The calendar says mid-September, but as far as the Jets are concerned, it’s looking more like the first weekend of February.
Jets defensive tackle Kris Jenkins racheted up the pregame intensity level for this week’s New England-New York matchup by saying the Jets are approaching this week “like it’s the Super Bowl.”
“This is a statement year,” Jenkins told the Newark Star-Ledger earlier this week. “Not just for [Jets head coach Rex Ryan]. It’s a statement year for this team. We’re trying to set a precedent here of what is to come for this organization, and that’s something we’re not taking lightly.”
Of course, we should have seen this coming back in June when Ryan made waves by saying he “never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.” The first-year head coach has kept after it — in a recent interview with ESPN Radio in New York, he engaged in a little chest-thumping.
“I know they’re better than us at two spots for sure — and that’s quarterback and head coach, but I’m not willing to concede anything else,” Ryan said. “They got a lot of great players over there. You got Randy Moss — he’s probably better, too. You know, Wes Welker, a lot of different guys, Pro Bowlers all over that team.
“But guess what? You’re facing a good football team. So we’re concerned with them. We respect them and all that, but they’re going to respect us as well.”
Of course, the Patriots-Jets rivalry is nothing new. These two franchises have really detested each other for the better part of the last 35 years. It went to a whole new level in 1997 when New York lured Bill Parcells away from Robert Kraft and New England. Then, in 2000, Belichick spurned the Jets’ offering of a head coaching job and took over the Patriots. Since then, New England has won 13 of the 19 games between the two teams, six divisional titles and three Super Bowls.
And the past three seasons, the complicated Belichick-Eric Mangini relationship added some extra spice to the rivalry.
But Ryan has his own reasons to hate New England. He’s the former defensive coordinator for the Ravens, and a narrow 2007 New England win over Baltimore still gnaws at him, especially because he inadvertently called a late timeout, nullifying a play that would have all but assured the Ravens of a victory.
“I’m never over that game — I carry that chip with me,” Ryan said. “You know, everybody knows that I blew that timeout call, but everybody forgets the next play, when we got another chance to play that situation, we hit them for a 3-yard loss — except their right guard moved early, but everybody forgets that.”
Bluster from Ryan is no surprise — it runs in the family. His father, Buddy, never backed down from a fight (just ask Kevin Gilbride), and his brother Rob is equally as feisty.
“I’ve always been a fan of the Ryan brothers,” Pats wide receiver Randy Moss said. “I was in Oakland with Rob, and I played a couple times [against] Rex in Baltimore, and I met old Buddy. So, I think that he really meant what he said and I think that he has a really good team backing him.
“It’s going to be a good game, and it’s always a barnburner when we play a rivalry, especially in the division.”
Belichick said Tuesday evening that the most important part of this game for New England lies in the fact that it’s an early season division game on the road. Divisional losses proved to be the difference between making the playoffs and going home at the end of last year for the Patriots, who suffered losses in key divisional games to the Jets and Dolphins and ended up on the outside looking in at the postseason party as a result.
Tom Brady’s return or no, the Patriots don’t want to take the same chance this time around, and a 2-0 start within the division would go a long way toward achieving that.
“The most important thing to us is we are playing a division game on the road,” Belichick said. “That pretty much says it all. Whatever you want to write — big game, or important game, or however you want to say that, put it in capital letters, or put it in italics — phrase it however you want to phrase it.
“I think division games are big games on our schedule, and when we’re on the road, those are huge. So we know it’s a big matchup, and I’m sure they do, too.”
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