The Jets were supposed to be dead and buried by this point of the season. But like your favorite horror-movie monster, they have not gone quietly and now find themselves fighting for first place in the AFC East on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
The only thing standing in their way is the daunting challenge of toppling the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots, led by the Jets’ greatest tormentors — Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
Most preseason predictions had the Patriots flirting with 16-0 and the Jets flirting with 0-16. Instead, both teams are 3-2, tied with the Bills for first place. Buffalo has a bye week, so the winner of the Jets-Patriots game gets sole possession of first place in mid-October.
“The great thing about it is we have a chance to be in first place after six games,” wide receiver Jeremy Kerley said. “That’s the cool thing about it. This team hasn’t been in first place in the AFC East in a long time. It’s about time that we start setting a good standard around here and start having that name and that title with the Jets.”
Kerley is correct. The Jets have not held sole possession of first place in the AFC East this late in the season since 2010, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That is the last time the Jets went to the playoffs.
No one is picking the Jets as a playoff team yet, but the perception of the team has changed dramatically over their current three-game winning streak. The Jets spent the offseason ignoring people saying how bad they are. Now, they are tuning out the ones saying how much better they are.
“It hasn’t changed for us,” coach Todd Bowles said. “Praise or criticism, you have to go out there and do your job and that’s our focus. Like I said, we’re focusing on us and we’re trying to get better each week, so we’re trying to go out there and win ball games and get to the playoffs and go to the Super Bowl like everybody else.”
The Jets know that in order to beat the Patriots and take over first place, they must play better than they did last week in Cleveland, when they struggled.
“First place in anything sounds pretty good,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “In order for that to happen, we can’t play like we have in the last two or three weeks because we’ve had a lot of mistakes, a lot of mental errors and we have failed to capitalize on some of the field position we’ve had.”
Marquee matchup
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady vs. Jets coach Todd Bowles
Different year, same old story.
This is always the matchup that defines the Jets and Patriots. It has since Herm Edwards was the Jets’ coach through Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan and now Bowles. The 40-year-old Brady has shown no signs of slowing down. He has a league-high 1,702 passing yards this year, 11 touchdowns and just one interception.
“Brady will probably be playing after I am long retired at the rate he’s going right now,” Bowles joked this week.
With a win Sunday, Brady will pass Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for the most quarterback wins in NFL history with 187. Is there anything the Jets can do to stop him?
“Limit your mistakes and just try to get him off the spot,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “With him, you know that ball is coming out quick. You have to try and not let that discourage you in your rush. You have to try to affect him any way that you can because, if not, he’s just going to do what 12 does.”
4 Downs
Jump start: The Jets spent the week trying to figure out how they could get off to a quicker start offensively. They have scored just seven points in the first quarter this year, and their opening drive has been a three-and-out every game.
“We haven’t hit it on all cylinders yet,” offensive coordinator John Morton said.The Jets changed the way they practiced this week, trying to recreate the beginning of the game and giving a greater sense of urgency.
“So that it is like the beginning of the game,” Morton said. “Right from stretch, ‘Boom! Let’s go.’ Just the mindset that this is a major focus, let’s make sure we come out, whether [there is] noise out there, it’s chaos, different snap counts and things like that. Let’s just make it game like and let’s come off.”
Guess who’s back? Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski pronounced himself ready to play on Friday after missing last week’s game because of a thigh injury. Just the Jets’ luck, that he returns to face them. Gronkowski has 20 catches for 318 yards and two touchdowns this year.
In 11 games against the Jets in his career, Gronkowski has 54 catches for 655 yards and six touchdowns. Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers knows what kind of problems the 6-foot-6 monster presents.
“The matchup. Physical size,” Rodgers said. “Is he too big for a safety? Is he too fast and too strong for a linebacker? It’s just the matchup. Then you give him a lot of attention and you’re leaving a lot of guy’s one on one. That’s the problem.”
New Englan … without the ‘D’: The Patriots enter this game with the worst-ranked defense in the NFL, giving up an average of 447.2 yards per game. They are also No. 32 in passing defense (323 yards a game), 24th in rushing defense (124.2 yards) and tied for 30th in scoring (28.4 points per game).
The Jets have spent the week saying the statistics are deceiving, but can they take advantage of this defense like other teams have? The Patriots seemed to figure some things out against the Buccaneers last week and then had 10 days between that Thursday night game and this one to make further fixes.Deep thoughts: The Jets have done a good job this season of not letting teams beat them with the deep ball. After struggling last season, the Jets have allowed just two passes of 40 yards or more this season, and both were short throws that ended with a large amount of yards after the catch.
Rookie safeties Marcus Maye and Jamal Adams have shored up the back end of the defense. Now, comes the real test, though. The Patriots have six pass plays of 40 yards or more this year. Tom Brady is enjoying throwing to his new friend Brandin Cooks, a receiver who can stretch the field.
Costello’s call
The Jets have proven their critics wrong over the past three weeks. They have found different ways to win and are tied for first place in the division. The winning streak ends here. Tom Brady and the Patriots have not looked unstoppable, but they are a much better team. This one will be close for a half.
Patriots 35, Jets 17