Jets come in flying high- Boston Globe

Jets come in flying high
Since Week 2, they have been on ascent
By Adam Kilgore
Globe Staff / November 11, 2008
+ FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The questions came at Eric Mangini one after another, until the Jets coach finally relented. In various ways, reporters had asked him how his team had changed since Week 2, when the Patriots beat them.


"Well, going back to Week 2," said Mangini, pausing while a coy grin creased his face. "The defining - I guess - the starting point of the season."

Mangini waffled about declaring the Jets' 19-10 loss to the Patriots Sept. 14 any kind of watershed, but his team's season, indeed, turned after that game. The 6-3 Jets have thrust themselves to the top of the AFC East by winning three straight games and five of their last six, including a victory Sunday that was the most lopsided in franchise history.

The Jets led the Rams, 40-0, at halftime and won, 47-3, eviscerating an opponent that the Patriots, just two weeks ago, squeaked past by a touchdown. If the Jets are to surpass the Patriots as the division's team to beat, Thursday night's game at Gillette Stadium is their chance.

Mangini underscored that urgency Sunday in the locker room after the Rams had been stripped and sold for parts. He barely mentioned any of the record victory's myriad highlights. Rather, he stood before his team and, according to the New York Times, said, "You know what we've got to do. See you tomorrow."

And Mangini was at it again yesterday - various reports said former Patriots, Jets, and Chiefs defensive back Ty Law signed a one-year deal with the Jets and will play Thursday night.

"In my mind, they're still the team in the division," center Damien Woody said about the Patriots. "They've had a stranglehold on the division for a while. We're tied with them in the division. Until you beat them, they're going to be on top."

A few lockers over, defensive end Shaun Ellis bristled at reporters, telling them he was tired of hearing about not beating the Patriots, who have won 13 of the last 15 games in the series.

The Jets have played well enough recently that the questions could cease with a win Thursday night. While defensive tackle Kris Jenkins arguably has been one of league's most valuable performers, the most glaring improvement has come on offense. The Jets averaged 15 points in the first two weeks while Brett Favre broke in behind center. Since their loss to the Patriots, they have averaged 32.1; the Cardinals entered last night leading the NFL at 29.2 points per game.

"What we've been able to do the last couple games is put together complete games," Mangini said.

The deeper reason behind the Jets' surge lies away from the field. Their offseason veteran acquisitions - Jenkins, guard Alan Faneca, Favre, Woody, linebacker Calvin Pace, and fullback Tony Richardson - have meshed on Sundays and, perhaps as important, have altered the locker room. Last season, the Jets lacked cohesion, with players practicing and then heading separate ways.Continued...

"The team is totally different from last year," second-year cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "It's positive. Everybody cares about each other.

"It's like a brotherhood here. Everybody spends time outside of work, just to hang out with each other. It's just good."

Despite their ascension, Jets players maintain that the short week of preparation will not allow positive feelings to linger.

"This game has nothing to with those games," running back Thomas Jones said.

The Jets, though, hold a unique advantage. They will become the first team (notwithstanding some high schools and Pop Warner teams scattered about Southern California) to face Matt Cassel for a second time. Cassel engineered the Patriots' win in September, back when hardly any film of him playing existed and he had established no patterns.

"It is good to have more film in terms of looking at his style, just being able to evaluate him as a player," Mangini said. "That's always positive.

"We've had a bunch of times where [it was] the first game against a new quarterback or a new coordinator or a new something. Their tendencies aren't as strong. Their characteristics, their patterns aren't as strong. So you have to feel it out over the course of the game, as opposed to going in with some assumptions that can either be right or wrong."

Said Revis, "It was kind of tough. He came when they were in a tough spot. He's responded well. He's doing what he's supposed to do. He's making plays. He's throwing the ball everywhere. He's proven to be an NFL quarterback."

The Jets are too busy to look back at that game otherwise. They put behind them the bungled goal line possession and sloppy defense from that loss.

"We're a different team now," Woody said.

They can erase the defeat for good Thursday by passing New England, an opportunity arriving at the perfect time.

"Oh, yeah," Revis said. "You know, the Patriots have beat us in the past. But that's why we play football every year. This is a big game for us. We can be first in the division."

Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com

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