The New York Jets will face the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts this Sunday. Foxborough has been a house of horrors for the Jets over the past two decades. The Jets defeated 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. It’s been a long time between road victories against the Patriots.
These are more than understandable road losses to a Patriots team that has been among the best teams in the NFL for most of the last 25 years. The Patriots made a point that embarrassed 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 was a long, ugly, pointless road loss for the Jets against the Patriots. On Sunday, the Jets will have a chance to change all that against the defending AFC champs. In the process, the Jets could get to .500 on the season and move 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 start making 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 miss anyone, and most teams likely see the Jets as a good opportunity for a win. However, at least on paper, three wins in those six games seems very doable, and four wins is not out of the question. If the Jets can somehow pull off a big upset on Sunday, it’s not hard to see a path to a .500 or better record after 12 games. That will at least keep the Jets around for a playoff push in the last month or so of the season. If the current Jets regime wants to finally change the Jets’ status as the laughing stock of the NFL, this is as good a chance as any to start down that path.
The Jets have been here for a while. In 2024 the Jets were 2-3 in a big division game against the Buffalo Bills. They nearly won before falling 23 – 20. This set up a death spiral as the Jets lost six of seven games, rendering the rest of the season meaningless.
In 2023, the Jets beat the New York Giants in overtime to go 4-3 on the season. They promptly lost five in a row slipping to nothing.
In 2022, the Jets blasted the Chicago Bears 31 – 10 in late November to go 7-4 on the season. They are serious playoff contenders. They never won another game that season.
In 2018 the Jets beat the Indianapolis Colts to go 3-3. They went 1-8 the rest of the way.
In 2017 the Jets defeated the Cleveland Browns 17 – 14 to put the finishing touches on a mediocre three game winning streak and reach 3-2 for the season. They went 2-9 the rest of the way.
Moderate early-season success for the Jets was often followed by horrendous late-season slumps. Someday, the Jets will reach a tipping point. Someday the Jets won’t just find some early success. On another day, the Jets will go after winning games that look winnable. One day the Jets will start stringing together midseason victories into late-season contention. One day the Jets will make the playoffs again.
The Jets have a chance here to turn the page on years of misery and heartache. The turning point isn’t always easy to spot amid the struggles of a bad team. The Jets have been a bad team. They struggled. Finally it will be over. Probably sooner than anyone thinks. There is an opportunity here to defeat some ghosts. A signature Jets win against an opponent that has literally crushed the Jets in Foxborough for decades could just be the start of something new for the Jets.
Of course, a victory in itself is meaningless. Anxieties happen. Sometimes a good opponent cannot recover for a game against a weaker opponent. The key for the Jets, if they manage an upset on Sunday, is to take care of business in the following weeks. If that happens, suddenly losing to the Jets might not be so ridiculous.
The opportunity is there. The challenge is daunting. Someday the Jets will win one of these games. And one day, the Jets will parlay such a win into something bigger and better. One day, the Jets will find a change and never look back. Why not Sunday?