We all do this thing in sports that makes total sense despite being nonsensical.
We look at the logo on the side of a helmet or the front of a jersey and use it to unite dozens of different teams, comprised of different players, different coaches, different executives, over the span of many years. From a logical and rational sense, this makes no sense, especially in an era of analytics and data.
At the same time, it can make plenty of sense. And the New York Jets having a dreadful, miserable, no-good, terrible history at Gillette Stadium is one of those times.
It’s something worth revisiting this week, as the 2-3 Jets head to Foxboro to take on the 3-2 Patriots. The Jets enter the week as 7.5-point underdogs, a status reflective of their current position relative to the Patriots and, surely, their historical issues playing in Foxboro.
The history is nothing short of astonishing.
Jets’ entire history at Gillette Stadium
The Jets actually got off to a hot start at Gillette Stadium, beating the reigning Super Bowl champions 30-17 in Week 16 of the 2002 season. That game paved the way for the Jets to make the playoffs over the Patriots on a tie-breaker.
The high points were hard to come by after that, though, as the Jets overall have gone 5-21 since Gillette opened in 2021. That includes a 1-1 postseason record — the famed upset in 2010 being New York’s victory — and a 4-20 regular-season record.
From Herm Edwards to Eric Mangini, from Rex Ryan to Todd Bowles, and from Robert Saleh to Aaron Glenn, the Jets have had major issues since the Patriots moved into their new home — so much so that the few wins are memorable for their mere existence. Bill Belichick’s final game in 2023, Brett Favre fending off the Matt Cassel/Randy Moss Patriots in ’08, and the Mark Sanchez-led playoff win after the 2010 season make up 60 percent of the Jets’ wins in Foxboro since 2002.
A brutal 14-year stretch
Fortunately for the Jets, they celebrated appropriately after shocking the 14-2 Patriots in the divisional round of the 2010 playoffs. They wouldn’t get another chance to celebrate on Gillette Stadium turf for another 13 years.
From 2011-22, the Jets went 0-12 in New England. A win over the Patriots in Week 18 in what turned out to be the final straw for Belichick broke the streak, but two losses for the Jets have followed since that day.
Overall, the Jets are 1-14 at Gillette Stadium since the 2011 season.
That means, yes, even the Cam Newton Patriots beat the Jets. (Newton threw three touchdowns that day, the final game of the year, bringing his season total to eight. He also caught a touchdown.)
It also means that yes, even the Jerod Mayo Patriots beat the Jets, despite rookie Drake Maye leaving early due to a concussion.
Some games have been close, while others have not. The 54-13 thumping that rookie Mac Jones and Damien Harris delivered in 2021 would sit among the latter.
Add it all up, and it’s a .167 winning percentage in the regular season, a .192 overall winning percentage, and a stunning .067 winning percentage since 2011.
Will this have any effect on the Jets, all of whom had absolutely nothing to do with most of those losses, when they visit Gillette on Sunday? Logically, the answer may be no. But everybody tuning in will see that logo in that stadium and wait to see an outcome that has become very, very familiar.
