The New York Jets enter Sunday’s trip to Gillette Stadium with a chance to change a familiar AFC East narrative. Coming off an eight-sack win over the Cleveland Browns, the 2-3 Jets face the 3-2 New England Patriots at 1 p.m. ET in their first division game of the season.
For Aaron Glenn’s team, it is more than another road assignment. The Jets have spent much of the past decade at the bottom of the division, finishing last seven times in 10 seasons while posting a 13-47 AFC East record.
Quick facts
- New York plays New England on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
- The Jets are 2-3 after recording eight sacks against Cleveland.
- New England enters at 3-2 as the reigning AFC East champion.
- New York is 1-14 in Foxborough since its 2010 playoff victory there.
- The Jets have not captured the AFC East crown since 2002.
The divisional numbers have been particularly bleak away from MetLife Stadium. New York is 4-26 on the road against AFC East opponents over the past 10 seasons, while its overall 13-47 division mark is the league’s worst during that stretch. Miami, the next-closest AFC East team in that span, is 32-28 in division play.
The Jets went 0-6 against division opponents in Glenn’s first season. Since Garrett Wilson joined the club in 2022, New York is 6-18 in AFC East games, and it lost 15 consecutive division matchups from 2020 through 2022.
Wilson said the opener inside the division carries obvious importance for a team hoping to stay relevant in the race.
“There’s a premium on this one because it is our first one,” Wilson said. “I don’t know exactly how to say it, but it’s a huge game.”
He has seen what the Patriots rivalry has meant around the organization. When Wilson arrived as a rookie, New England’s winning streak against the Jets stood at 12 games; it reached 15 before New York finally broke through in the 2023 regular-season finale.
Wilson wants younger players to recognize that playoff and division races are often shaped by the teams a club meets twice each season.
“To be in the hunt, you have to look at how you did against the teams you play twice,” Wilson said. “This is our first one.”
New York’s recent division victories have not often come against established starting quarterbacks. Its last three AFC East wins before this season came against Miami backup Tyler Huntley in Week 18 of 2024, Patriots starter Jacoby Brissett in Week 3 of 2024 and Patriots backup Bailey Zappe in Week 18 of 2023.
The Jets did beat Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen in the 2023 season opener, but that game was overshadowed by Aaron Rodgers’ season-ending Achilles injury. The club’s struggles continued through the Robert Saleh, Zach Wilson and Rodgers period, which ended without a division breakthrough.
Foxborough remains a major hurdle
Gillette Stadium has been especially unkind to the Jets. Before the 2023 victory over Zappe in Bill Belichick’s final game as Patriots coach, New York had not won in Foxborough since the 2010 AFC divisional round.
That playoff win remains one of the franchise’s biggest accomplishments since Super Bowl III. Since then, the Jets have dropped 14 of 15 games in New England, with six of those defeats decided by at least 14 points.
Glenn said his players are not dwelling on the franchise’s previous failures, though he acknowledged the significance of facing an AFC East opponent.
“We don’t spend time worrying about the past,” Glenn said. “We concentrate on what is in front of us. Division games are important, but our focus is this game, winning this game and being ready for this game.”
The Patriots no longer have the Tom Brady-Belichick pairing that controlled the AFC East for two decades. After a short downturn following their departures, New England has rebuilt around coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye.
Nickelback Jarvis Brownlee Jr. said a road win over the defending division champion would matter throughout the Jets organization.
“It means the world,” Brownlee said. “If we can go there and get a win against the defending division champs, that would be awesome for this team and this organization.”
