That fact is impressive, not only because each team plays divisional counterparts six times a season, but because the AFC East is and has been a highly-competitive division throughout this past decade; and there are no signs of it weakening in sight.So, after opening the 2011 season with three out of four road games – and three out of four wins – the Patriots head back to Gillette Stadium for probably the biggest regular season home game this year. That’s right, the New York Jets are coming to Foxborough.
“That’s three division games here to start off the season – always big games,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told the media on Wednesday. “The Jets look good, as they always do.”
But, with New York in the midst of a two-game losing skid, the Patriots want to do everything in their power to keep the Jets’ losing streak – and New England’s winning streak – alive and well.
Cue the throwback jerseys.
The Patriots had their throwback helmets donning the classic Patriot Pat logo hanging in their lockers on Monday, when it became apparent that the Pats would be wearing their throwbacks for a good, old-fashioned, late-afternoon game on CBS in a rivalry that has easily been comparable to Yankees-Red Sox as of late.
The specific throwbacks they’ll be wearing for the game? Identical to those worn by the Patriots in 1985, the only other time the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl not in the 2000s. They beat the Jets at home that year, too, on Oct. 20.
The jerseys are classic red, with white pants, a white helmet and a white facemask. The team wore throwbacks twice last season, resulting in two wins (Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions). The Patriots have lost only three times while wearing throwbacks.
And they’re not interested in making this the fourth. Not just because their wearing the jerseys, but also because the Patriots don’t like to lose at home. Since Gillette Stadium was built in 2002, the Pats have only lost 14 games there. Their regular-season win streak at home stretches more than two seasons.
But the Jets beat the Patriots there last year in the AFC division playoffs. And the Jets beat them at Gillette in the regular season in November 2008.
Another big game Sunday. We’re excited.
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