This usually is the time of year when the Patriots start forgetting about the AFC East and start worrying about the real competition, but the Jets have changed that.
New England has owned the AFC East since Tom Brady took over as its starting quarterback, winning seven of nine division crowns. The Rex Ryan- and Mark Sanchez-led Jets have a chance to put themselves in prime position to win it for the first time in eight years when the two 9-2 rivals meet in a Monday night showdown.
“Yes, they are,” former Patriots linebacker and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi said when asked if these Jets are the biggest threat to the Patriots’ division dominance. “The Jets have finally solidified themselves as legitimate. This year, this is the first time in a long time that the Patriots winning the division is in doubt and that’s a testament to what the Jets have done.”
Bruschi was a part of six of those AFC East-winning teams and all three of the Patriots’ Super Bowl champion squads. Bruschi recalled that when the calendar hit December the Patriots generally had the division locked up.
“A lot of those times we weren’t looking at teams within the division as threats down the line,” said Bruschi, who will be honored by the Patriots at halftime of the game.
“There were times when the division was wrapped up so early in the season and I remember receiving T-shirts and hats saying “AFC East champs” with weeks to go and thinking about playoffs and playoff positioning.”
Both teams will be worried about playoff positioning on Monday. The winner will have a game up in the division with four games to go, and the loser will have to play catch up. The Jets have the advantage of winning the Week 2 matchup between the teams, but also have trips to Pittsburgh and Chicago coming up in the next three weeks.
“The Patriots have to take the Jets seriously,” said Patriots’ longtime radio analyst and former wide receiver Gino Cappelletti. “Not the way they’ve been playing, but the way they’ve been winning. They really haven’t been a scoring machine, and the Patriots have to be prepared for a contest like that if it turns into a defensive battle. They will have to adjust to whatever game it becomes.”
The two times the Patriots have lost the division in the past decade were in Brady’s second year in 2002 when the 9-7 Jets won the division on the season’s final day when they won a three-way tie with Miami and New England. The second time came two years ago when Brady went down for the season with a knee injury in Week 1, and the Jets seemed poised to win the division with an 8-3 record. But they choked it away by losing four of their final five games — finishing two games behind the Dolphins and Patriots. That led to Eric Mangini being ushered out, along with Brett Favre, to be replaced by Ryan and Sanchez.
Though the Jets have not been a constant threat to the Patriots, their rivalry has always remained fierce.
“We’ve had a handful of rivalries there over the last decade or so with the Steelers, the Colts, but especially the Jets,” Bruschi said.” [Bill] Belichick, the coaches were coaching with more urgency, an aggressive demeanor about them.
“There’s a lot of history from players going back and forth between the Jets and the Patriots, same with coaches. And with that comes more of a wanting to beat that team. The coaches really took the lead when I was there and let me know how hated the New York Jets were in that facility.”
justin.terranova@nypost.com