offense, turned the ball over three times on defense and even pulled out some razzle-dazzle. While the Jets could, and probably should, put that game and the rest of the series' history behind them and focus on a 2022-23 season in which they've been much better, it seems as though they're using that matchup as motivation.
"I'm not gonna get into too many specifics, but there's just certain ways you do things in this league and then there's just certain ways you don't," Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said, per the New York Post. "And at the end of the day, to a man, everybody that was a part of that felt a way about how that went down. Sunday will be here before you know it, and everybody in here is ready to play just like any other week, but obviously a little bit of history to that matchup. ... Everybody's looking forward to wipe the slate clean of that."
While the players who were getting scored on obviously didn't enjoy the way things went down, Jets coaches seem to feel the same way.
"I remember the score. I remember a lot of things," Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said Thursday. "I remember it being 40+ and shots still being taken on us. It is what it is. It's our job as a defense to stop that. ... Been looking forward to this one."
Is this a rivalry game? Well, only in the same way a hammer is rivals with a nail, but the Jets have improved enough for this to be the start of a more competitive era of New England-New York football. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has talked up the Jets ahead of the matchup, and unlike other scenarios, it doesn't sound like lip service.
By all accounts, the Jets appear to be on the way up and the Patriots appear to be on the way down. Sunday's matchup may give some intel as to what these teams truly are.
