Jets/Patriots Can Hardly Be Considered Rivalry

     After reading, watching, and listening to all of the hype for a week about the Jets vs. Patriots game and then watching it unfold in horrific fashion at Foxboro (if you are a Jets fan, like myself), what I had already believed heading in was now confirmed: this is barely even a rivalry. It can't be when the Brady/Belichick Patriots continually turn the Jets aside in big moments. Really, this was an easy game to predict; this is the type of game the Pats always win and the Jets always lose, whether they're facing each other or not. New England winning would be as easy as Steve Nash shooting a free throw...and it was.

     On an interesting side note, another red flag was how little attention the Ravens/Steelers matchup was garnering in comparison, especially when each time these teams meet, it's generally the best game of the week. Sure, I can understand that from a business standpoint that much of these ESPN-focused headlines all week had to be due in part to Monday Night Football airing on their network, while the Sunday night game does not, but it was still a little alarming. When I started to notice the difference in focus between these two games, one of my first thoughts was that Pittsburgh/Baltimore would be great, and the Monday night game would be less than stellar. Unfortunately, my prediction here was right.

     Getting back to Patriots/Jets, the Patriots came into the game ranked last in total defense, while the Jets' defense is highly praised. Yet, the Pats dropped 45 while the Jets could score just three. Granted, the New England offense is more dynamic, but with all the names the Jets have, it shouldn't be far enough ahead to offer the result of a 45-3 shellacking. Looking back at the past decade, though, this is the sort of result that we've become accustomed to, because in any big situation, the Patriots are going to bring everything they've got; with the Jets, often times we don't know what type of effort they have in store.

     It may be a rivalry for the fans, and there have been a ton of off-the-field stuff to support that case between the two franchises, but it can barely be considered anything more than a feud when one team consistently spanks the other in big time situations on game day. By my account, the Jets are 5-15 against the Patriots since Tom Brady has been a starter, and nine of those losses have been by double-digits, one in which came in the playoffs. Only twice have the Jets returned the favor in the same fashion (with win margins of 14 and 13).

     The Jets just aren't there yet. Certainly, they are in a better position as a franchise than they have been at any other point of the rivalry/feud, and as a whole, these aren't the "same old Jets". But it can hardly be said that they've officially turned a corner until they win one of these type of high-profile games, especially against the Patriots. In any type of rivalry game, both teams, no matter how good or bad, have to show up every time. Too often against New England, the Jets don't even do that.