The New York Jets face off against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts this Sunday. Foxborough has been a house of horrors for the Jets over the last two decades. The Jets beat the Patriots in Foxborough 17 – 3 in January of 2024. Prior to that the Jets had not won a regular season road game against the Patriots since the 2008 season. That’s a very long time between road victories against the Patriots.
It’s been more than just understandable road losses to a Patriots team that has
been among the best teams in the NFL for much of the last 25 years. The Patriots have made a point of embarrassing the Jets. The Jets lost to the Patriots on the road 54 – 13 in 2021. In 2018 it was a 38 – 3 loss. In 2017 it was 26 -6 and in 2016 the Jets lost on the road 41 – 3.
It has been a long, ugly, futile stretch of failure on the road for the Jets against the Patriots. On Sunday, the Jets get a chance to change all that against the defending AFC champs. In the process, the Jets can get to .500 on the season and forge ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East standings. A Jets win would give both teams a 3-3 record, but the Jets would have the better record head-to-head, in the AFC East division, and in AFC games.
A win would also give the Jets a golden opportunity to begin to make some noise in the race for a playoff spot. Following the Patriots game the Jets have a six game stretch that includes games against the Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Miami Dolphins again. The Jets are certainly in no position to overlook anyone, and most teams will likely see the Jets as a great opportunity for a win. Nonetheless, at least on paper, three wins in that six game stretch seems eminently doable, and four wins aren’t out of the question. If the Jets can somehow manage a big upset on Sunday, it’s not difficult to see a path to a .500 or better record after 12 games. That would at a minimum keep the Jets on the periphery of a playoff push over the last month or so of the season. If the current Jets regime wants to finally change the Jets’ status as a laughingstock of the NFL, this is as good a chance as any to start down that path.
The Jets have been here before. In 2024 the Jets were 2-3 going into a big division game against the Buffalo Bills. They almost won before falling 23 – 20. That set up a death spiral as the Jets proceeded to lose six out of seven games, rendering the rest of the season irrelevant.
In 2023 the Jets beat the New York Giants in overtime to get to 4-3 on the season. They promptly lost five straight as they slid into irrelevance.
In 2022 the Jets blew out the Chicago Bears 31 – 10 in late November to get to 7-4 on the season. They were serious playoff contenders. They never won another game that season.
In 2018 the Jets beat the Indianapolis Colts to get to 3-3. They went 1-8 the rest of the way.
In 2017 the Jets beat the Cleveland Browns 17 – 14 to put the finishing touches on a modest three game winning streak and get to 3-2 for the season. They went 2-9 the rest of the way.
Modest early season success for the Jets has too often been followed up with horrendous late season collapses. Some day the Jets will reach a turning point. Some day the Jets will not only find some early success. Someday the Jets will then follow up by winning the games that appear winnable. Someday the Jets will begin to string together mid season victories into late season contention. Someday the Jets will make the playoffs again.
The Jets have an opportunity here to turn the page on years of agony and heartbreak. A turning point is not always easy to see in the midst of a bad team’s struggles. The Jets have been a bad team. They have struggled. Eventually that will end. Perhaps sooner than anyone thinks. There is an opportunity here to vanquish some ghosts. A signature Jets win against an opponent that has absolutely crushed the Jets in Foxborough for decades just might be the beginning of something new for the Jets.
One victory by itself would of course be meaningless. Upsets happen. Sometimes a great opponent just doesn’t get up for a game against a weaker opponent. The key for the Jets, if they manage an upset on Sunday, would be to take care of business in the following weeks. If that were to happen, suddenly the Jets might not be laughable losers.
The opportunity is there. The challenge is daunting. Someday the Jets will win one of these games. And someday the Jets will parlay such a win into something bigger and better. Someday the Jets will find a turning point and not look back. Why not Sunday?
