Belichick: Jets will be there at the end of the year

BY NICK ST. DENIS

There's no question the New England Patriots are extremely relieved to have snatched up the lone spot atop the AFC East standings, especially via a hard-fought Week 7 29-26 overtime victory over the New York Jets.

However, Patriots coach Bill Belichick doesn't expect Gang Green, who gave New England all it could handle Sunday, to go away any time soon.

"It’s good to be 2-0 in the division. Those are huge games for us," Belichick told reporters after the game. "We know the Jets are going to be there all the way through, they’ll be there at the end. There’s a lot of football left to be played. I don’t think anybody clinched anything today, I don’t think anybody got eliminated today."

The Jets and Patriots square off again in four weeks, this time at MetLife Stadium.

" It was a good football game today," Belichick said. "The Jets are a good team; they played well, as they have the last couple weeks. I think they’ve continued to get better. We’ll have to keep our game going at that rate as we got through each of the succeeding weeks here."

There's no other way to shape it: Sunday's divisional bout was a classic.

"Anytime you play a division game, it's tough, especially with the Jets," Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "They're just a tough, tough bunch. Looking at them on film, you can just tell each week they’re starting to get back to doing what they do best, play the way they want to play, and we saw it tonight.

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