NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (1-0) AT NEW YORK JETS (1-0)
Sunday, September 20, 2009 - Giants Stadium (80,062) - 1:00 p.m. EDT
The New England Patriots continue a two-game AFC East Divisional set this week when they travel to the Meadowlands to face the New York Jets. The Patriots opened the season last Monday with a 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills. This week's game will be the third time in franchise history that the Patriots have opened with back-to-back games against the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. They opened the 1968 and the 2006 seasons in games against the Bills and Jets. The Patriots will look to take the lead in their all-time series against New York, with the teams entering this week deadlocked at 49-49-1. The team's split the annual series last season. The Jets are 1-0 after a 24-7 win at Houston last Sunday.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION:This week's game will be broadcast to a regional audience by CBS and can be seen in Boston on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Greg Gumbel will handle playby- play duties with Dan Dierdorf providing color.
NATIONAL RADIO:This week's game will be broadcast to a national audience by Sports USA Radio Network. Larry Kahn and Tim Pernetti will call the game with Troy West handling the sideline reporting.
RADIO: 98.5 FM, The Sports Hub, is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 36 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Gil Santos is in his 33rd season as the voice of the Patriots and will call the action along with Patriots Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti. Santos and Cappelletti are celebrating their 26th season as a tandem.
DIVISIONAL DOMINANCE
The New England Patriots own a 40-11 (.783) record in regular season AFC East games since the beginning of the 2001 season, compiling the best intra-division record of any team in the NFL over the last eight seasons.
SERIES HISTORYThe Patriots and Jets will meet for the 100th time since the series between the AFC East rivals began in 1960. The annual series is even at 49-49-1. The teams split the season series last season with the Patriots beating the Jets, 19-10, at the Meadowlands and the Jets beating the Patriots, 34-31 in overtime, at Gillette Stadium.The Patriots have won 11 of their last 13 games against the Jets (including one playoff game). The Patriots have swept the season series with the Jets in four of the last six seasons. New England is 20-11 against the Jets since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. New England's 49 victories over the Jets (including two playoff wins) are the second most over any single opponent, trailing only Buffalo with 59 all-time wins.
PATRIOTS-JETS QUICK HITS
- The Patriots have an eight-game winning streak against the Jets at the Meadowlands.
- This week's game will be the Patriots last regular-season game at the Meadowlands, with the Jets new stadium scheduled to open in 2010.
- The Patriots held the Jets to 17 points or fewer in six straight games until the Jets beat the Patriots 34-31 in overtime in the second meeting last season (11/13/08 at Gillette Stadium).
- This week's game will mark the 100th meeting between the Patriots and Jets. The Jets have been the Patriots' most frequent opponent over the years - Buffalo ranks second with 99 meetings.
- The Patriots are 13-6 against the Jets since 2000.
RECENT PATRIOTS-JETS GAMES
The Patriots and Jets have played 17 times since 2001, with New England holding a 13-4 advantage in those games. Since 2003, the Patriots are 11-2 against the Jets and have allowed New York to score more than 17 points in a game just two times over that span.
PASSING PERFORMANCES
Tom Brady owns a 12-2 record against the Jets as a starting quarterback including regular-season and playoff games. Brady's 12 overall victories over the Jets are his second highest total over a single opponent, trailing only his 14 wins over the Buffalo Bills. Since 2003 against the Jets, Brady has thrown just four interceptions in 11 games.
CONNECTIONS
- Jets QB Coach Matt Cavanaugh was a 2nd round selection of the Patriots in 1978 and spent five seasons with New England.
- Jets WR Coach Henry Ellard was a member of the New England Patriots during the 1998 season.
- Patriots WR Randy Moss is currently in ninth place on the NFL's all-time receiving yardage list with 13,342receiving yards, 435 yards behind Jets WR Coach Henry Ellard, who sits in eighth place.
- Jets backup QB Erik Ainge is the nephew of Boston Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge and the grandson of Don Ainge, a draftee of the Boston Red Sox.
- Jets TE Kareem Brownwas originally a fourth round draft choice of the Patriots in 2007. He was acquired by the Jets off waiters 11/28/07.
