Patriots ran it up; Jets remember

You’ll be forgiven if you don’t remember much about the Patriots’ 54-13 win over the Jets last year in Week 7. The Patriots have won 12 in a row over the Jets, by an average of 20.4 points. The blowouts tend to run together.

But Robert Saleh and the Jets definitely haven’t forgotten. They remember Mac Jones throwing deep to Kendrick Bourne for 46 yards while nursing a 41-13 lead in the fourth quarter. They remember Brian Hoyer coming in and continuing to sling it, completing three passes for 79 yards while the Patriots led, 47-13. They remember Richard Seymour, honored at halftime, calling the Jets a “homecoming game.”

“I remember the score,” said Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. “I remember it being 40-plus and shots still being taken on us. It is what it is. Been looking forward to this one.”

Now the Jets are 5-2 as they enter Sunday’s game against the 3-4 Patriots in New Jersey. They are thirsty for revenge.

“Yeah, we’ve got a good memory,” said defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins via ESPN.

This is expected to be one of the few times in the last seven years that Patriots-Jets is competitive. The Patriots were still 2½-point favorites as of Friday, just the second time since 2015 that they were less than a touchdown favorite vs. the Jets.

The Jets are mostly winning with defense, ranking ninth in points allowed (19.6 per game) and 10th in yards. Saleh brought his defensive concepts from San Francisco, relying on a deep rotation of pass rushers to prevent having to blitz much. Defensive tackle

Quinnen Williams has been one of the most dominant linemen in the league, while cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and

D.J. Reed have been phenomenal in coverage.

But the Jets still struggle on offense with second-year quarterback Zach Wilson, who has just one touchdown pass in four starts while averaging just 173 passing yards per game. They also have hit a phenomenal run of good luck, racking up wins against backup quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett, Mitchell Trubisky, Skylar Thompson, and Brett Rypien.

CBS’s Charles Davis, whose call Sunday will be his third Jets game of the season, still isn’t quite sold on Wilson and Gang Green.

“They’re playing with confidence, but they’re playing around the quarterback,” he said. “In today’s NFL, there’s not a whole lot of playing around your quarterback and trying to be successful.

“Wilson is doing stuff when he doesn’t need to; he’s falling off to his left and his right when he throws, and it’s killing his accuracy. You’re like, ‘No one’s there; just stand in and throw the football.’ ”