The Jets need the game a lot more than the patriots...

[tuckeverlasting]

Welcome to being a Patriot fan. Is this your first year or second?

yeah, this is just one of many big games we've had. man, i remember us having to win against buffalo and then having to fly to san diego, without sleep, and having to play those steroid freaks@ balboa stadium(which i drive by every day) losing 51-10 in 1963. no sympathy for them now.

 

[patsox23]

We had a chance to put a stake through the Jets' early part of the season and we let them up off the mat. That was a hugely missed opportunity -- to put them at 0-2 in the conference, with TWO home losses. I say we sack up and get it done this time.

 

[Rob0729]

If the Pats lose, they need to win two more games the rest of the way than the Jets to win the division with four games left. Barring a collapse by the Jets after the game Monday night, the Pats need it more. The Pats lose the AFC East if the Jets win. The Jets still have a chance to win the division because they could still potentially win a tiebreaker. The Pats lose and they have to win the division outright since they lose the tiebreaker.

 

[asfpnepRefugee]

Not only that, anyone thinks that the Buffalo game is a gimme is mistaken.
Heck, Green Bay, Miami, Buffalo, Chicago, piece of cake, right?

Or the Bears, or the Packers. Much like games they've already played, every game coming up is definitely losable for them - just look at the Browns game as evidence.

 

[Joker]

uh..what's the "tiebreaker...total points against?

 

[SVN]

Patriots-Jets: What's on the line - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[shirtsleeve]

Just a note. The season does not end on Monday nite, folks..ugh.

The Pats have 3 division games and the Bears and Packers to play. That is a long tough road. The game next Monday is huge. But from this point on, they all are.

 

[ivanvamp]

Here's why:

Patriots 9-2
Jets 9-2
Ravens 8-3
Steelers 8-3

Patriots beat Ravens and Steelers
Jets lost to Ravens and need to play steelers

If patriots win, it almost guarantees a bye IMO

I wouldn't say that. The Pats still have to play at Buffalo (no easy task), home against Miami (Pats should win, but again, no easy task), at Chicago (ask Philly how easy that is), and home against the Packers (one of the better teams in the league).

The Pats could go 2-2 against that group and finish 12-4. The Jets could conceivably run the table, though they have to play Chicago and Baltimore, and finish 13-3.

This race isn't over until it's over. Not to be too cliche, of course.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Obviously the game means a lot to both teams.

But I don't follow the OP's position that the Jets need the game a lot more than the Patriots do. The way I see it the Jets have a slightly better chance at being able to rebound from a loss and win the division than the Pats do.

If the Jets lose then they need to win one more game than the Pats do the rest of the way to tie the Pats and roll the dice on tiebreakers. Those other tiebreakers (division record, record in common games, conference record) could go either way.

On the other hand if the Pats lose they will need to win two more games than the Jets in the four remaining games to win the division. If the Pats lose but end up with the same final regular season record, the Jets win the division based on the first tiebreaker, head to head record.

Bottom line is that if one team needs this game more than the other it is the Pats, not the Jets.

 

[Amnorix]

Gotta agree with the others -- both teams DESPERATELY need this game. If the Pats lose, they're effectively 1.5 games back with only a handful to go, which means they almost certianly won't catch the Jets given the brutal schedule we have left.

Which means instead of being the 1 or 2 seed (1 most likely), we're almost definitely the 5 seed.

Which means 3 games, not 2, to go to the SB.

And that at least 1, and probably all 3, are on the road, instead of at home.

Yeah, no. This game is CRITICAL.

And, let's be honest -- if we can't beat the Jets at home, barring some fluke, we won't deserve to have the #1 seed and bye if they beat us both times this year.

 

[Sundayjack]

This. It's after Thanksgiving, and the REAL season has begun. Now is the time to sell out for every game, rather than look down the pike towards the end of the season. One play at a time. One series at a time. One quarter at a time. One game at a time.

Things can change so dramatically in the stretch run. Last year, Rex was apologizing for missing the playoffs. A month later, he was preparing for the AFCC.

Patriots play Chicago, Green Bay, and Buffalo in Buffalo the day after Christmas. (N.B. Miami in NE in January is a gimme)

Jets play Pitt, Chicago, and Buffalo. (Note, I'm again calling a winter Miami game up north a gimme, and I can't wait for all the Miami whining about scheduling).

Those are two pretty evenly matched schedules. Buffalo could relish the role of the spoiler on 12/26, and then be totally disinterested at the Meadowlands a week later.