- Patriots QB Tom Brady and Jets K Jay Feely were teammates at Michigan from 1996-1999.
- Patriots DL Jarvis Green and Jets DE Howard Green are cousins.
- Jets S James Ihedigbo is a native of Amherst, Mass. and walked onto the UMass football team where he started for three years and was a captain his senior year.
- Jets LB/Special Teamer Larry Izzo was a member of the New England Patriots for 8 seasons, from 2001-2008. Larry so enjoyed his time in the area that he named his first-born son "Boston", born in the spring of 2009.
- Jets T Damien Woody won 2 Super Bowls as a member of the Patriots from 1999-2004. Woody also attended Boston College and was a three-year starter from 1996- 1998.
- Patriots LB Jerod Mayo and Jets backup QB Erik Ainge both 'Volunteered' for the Tennessee football team together from 2005-2007.
- Patriots S Brandon McGowan and Jets DE Mike DeVitowere teammates at Maine in 2003-2004.
- Patriots RB Kevin Faulkand Jets G Alan Faneca were Tiger teammates at LSU from 1995-1997.
- Patriots LB Pierre Woods and Jets LB David Harriswere teammates at Michigan from 2003-2005.
- Jets QB Kevin O'Connellwas waived by the Patriots August 30, 2009, claimed by the Lions September 1, and subsequently traded to the Jets September 6.
- Patriots S Brandon McGowan and Jets RB Thomas Jones played together for the Chicago Bears from 2005- 2006.
- Patriots WR Sam Aiken and Jets S Sam Leonhard both played for the Buffalo Bills from 2005-2007.
- Patriots LB Tully Banta-Cain and Jets CB Donald Strickland played for the 49ers in 2007 & 2008.
- Patriots TE Chris Bakerwas a Jet from 2002-2008 and registered a career high 8 receptions in a game @ New England 12/16/07.
- Patriots LB Adalius Thomas and Jets DE Marques Douglasplayed with Jets LB Bart Scottin Baltimore from 2002-2004.
- Patriots G Kendall Simmons and Jets G Alan Faneca played together for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2002- 2007.
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the Jets' assistant head coach/secondary for three seasons (1997- 99).
- Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson played for two seasons with the Jets from 1997-98 before retiring in 1999.
50th ANNIVERSARY
The Patriots are celebrating their 50th anniversary season in 2009 through a series of acknowledgements and dedications. The 50th season logo will appear throughout the 2009 season in Gillette Stadium, on Patriots.com, on items in the ProShop and in Patriots publications. For the Patriots and their fans, this season is one to celebrate a franchise that has grown from humble beginnings to become the winningest franchise in the NFL over the last 15 seasons.
ALL-TIME LISTS
Over the course of the year, the Patriots are unveiling a series of 20 "Top 10 All-Time" lists for fans to discuss and debate on Patriots All-Access and Patriots.com. Fans have the opportunity to vote for Top 10s in each of the 20 categories at Patriots.com. Fans can also rank the Top 50 Moments in Franchise History, and the Top 10 Moments, as chosen by the fans, will be unveiled over the course of the season.
ALL-TIME TEAMIn recognition of the 50th anniversary, the Patriots' Hall of Fame nominating committee has selected an All-Time Team recognizing the greatest players at each position to play for the Patriots over 50 years. The Patriots' All-Time Team was recognized in the Patriots' home-opener against Buffalo on Sept. 14.
AFL LEGACY GAMES
This season also marks the 50th anniversary for the American Football League (AFL), of which the Patriots were an original member. The Boston Patriots, who hosted the AFL's first regular season game on Sept. 9, 1960 at Boston University Field, were featured in the NFL's first "AFL Legacy Game" on the opening weekend of the 2009 season on Sept. 14, 2009, when the Patriots hosted the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Monday Night Football. It was the first of four "AFL Legacy Games" in which the Patriots will appear this season (at Den, vs. Ten and at Mia). The Patriots will wear red and white "throwback" uniforms in those games, replicating the uniforms worn by the 1963 team that claimed the franchise's first division title and competed in the franchise's first league championship game. Patriots coaches will also wear apparel featuring the Pat Patriot logo.
