New York Jets are making the wrong kind of history
The New York Jets‘ 54-13 loss to the New England Patriots didn’t only hurt to watch, it put a new record in the books – a very ugly record, at that.
Going into Week 7, the Patriots were tied with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles for the longest active win streak against one opponent at 11 consecutive wins. For Kansas City, that opponent is Denver, and for both New England and Philadelphia, that opponent is the Jets.
The Eagles have dominated the Jets for all of eternity. In 11 contests from 1973 to 2019, the Jets have never won. They’ve never even been in the same division together, but the Eagles have oddly always been the Jets’ kryptonite.
As for the Patriots, well, Jets fans are well aware of their little brother status in the “rivalry” as of late. Since 2003, the Jets have beaten the Patriots eight times. The Patriots have won 34 times.
Things have gotten a whole lot more one-sided since the Jets’ statement win over the Patriots in the 2010 AFC Divisional Round. Twenty-two matchups later, the Jets have won a measly (debatably too kind of a description) two times.
Twice … in 22 games.
The first of the two Jet wins came in 2013 with rookie Geno Smith at the helm. For reference, Jeremy Kerley and David Nelson led the team in receiving, Quinton Coples sacked Tom Brady and Antonio Allen returned an interception for six. New York won in overtime with a 42-yard Nick Folk field goal.
The latter win came in 2015, this time with Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the charge. Brandon Marshall led the team in receiving yards, Lorenzo Mauldin sacked Tom Brady, and Fitzpatrick connected with Eric Decker for the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
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With both of those victories coming in overtime, the Jets haven’t beaten the Patriots in regulation since that 2010 AFC Divisional Round. They have not defeated New England at Gillette Stadium since 2008.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are responsible for the majority of New England’s dominance over the Jets in the 21st century, but things have remained ugly since Brady headed to Tampa Bay.
Cam Newton swept the Jets in 2020 and Mac Jones repeated the feat this year while outscoring the Jets by 60 points across the two games.
Ultimately, with their decisive 41-point victory in Foxborough, the Patriots extended their victory streak over the Jets to 12 games.
Hysterical or sad – however you want to look at it – the Jets beat their own active league record, which stood at 11 games. New England’s win streak over the Jets is the longest one running in the league today.
If the Jets are interested in the record (which it seems they are), they only have nine games to go. From 1968 to 1997, Detroit lost to Washington 20 straight times, and from 1970 to 1979, Buffalo lost to Miami 20 straight times.
Following today’s record-setting loss, head coach Robert Saleh said the Patriots “punched us in the frickin’ mouth and scored points,” which they seemingly did every time they had the ball. New England scored on nine of its first 10 drives prior to kneeling on the final possession.
On the bright side, the Jets are a young team with an immense amount of offseason capital to continue to get better and better. Hopefully, for parity’s sake, when these teams face off in 2022 the Jets are ready to put up more of a fight.
