A Tale of Two Seasons: Patriots-Jets Could Determine AFC East Supremacy

Fourteen years ago, the 12-0 Chicago Bears and their vaunted "46" defense marched into Miami on a Monday night in December.

Led by coordinator Buddy Ryan, they were chasing history, fueled by what was already considered one of the greatest defenses of all time. They played before I was born, but I've seen the tapes.

They were animals. They were big, mean, and fast, and played with the kind of reckless abandon usually reserved for trapeze artists and British guys names "Bear."

In the three games previous, they had allowed a grand total of three points. Total. Combined. Twelve quarters.

One half of football later, they had already given up 31 as Dan Marino and the Dolphins exploited every inch of space afford to them, running up the score in a historic performance.

It's the classic matchup: blitzing, aggressive defense versus an accurate, Hall-of-Fame quarterback with a quick release.

While that game was perhaps the epitome of that type of matchup, fans will enjoy a similar game this weekend as Buddy's son Rex and his Jets take on Brady and the Patriots.

There are two ways to really play defense in the passing game. Either you can bring extra defenders to try and hit the quarterback before he can identify and exploit the space you leave, or you can try and get by with minimal rushers and lull the quarterback into making a false read and turning the ball over.

This is oversimplifying things, of course, but those are generally the two ends of the spectrum.

Most teams hedge on the side of providing ample pressure. While nobody really brings eight defenders all game like those '85 Bears did, the Jets will employ a similar style in going after Brady.

Brady, like Marino, will have to exploit the space that blitzing defenders leave behind this weekend if the Patriots are going to find success. If you look at his performance last week, that's still a big "if" for New England.

Tom Brady looked skittish early against Buffalo and only settled into a groove late in the game, hitting Ben Watson for two late game-winning touchdowns.

Will he need to settle into a rhythm again? Will he be able to on the road facing far more pressure than he did the first week?

These are big questions the Patriots have to answer as they head into what may ultimately be a game that determines their season.

The Jets, last week, certainly showed why they had some experts buzzing about their defense. They looked like they were having fun. They had a swagger, and they came to win.

Combine that with an able performance from Mark Sanchez and their ability to run the ball effectively all over the field and they're a dangerous team.

Brady will need a big game, but it's the defense who must step up their play to make up for the absences of Jerod Mayo and Richard Seymour.

Last season, the Patriots missed the playoffs in large part because they lost to these same New York Jets. They lost that game, in large part, because of a single play.

Facing a 3rd-and-15 in overtime, Brett Favre found Dustin Keller wide open underneath. Turning upfield, Keller came face to face with Brandon Meriweather and Jerod Mayo at the first down line.

In that moment, the two young defenders failed and Keller got his first down. The Patriots never got the ball in overtime as the Jets kicked the game-winning field goal 10 plays later.

This year, the Patriots get a shot at revenge early. But after coming away with a rather undeserved victory in week one, New England is already facing a must-win situation against the Jets.

New York looked every bit the playoff contender last week as they shut down one of the best offenses in the league, blanketing the Texans throughout the game.

Clearly, Rex, like his father, knows how to run a defense.

While he won't be rushing eight defenders on every play like his father did, he's going to free his defense up to go after Brady and try and keep him rattled like he was in the first half against the Bills. 

Rex, like the other great defensive coaches before him, has his team smelling blood. They know the Patriots, having traded Richard Seymour and lost Jerod Mayo to injury, are reeling.

With Miami also getting pegged back in their week one loss to Atlanta, the Jets know they can put themselves in the driver's seat early in the division race (very early, but bear with me) by taking down New England.

You can't afford to lose divisional home games when things are this tight. You just can't. So while it may seem early to say this game has playoff implications, that's exactly what's on the line.

The division is going to come down to games like these. All three teams are now about level, in my mind. Without Seymour and Mayo, the Patriots will find it hard to lock teams down. They'll require big games from guys like Gary Guyton, Jarvis Green, and Tully Banta-Cain if they're going to keep the score manageable.

With weapons like Randy Moss and Tom Brady, the Patriots can win a track meet-type game if they have to, but going into each week knowing they'll have to score 25 or more points to have a shot at winning simply isn't going to get it done.

So while we look back to that game 24 years ago and see many similarities, it's important to also remember how that season turned out: Marino got the glory that Monday, but the Bears ultimately took home the Super Bowl. 

Simply put, while it'll be important for New England to get their offense going early tomorrow, it's more important that their defense show the ability to get after teams. The road to the Super Bowl for New England has to be paved with strong defensive performances.

I don't like to put too much stock in a single game. There are too many variables. The vagaries of a single NFL game are too wild to predicate analysis on.

But looking at where these two teams are, and taking into account what they've shown so far, I think New England better come to play four quarters of football. If they show up and play for 10 minutes like they did against Buffalo, they will not win.

I still think that New England's talent on offense will win out in this division ultimately, but with each defensive star they lose I get less and less sure of their ability to walk away with the AFC East like many predicted.

As last season proved perfectly, in a tight division race, not winning games like these can make all the difference.