Refuelin’ Jets feud
Years of failure put gas on hopes of fans
Super Bowl LI step aside. The Patriots are about to play the biggest game in AFC East history!
It’s the P-A-T-S Pats against the J-E-T-S Jets for first place in the division on Sunday in New Jersey.
Jets fans are in a frenzy, their hard-hat fireman fan may even return to his once lofty status firing up the fanatics. The Jets haven’t hosted a game this big since Rex Ryan promised Super Bowls and the rings that go with them.
It’s 40-year-old Tom Brady against 38-year-old Josh McCown in a battle of ripe quarterbacks not seen since George Blanda gameplanned for John Hadl somewhere in the 1960s.
What a difference a month or so of football makes. The Pats were sup- posed to go 16-0 this year and the Jets were supposed to go 0-16, but here they are, both at 3-2 (tied with the Bills), and suddenly New York’s Todd Bowles is a coach of the year candidate and Bill Belichick looks like what Todd Bowles usually looks like.
Expectations are of Herculean proportions in the Meadowlands, especially after last week when the Jets manhandled the Browns (as winless as they are), and McCown revealed he mixes up a batch of avo- cado soup that resurrected a career that had nothing to be resurrected from.
Jets fans are simply as- tounded that their QB is throwing more touch- downs than interceptions, the place in the current standings being a bonus.
The now fledgling Patriots have always had a bit of a problem with these Jets anyway, even when the AFC East was simply some- thing they had conquered by Week 6. But now expect a massive dose of Gang Green playing the “we got nothing to lose” rally cry with years and years of Pats abuse ready to be dis- missed from one’s memory.
Oh man, this is the game of the year! A gut-wrenching, cigar-toting, tailgating, vocal-screeching mixture of emotions that has not been seen in Jets Land since Mark Sanchez bumped into that big bum and fumbled away any dreams of fancy. This Is Big! Joe Namath is tossing out the first football, Jets fans will be wearing their Super Bowl III championship hats and T-shirts and headless Tom Brady bobblehead dolls will be given to all!
The Patriots and Jets are playing the biggest game in AFC East history.
Super Bowl LI step aside indeed. This Is The Year: Patriots (-9) at NY Jets — OK, time to get serious. Imagine leaving New York a game behind the Jets. Things will stay wild for a while, and then poof! Normal behavior returns. Pats, 31-16. Take a kneel: Cleveland at Houston (-10) — How much disaster can Houston take. First, Hurricane Harvey, then J.J. Watt gone for the season. Thank the lord for the Browns. Texans, 33-16.
Miami at Atlanta (-13) — It was snowing in Miami last week. But the weather won’t be the Dolphins problem in Hot’lanta. Falcons, 30-13.
Detroit at New Orleans (-41⁄2)— Figuring out what the Lions will do is near impossible. Figuring out what the Saints will do, not so difficult. Lions, 37-23.
Green Bay (-3) at Minnesota — Backup QB Case Keenum’s gotta start matching touchdowns with Aaron Rodgers. Degree of difficulty: 10.0. Packers, 27-11.
Chicago at Baltimore (-61⁄2) — How does this mess in Chicago just keep getting worse. It seems like years since they were any good . . . because it is. Ravens, 20-6.
San Francisco at Washington (-11) — Nothing but double-digit point spreads when the Niners are involved. Double-digit defeats, too. Redskins, 24-9.
LA Rams at Jacksonville (-3) — They’re getting excited in Jacksonville. So this is what usually happens when that happens. Rams, 26-20.
Tampa Bay (-11⁄2) at Arizona — Cards coach Bruce Arians is at the top of the list for the first to get fired. It may be quite soon. Buccaneers, 17-13.
Pittsburgh at Kansas City (-4) — Big Ben. Retirement would be very comfy right now. Chiefs, 28-20.
LA Chargers at Oakland (-2) — Raiders fans will demand their traitorous team take off for Vegas now. Chargers, 27-16.
NY Giants at Denver (-111⁄2) — Last week, the Giants may have been the first team to lose all four receivers in one game; now let ’em become the umpteenth one to go 0-6. Broncos, 27-7.
Indianapolis at Tennessee (off) — A battle of familiar backup QBs in Jacoby Brissett and Matt Cassel. Like an old Patriots scrimmage. Titans, 10-3. Last week: 7-5-1 Season: 36-38-2