The Jets head to Foxboro on Sunday for their final game of the season and likely Bill Belichick's final game as Patriots coach.
Belichick famously left the Jets in 2000 and joined the Patriots as head coach after weeks of negotiations and wrangling.
Who could have predicted that Belichick would give the Jets so much trouble?
It didn't start out bad. The Jets won the first three games against Belichick's Patriots, but things changed in the third matchup when Mo Lewis ejected Drew Bledsoe and replaced Tom Brady. .
The Patriots will soon become a dynasty, and the Jets will have to see that dynasty twice a year.
The Jets are 11-38 against Belichick and the Patriots and an impressive 2-23 in their last 25 games against Belichick. The Jets entered Sunday's game having lost 15 straight games in the rivalry.
There are a lot of bad memories for the Jets against Belichick. But let's focus on the positive this week.
Below is a chronological list of the Jets' big six-pack wins over the Patriots.
Sunday, December 22, 2002: Jets 30, Patriots 17
at Gillette Stadium
The Patriots, the defending Super Bowl champions, entered Sunday night's game with an 8-6 record. The Jets had 7 wins and 7 losses. Both teams were fighting to stay alive in the AFC East championship race.
The game was tied 17-17 in the third quarter when Troy Brown smothered a Patriots punt and the Jets' Nick Ferguson recovered at the New England 19. Late in the game, John Hall kicked a field goal to give the Jets a 20-17 lead. Thirdly.
Chad Pennington threw his third touchdown of the game to Wayne Chrebet in the fourth quarter, giving the Jets a 10-point lead en route to the victory.
The following week, the Jets defeated the Packers to win the division. This was the last time the Jets won the AFC East.
November 12, 2006: Jets 17, Patriots 14
at Gillette Stadium
This one was about Jets coach Eric Mangini. Mangini left New England before the 2006 season to take a job with the Jets, incurring the ire of his former coach.
Kevan Barlow scored a touchdown for the Jets, and Pennington scored a touchdown to Jericho Kochary with 4:45 left to make it 17-6. The Patriots got within three points, but Sean Ellis sacked Brady to end the game.
After the game, Belichick and Mangini exchanged a quick handshake and barely looked at each other, which has become a tradition when they meet.
The match was played in continuous rain and poor footing. So, midway through the season, the Patriots tore out the grass at Gillette Stadium and replaced it with grass.
The teams met again in the playoffs in Foxboro, with the Patriots winning 37-16.
November 13, 2008: Jets 34, Patriots 31 (OT)
at Gillette Stadium
This is one of the few games in which Brady did not play quarterback for the Patriots. Backup Matt Cassel faced Jets quarterback Brett Favre on Thursday night.
This match had a lot of drama and back-and-forth developments. The Jets led by 18 points in the first half, but Cassel and the Patriots kept chasing. Cassel completed 30 of 51 passes for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Favre was also great, completing 26 of 33 for 258 yards and two touchdowns.
Cassel connected with Randy Moss for a 16-yard touchdown with one second left, making it 31-31 and forcing overtime. Once the Jets had the ball, Favre marched his team down the field, including a third-and-15 pass to Dustin Keller for a first down.
Kicker Jay Feely made a 34-yard field goal for the win.
With this win, the Jets improved to 7-3 and looked like they were heading to the Super Bowl. There was video of general manager Mike Tannenbaum celebrating outside the Jets' locker room and enthusiastically patting the backs of every player who came through the door.
The Jets collapsed late in the game when Favre tore his biceps tendon. They finished with 9 wins and 7 losses, missing out on the playoffs. As a result, Mangini was fired and Favre was traded to the Vikings before retiring.
September 20, 2009: Jets 16, Patriots 9
At Giants Stadium
This was the first home game for new coach Rex Ryan and new quarterback Mark Sanchez.
It may have been the loudest Jets game ever played at the old Meadowlands. Ryan excited the crowd by leaving a voicemail for all season ticket holders to shout out to them the week before the game. After the game, Ryan presented the game ball to the fans.
Sanchez was quiet in the first half, but Keller scored the winning touchdown on the first drive of the second half. The Jets' defense was amazing. Brady had just 216 passing yards and was intercepted by Darrelle Revis.
The Patriots had a chance to tie the score, but Dwight Lowery deflected a fourth-down pass to end the game.
January 16, 2011: Jets 28, Patriots 21
at Gillette Stadium
This is the Jets' biggest win over Belichick and one of the biggest in franchise history. After losing 45-3 to the Patriots a month ago, the Jets are back in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
The Jets' defense was lights out all day and Brady was frustrated all day. Sanchez scored a touchdown to Braylon Edwards late in the first half for a 14-3 lead.
New England fought back, but Sanchez connected with Santonio Holmes for a touchdown to start the fourth quarter and give the Jets a 21-11 lead. Shon Greene scored with 1:41 left, giving the Jets a 28-14 lead. The Patriots fought back with a touchdown, but were unable to recover the onside kick, ending the game.
With this victory, the Jets qualified for the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year. They lost to the Steelers and haven't been back to the playoffs since. The win seemed to change the dynamic of the AFC East, but the Jets would only beat the Patriots twice over the next 12 years.
December 27, 2015: Jets 26, Patriots 20 (OT)
At MetLife Stadium
Brandon Marshall scored two touchdowns in the game, the second of which gave the Jets a 17-3 lead. But Brady and the Patriots fought back and tied the game at 20-20 with a James White touchdown with less than two minutes left.
In overtime, the Patriots won the coin toss and surprisingly elected to kick. The Jets advanced down the field with Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing a long pass to Quincy Enunwa and Eric Decker scoring the winning touchdown.
This is the Jets' fifth consecutive win, moving them to 10 wins and 5 losses. They had to win against Buffalo the following week to advance to the playoffs, but they lost.
This was the last time the Jets beat the Patriots, and it was also the last time the Jets ended a season with a victory. Dark days will follow after this game.
bad recipe
The Jets parted ways with Dalvin Cook this summer after signing him to a one-year, $7 million contract.
This trade made no sense to me at all. There's a reason players become free agents in August. The Vikings knew Cook was no longer a high-profile running back and released him. No other team offered a contract close to what the Jets offered.
There was some speculation earlier in the season that Breece Hall could carry the load while he recovers from an ACL injury. However, that didn't seem like a good enough reason to sign Cook, as the Jets were confident Hall would be a key part of the offense early in the season.
This is also an autograph with Aaron Rodgers' fingerprints on it. He wanted the Jets to sign Cook, so the Jets did.
It was clear early on that the Jets didn't trust Cook, and he barely played this season. This was a terrible sign.
That's the status
The Jets will look to end a 15-game losing streak that dates back to 2016 against the Patriots on Sunday. This is tied for the fifth-longest losing streak against a team in NFL history. Here's the list of the worst:
Bills vs. Dolphins — 20 (1970-79)
Rams vs. 49ers — 17 (1990-98)
Broncos vs. Chiefs — 16 (2015-23)
Lions vs. Washington — 16 (1968-97)
Jets vs. Patriots — 15 (2016-present)
Bills vs. Patriots — 15 (2003-10)
Cardinals vs. Packers — 15 (1937-46)
Source: New England Patriots
