Jets' victory lap after demolishing Patriots very telling about sad matchup history

Considering the New York Jets' lackluster history, especially against the New England Patriots, it's fair for their fans to be thrilled with such a dominant win over a longtime big brother in the AFC East on primetime television. It's been a long time since they were able to beat the six-time Super Bowl Champions, so it's nice to let them celebrate a solid win during a season when they are considered a contender.

Patriots fans would be doing the same thing if the situation were reversed, even more so if they managed that type of game in enemy territory.

While that's all good and dandy, the way the media is hyping up Aaron Rodgers and the Jets seems a bit excessive when you look at the Patriots team that showed up on Thursday night.

This isn't the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, perennial Super Bowl favorite Patriots. This is a team in the midst of a rebuild with a rookie head coach, a predominantly new and inexperienced staff, and a bridge veteran quarterback, not to mention a roster dealing with significant injuries to key contributors on both sides of the football.

Sure, the Jets performed well in their home opener and the excitement was high to finally see Rodgers play a full game in a New York uniform. It was also fun to see the longtime joke of the division beat the team that reigned over them for two decades for the first time at MetLife Stadium since the 2015 season.

But the broad statements that being made about this win are a bit excessive and severely lacking context, especially when you look at the discussion regarding the Patriots performance from this game.

If one team performs really well and beats a team that played historically badly, is it fair to claim the winner was extraordinary?

Reactions to Aaron Rodgers' and the Jets win over the Patriots are over the top

The excitement and overreactions to what we saw on Thursday Night Football in Week 3 began almost immediately after the Jets scored for the first time.

Because Rodgers missed the entire 2023 season due to an injury suffered on the first play of the first game, it's understandable that many were amped to see him finally return to the field. And while he did play his best game of the season thus far, ignoring all the reasons why that might have happened against a depleted Patriots defense is cherry-picking at best.

It got to the point where fans wrongfully declared (once again) that Rodgers is somehow the greatest of all time, barely halfway through a miserable game.

You don't have to believe that Tom Brady is the GOAT. But to use this Week 3 game as a measuring stick of how Rodgers is supremely better is grasping at straws.

Then there are the takes that claim this was a statement win for the Jets and perhaps the best-coached game of Robert Saleh's career in New York. But is that really true when the opponent recorded 198 total offensive yards, allowed seven sacks and 15 pressures on quarterbacks, and fumbled the football not far from the Jets' end zone?

It's not a stretch to claim that Rodgers played well and the Jets' defense wreaked havoc on the Patriots throughout the entire 60 minutes.

But it's disingenuous to conveniently ignore how the Patriots are being discussed regarding their performance in this game. While one team can certainly dominate, which makes their opponent look like they played badly, the stats don't lie. The Patriots were a mess, which led to much of the success for the Jets.

It's not one-sided. New York didn't play well despite New England's hard fight through four quarters, it was, in part, due to how horrendous they performed. Maybe even if they had been at full strength and not down some of their best players, the Jets still would have won. We'll never know.

However, if the situation were reversed, the conversation would be a lot different.

If the Jets were down multiple starting offensive linemen, their star defensive tackle, and linebacker, and yet the Patriots beat them singlehandedly, the narrative would be that they only won because the Jets were weakened.

So why does it change when it's the Jets who won instead?

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