Now, the Jets face the varsity.
Gang Green got off to a 1-0 start with their 18-17 victory Sunday against the Buccaneers, who had trouble getting out of their own way on offense and then handed the Jets the game with a boneheaded penalty.
The Jets got to celebrate for about five minutes before turning their attention to Thursday night’s showdown with the rival Patriots in Foxborough. The Jets feel good after pulling out their shocking win on Sunday, but they know they’re moving up in class this week.
“They’re the ones that clearly you have to beat,” coach Rex Ryan said. “If you want to win your division, you have to beat these guys. They’ve won it every year since I’ve been here. … If that’s one of your goals, they’re the ones that you’re gunning for.”
The Jets are 13-point underdogs against New England, fueling the team’s belief they still have no one’s respect.
When told no one expects the Jets to win this week, wide receiver Stephen Hill said the team does not care about what is being said outside the team.
“Nobody thought we were going to win [Sunday],” Hill said. “They can call it luck, but a win is a win.”
Ryan showed his team the ESPN power rankings on Saturday night that had the Jets ranked dead last — that’s right, 32nd — in the NFL. Ryan joked Monday that maybe Sunday’s win moved them up.
“We never ranked ourselves 32nd,” Ryan said. “We said that from Day 1. We’re a confident football team. We know the preparation, the work. We feel good about us. Outside is what it is. Maybe we’ll be 31st this week.”
Ryan can joke, but there is a true feeling in the Jets locker room they are being overlooked by the league’s pundits and the players believe they can surprise people. Sunday’s win was not pretty, but the defense kept the Jets in the game and rookie quarterback Geno Smith showed poise at the end of the game.
Hill said the team is tired of hearing about how the Jets are a mess.
“They talk junk about us, you don’t understand. It [ticks] me off ’cause they talk bad about us so bad, it’s to the point where everybody wants to believe that. That’s what people believe,” Hill said. “So the Jets are this circus team, so that’s what they have marked as us being.
“I mean, I’ve even listened to the commentaries [Sunday] — ‘Uh, well, this was a circus game, and look at all this circus stuff with a circus ending.’ If we would have come to your job and say, ‘Y’all don’t do certain things,’ how would you feel? We’re just playing a game, things are going to happen in a game. We’re not perfect. Nobody’s perfect. If we were perfect, we would go 16-0.”
The Jets will see a different looking Patriots offense on Thursday than the one they have seen in recent years. Wes Welker is in Denver. Aaron Hernandez is in prison. And Rob Gronkowski is not expected to play.
The Jets are 0-4 against Bill Belichick and Tom Brady since they beat them in the 2010 playoffs. With all of those weapons gone, though, are the Patriots as vulnerable as they’ve been since Ryan has been with the Jets?
“I would not say that,” Ryan said. “I don’t know what they ran the ball for [Sunday against the Bills], but they ran the ball against a good defense. This is a very talented offense. They’ve been together for awhile. They do have a couple of new guys but they’re very similar. … It’s going to be a huge challenge, there’s no question.”