Jets Want Payback After Patriots Ran Up Score in Blowout Last Year: 'It Didn't Sit Well'
The Jets went to Denver last week with revenge on their minds.
New York had been held scoreless in back-to-back games on the road against the Broncos, a feeling that resonated with the players that were part of a disastrous 26-0 loss in Denver a year ago.
This team is carrying a similar vengeful mindset into their showdown with the Patriots on Sunday in Week 8.
A year ago, New York was blown out mercilessly by the Patriots in Week 7, a 54-13 loss in Foxborough. In that game, New England was leading by three scores entering the fourth quarter. They proceeded to drop 20 more points on the Jets, a beatdown that resonated deeply with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
"I remember the score," Ulbrich said with a chuckle and a smile. "I remember it being 40-plus and shots still being taken on us. It is what it is, it's our job as a defensive coaching staff and as a defense to stop that. At the end of the day, it comes down to what we can control and we allowed way too much last year."
Ulbrich then took a beat before saying that he's "been looking forward to this one."
Defensive end Carl Lawson didn't play in that game, sitting out last season due to an Achilles injury. Still, he recognized that the blowout "didn't sit well" in Gang Green's locker room.
Two weeks after New York was pounded by the Patriots, they allowed 45 points in another ugly loss against the Colts on Thursday Night Football.
To Ulbrich, those two games were the darkest points of New York's four-win season, a campaign in which the Jets' defense gave up more yards (397.6) and points (29.6) per game than any other team in the NFL.
"I'd like to say that we're better because of it, though," Ulbrich explained to reporters. "We're stronger. I think in those times, adversity, people are really revealed and some people go south and some people go sideways and some people galvanize and then come together. I felt like that happened from a coaching perspective and from a player perspective."
The circumstances for the latest installment of this great AFC East rivalry are different this time around. New York enters play this week with a 5-2 record. They ended their drought within the division earlier this season—filleting the Dolphins back in Week 5, their second of four wins in a row this month—while boasting one of the best defensive units in the sport.
Ulbrich added that while their scheme hasn't changed, this defense has different personnel. Especially in the secondary, the Jets are much more talented on that side of the ball, a threat to suffocate an opposing offense as they've done repeatedly over the last several weeks.
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