Jets Already Thinking About Patriots

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The leftovers from the Jets’ 26-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thanksgiving did not have much shelf life. Even in a victorious locker room, there was less reflection and more focus on what lies ahead.

After cornerback Darrelle Revis shut down Bengals receiver Terrell Owens, the versatile Brad Smith had two long touchdowns and the defense reclaimed its snarl, the Jets quickly shifted their attention to the New England Patriots.
“There’s a lot for both teams to prove who is the best team,” Revis said. “It’s going to be big. It’s going to be fireworks. It’s going to be time to play a great game.”

With both teams improving to 9-2 on Thursday, the framework has been laid for a monumental meeting on Dec. 6 in Foxborough, Mass., rich with implications both tangible (playoff position) and intangible (pride). No recent meeting in the bitter Jets-Patriots rivalry has come with this much at stake, or with 11 long days of anticipation preceding it.
“It’s always a big game, but this one will have a lot of buildup,” left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson said. Shrugging, he added, “Would you rather have it any other way?”
The Patriots, too, wasted little time talking about the game.
“The Jets game is huge,” Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said in The Boston Globe. “We need it. So do they.”
Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said in The Globe: “You know what, the Jets are the Jets. They’re going to do what they do best, and we’re going to do what we do. It’s a division game. We have a couple more days to get prepared for them. We’ll make the best of it. Trust me, we will. But it’s going to be another dogfight. It’s going to be a classic A.F.C. East battle.”The winner of the game two Mondays from now will claim first place in the American Football Conference East, and that could end up being the difference between receiving the No. 1 seed in the playoffs or the No. 5 seed — the difference between home-field advantage through January and playing on the road.
Of course, it’s a game that would be interesting even without that backdrop.
Jets Coach Rex Ryan irked the Patriots before the season even started when he declared his team was “soon to be champs.” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady publicly acknowledged that his hatred for the Jets prevented him from watching the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
The only recent regular-season matchup between the teams that compares to this one occurred in 2002. Entering the game, the Jets were 7-7 and the Patriots were 8-6 and tied with the Miami Dolphins atop the A.F.C. East. The Jets won at New England, 30-17, on the way to a 9-7 finish and a playoff appearance. The Patriots were left out. (The Jets have a 51-50-1 series lead.)
Since the Jets’ 28-14 win over the Patriots at New Meadowlands Stadium in Week 2, the teams have been keeping pace with each other.
Before the Jets’ took the field Thursday, New England routed the Detroit Lions, 45-24, with Brady throwing four touchdowns in a nearly flawless performance. It provided a reminder of what was ahead for the Jets, who trailed the Bengals by 7-3 in the first half before pulling away in the third quarter.
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson said he was sure to watch the Patriots play before he arrived at the stadium on Thursday. Quarterback Mark Sanchez said he was considering watching film of the Patriots when he returned home, by then early Friday morning. Defensive end Trevor Pryce said he preferred to take the next three days away from all the hype.
But safety James Ihedigbo said: “You start thinking about this one now. You could write every story you want for this one.”
For the Jets, there would seem to be added importance in beating the Patriots, who have won 25 consecutive regular-season games at home. The Jets’ schedule does not get much easier: still to come are trips to play the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3) and the Chicago Bears (7-3).
Linebacker Bart Scott said Thursday that the Jets wanted to prove their worth with their play. Scott needed to pause after he rattled off the consequences of the Patriots game.
“You know what,” he said. “Sounds like the playoffs to me.”
The anticipation for the meeting will surely build over the coming days, but hardly anyone wearing a Jets logo felt the need to temper his excitement. That included the team’s coach.
Unprompted, Ryan perked up a few ears when he used the words “Tom Brady” while answering a question in his postgame news conference about the Jets’ defense against the Bengals. The third question of the session, which followed, was not about Owens or Ochocinco, but the Patriots.
“They’re clearly the best team in football,” Ryan said with more than a hint of sarcasm. “That’s what it looks like and that’s what all of the experts say — except me. We’ll see.”