FOXBORO -- It's known simply by two words: Jets Week.
Say no more, say no more. The Jets will be in Foxboro this weekend for a Sunday afternoon showdown against the Patriots, and you can be sure that it's all the buzz around New England.
Tom Brady has started in 22 games against the Jets including two postseason games. The Patriots record in these games is 16-5. (He appeared but did not start in one other, a loss, for an injured Drew Bledsoe . . . remember that?)
But despite the team's superb record against the Jets, Brady's performances haven't always been great. He's thrown for three or more touchdowns just three times over his career against them and has amassed his career 96.6 QB rating in just ten of those 21 starts.
He knows firsthand that New York certainly gets up for the occasion.
"It's a great rivalry, there's no question," Brady said. "We've had so many meaningful games against these guys. And it's like, we do the scouting report and they go though the names on the list, and I go, 'I know every single one of these guys. Why are we talking David Harris, and Antonio Cromartie?' They have a few new faces in there but this defense presents some great challenges for our offense, and ones we've faced since Rex Ryan has been the head coach of that team. It's a great rivalry, it's a fun game for us players. And it's always had meaning behind it. It's never been a meaningless game, so this one will be no different than that."
With both division rivals entering the game at 3-3 and tied for first place (or last, depending on how your glass looks right now), both sides know that the winner of Sunday's game could greatly benefit later on in the season if the division remains close. Preparation is, as always, key.
New England Patriots
While New England had to cram for last Sunday's game against the Seahawks, they are obviously more familiar with what the Jets do. They play them at least eight times in-between Seattle games.
"When you play a team you don't play very often you try to get up to speed as quickly as you can and understand their strengths and weaknesses," Brady said. "Certainly a team like the Jets we know what they do well and we try to find ways to exploit the things that we don't think they do very well."
As far as all the hype surrounding the game, Brady isn't getting caught up in any of itunlike, ahem, some of us.
"I don't have to write any stories or anything like that. I just have to show up and do my job," he said.