The New York Jets will be looking to upset the New England Patriots Thursday night in AFC East rivalry game.
The intense rivalry game should be ripe with drama. Both the Jets and the Patriots won close games in week one. They stand at 1-0 and are tied with Miami for the division lead. To get to 1-0 both teams needed 4th quarter comebacks.
The Jets beat the Buccaneers 18-17 after Tampa Bay handed over an unsportmanlike conduct penalty for 15 yards. The bone headed move put New York in field goal range. Kicker Nick Folk did the rest.
The Patriots were down 21-17 going into the fourth quarter in Buffalo. The Bills held strong but the offense stalled. New England squeaked out two field goals to win the game.
The message from both games was clear. The Jets are better than offseason pundits thought, and the Patriots won’t be able to overpower teams to easy wins.
It won’t be surprising if the Jets upset the Patriots with a close score on Thursday Night Football . Something like 21-17.
The thinking is simple. The Jets have a good defense. Regardless of all the criticism Rex Ryan gets as a head coach, he knows defense (last year’s disaster not withstanding).
In New England Tom Brady has no weapons to throw to. His top two targets from last week are out with injury. That would be Shane Vereen and Danny Amendola. Rob Gronkowski isn’t ready to play yet either.
If the Jets can do what the Bills did and keep the score low, the rest is up to Geno Smith. If Smith can limit mistakes and lead the Jets downfield two, maybe three times and score, New York could win.
Still, Tom Brady is Tom Brady. He makes the players around him better, not the other way around. He could very well find the next Gronkowski this game. Zach Sudfeld look pretty great in preseason, although he is questionable to play with a hamstring injury.
Here’s a classic video of Bart Scott with the Jets after beating the Patriots in the playoffs in 2011 when no one gave them a chance. It highlights the emotions of the rivalry perfectly:
http://youtu.be/QJshw2Axsqc
If the Jets upset the Patriots Thursday night it will go a long way to make people take them seriously. It will also go a long way to save Rex Ryan’s job.
Do you think the Jets stand a chance to beat the Patriots?
