New York Jets vs. New England Patriots: Why This Is the NFL's Best Rivalry

Whenever the New York Jets and the New England Patriots get together, it always draws national attention. This is more than just a border war between two regions that hate the sight of each other.

This is the best rivalry in football.

Of course, you could make that case about many rivalries, citing reasons such as the length of the rivalry, the historic battles and the top level talent.

Pats-Jets has all of that, and a lot more.

Two Contenders

Even when it's not a good game, it's always a good game when these two square off. There's a good history of success between these two teams, especially in the recent past.

New England has been perennial contenders for over a decade now, and the Jets have recently jumped onto the map with back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship Game. It has yet to result in a Super Bowl berth for Gang Green, but we know better than to overlook a Rex Ryan-coached team.

This would be true even if the Jets weren't busy making Super Bowl proclamations every offseason.

Two Sports Meccas

Boston and New York are largely considered two of the centers of the sports universe.

New England area sports teams have been on a tear recently, with seven combined championships in the past 10 years. 

New York has always been the upper crust of the sports scene, with the Yankees' obvious 27 World Series championships, several championships in other sports, and of course, the Giants' recent upset of the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. 

The success of the two regions makes any meeting a big one.

Two Big-Time Head Coaches

Don't get insulted, Rex. This is a compliment in the NFL.

Bill Belichick's success goes without saying. Three Super Bowls, an undefeated regular season, more 14-win seasons than any coach in NFL history, three Coach of the Year awards and a host of other decorations make Belichick one of the best head coaches in NFL history.

Rex Ryan is building a legacy as one of the best defensive-minded head coaches in the league, and is also building a reputation as a winner. His teams are a combined 22-14 in the regular season, and he has coached his teams to a 4-2 road playoff record. 

As long as these two are the coaches of their respective teams, this will always be one of the most fun games to watch from a strategic standpoint, just to see how the two teams play each other.

Elite Patriots Offense

Tom Brady is eating opposing secondaries like Takeru Kobayashi eats hot dogs.

Fast, furious, relentless.

His record-setting pace of 1,553 yards in four games will be enough to best Dan Marino if he can keep it up. His 9.5 yards per attempt through four games suggests he can do just that.

The Patriots rank second in scoring offense (135 points) and first in total offense (2,030 yards). They've been getting it done on the ground, too, with 4.8 yards per carry, the fifth-best average in the league.

Just like Kobayashi's urge to vomit after downing 65 hot dogs, this offense looks nearly unstoppable.

Elite Jets Defense

As much as Jets fans have bemoaned their offense, it's the same old Rex Ryan defense we've come to know over the past two-and-a-quarter seasons.

The Jets currently field the best pass defense in terms of Cold, Hard Football Facts' Defensive Passer Rating, a stat which takes the exact same formula used for passer rating and applies it to the defense. Right now, the Jets allow quarterbacks just a 57.13 DPR.

That is intense.

They may not be as dominant in all phases as they have been in the past, and they currently rank 15th in scoring defense at 95 points overall (23.75 points per game), but their pass defense gives them an opportunity to hang around against a Patriots offense that is predicated on its ability to move the ball effectively through the air.

Back and Forth

A rivalry is only a rivalry if both teams win. Ever since the introduction of the Rex Ryan-Mark Sanchez era, the Jets currently hold the advantage at 3-2, but the games are usually hard-fought battles.

Even when it's not a good game, it's a good game. There are aberrations like the 45-3 game and a 31-14 game back in '09, but the Jets have won three close games at 28-21, 28-14 and 16-9.

The Jets won the most recent meeting in the playoffs, and this one could go either way.

Best Players at Their Positions

Tom Brady. Darrelle Revis. Wes Welker. D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Vince Wilfork. Nick Mangold.

These guys may not all be the very best player at their position, but all deserve strong consideration for the top five.

It's no coincidence, then, that all (except Welker, whose contract is up this year) are among the highest-paid players at their positions.

You are watching masters at work.

It seems that even on the salary-cap-strapped football field, the New York-New England rivalry has the pull of the almighty dollar.

A Long History

As mentioned earlier, a rivalry can't be a rivalry unless both teams win. Out of 104 meetings, the Patriots have won 51 and the Jets have won 52. There has been one tie.

But this goes far beyond the win-loss record.

Bill Parcells, Curtis Martin, Bill Belichick. And those are just some of the big names that have switched from one team to the other.

Players change sides in this rivalry like I change underwear. The Larry Izzos and James Ihedigbos of the world often get forgotten, but they play a role on the field and in preparation if they have any inside information.

This will come into play on Sunday, too, as former Jets defensive end Shaun Ellis will line up for the Patriots this weekend, in his first game against his former team since making the move to the northeast. He was spurned for a contract by the Jets front office, and was offered just the veteran minimum. How fired up will he be? 

Playoff Games

Each team has been responsible for knocking the other out of the playoffs once in the past four years. The Patriots stalled the Jets, piloted by Chad Pennington in the 2006 wild card, and the Jets famously knocked off New England in the 2010 divisional round.

Wes Welker was reluctant to admit that bad blood still boiled over from the January loss, but the fact remains that the history between these two teams has become more important than just their two regular season meetings per year. These are two teams that have locked horns in the playoffs in the past, and could very well do so again in 2011.

Hype

There are very few rivalries in the NFL where all week long, the players and fans refer to it as either Jets week or Patriots week depending on allegiance.

Soak it up, read every article, enjoy all the information your mind can handle...

And then watch it all become meaningless from the second the ball is kicked off.