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Belichick, Mangini renew rivalry as Patriots face Jets

Sep 9, 2007 - 10:26 AM New England at NY Jets Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- It may not match the fervor that accompanies that other Boston-New York rivalry, but the intensity ratchets up when the New England Patriots and New York Jets square off.

It starts on the sideline.

A year ago, the Jets hired away longtime Patriots assistant Eric Mangini to be their coach, continuing a cold war between the franchises.

Mangini had worked as both a secondary coach and defensive coordinator under Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and his exodus to take over a division rival clearly had an unnerving effect on Belichick.

When the Patriots beat the Jets, 24-17, in Week Two last season, Belichick barely shook hands with his longtime friend at the end of the contest.

Two months later, Mangini and the Jets snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Patriots with a 17-14 victory in Foxboro, adding more fire to the rivalry.

Known as a Belichick clone, Mangini turned a 4-12 team into a 10-6 squad that made the playoffs before losing to - who else - the Patriots, 37-16.

That seemed to help thaw the deep freeze between the coaches, as Belichick hugged Mangini following the game.

But that was last season and now Mangini's Jets have designs on ending the division dominance of the Patriots, who have won the AFC East five of the last six seasons.

"We've played three games spaced pretty evenly throughout the season with them last year, the second game of the year, middle of the season, playoffs. Now we open with them again this year," Belichick said. "Eric (Mangini) has done a good job with the team. They're very competitive. All three of our games ... two of them came down to one possession and the playoff game was that way to late in the game."

Quarterback Tom Brady and New England have beaten the Jets six consecutive times at the Meadowlands, but both teams have a different look than a season ago.

The Patriots overhauled their receiving corps, adding Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth and Wes Welker. But they have also taken two big hits on defense.

Safety Rodney Harrison was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy and All-Pro defensive lineman Richard Seymour out for the first six games after being placed on the physically unable to perform list.

The Jets addressed one of their biggest weaknesses by acquiring running back Thomas Jones from the Chicago Bears. Though Jones has missed much of the preseason with a calf strain, he is expected to be ready for Sunday and has had succession against the Patriots, rushing for 99 yards against them with the Bears last season.

The Patriots also had trouble handling Jets wideouts Laverneaus Coles and Jericho Cotchery, who combined for 23 receptions and three TDs in the two regular-season meetings.

While New England permitted the second-fewest points (237) in the AFC in 2006, Mangini's stamp on the Jets was evident as New York allowed just one of its final eight opponents to score more than 14 points.