Jump-start. Rekindle. Get back on track. All are descriptions of the thing the Jets need to accomplish Sunday afternoon in their annual visit to Gillette Stadium in the Massachusetts countryside.
Of course, what can be said about the 2-5 Jets can also describe the 1-6 Pats’ mission as well. But if the Jets seek to right their ship and return to their road to the playoffs, they need to fire up their win engine soon, as in Sunday.
The Patriots, who long were a Green & White nemesis, have recently come back to earth. The Jets defeated them in the 2023 season finale in Foxboro, MA, Bill Belichick’s final game as New England’s head coach, and they thumped the Pats, 24-3, in this year’s Week 3 home opener.
would give them their first 3-game win streak over the Patriots since a 4-game win streak from 1999-2001, their first 2-game road win streak in this rivalry since they had 5 road wins in a row from 1998-2002, and their first season sweep of the Pats since the 2000 season.
More important, it would end the Jets’ 4-game losing streak, get them in the right frame of mind to take on the tough but beatable Texans in their Thursday night game at MetLife Stadium on Halloween, and possibly provide that vital spark for a midseason run.
Hoping to help the Jets get this party started will be edge rusher and veteran DL/LB Haason Reddick, who ended his long holdout after his March trade from the Eagles to the Jets with a full week of practice. Reddick was moved to the active roster Saturday and is expected to contribute to the Jets’ pass rush Sunday against rookie QB Drake Maye.