FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Giants, of all people, helped jet the Jets into a first-place tie in the AFC East yesterday.
As well as strengthening their own hold on a division lead, the Giants did their Meadowlands co-tenants a big favor with a 24-20 upset that dropped the Patriots into a three-way, 5-3 knot in the East with the Jets and Bills.
The shorthanded Giants’ shocking win at Gillette Stadium also heightened the drama of the Jets’ nationally televised rematch with the rival Patriots this Sunday night at MetLife Stadium. The Jets have a chance to assume sole possession of the division lead with a win this weekend.
The Giants also put the Patriots and Tom Brady in a sour mood after snapping New England’s 20-game regular season home win streak, though the Jets won’t know until this Sunday whether that was a good thing.
“You put a lot into it each week, and it [stinks] when you lose,” Brady said. “We’re going to come back and we’re going to fight just as hard against the Jets. We’ve got to get ready for the Jets, because that’s obviously another tough one.”
The mere mention of the Jets, on the other hand, prompted an angry snit from Bill Belichick that caused him to abruptly end his uncomfortable, near-wordless post-game news conference.
“The game’s been over for 10 minutes,” Belichick said when asked about this weekend’s matchup. “We’ll start working on the Jets tomorrow, work on the Jets all week and get ready for the Jets. We really haven’t been working on the Jets. We just finished the Giants game.”
Belichick’s players weren’t as snippy, in part because they realize the importance of this Sunday’s matchup and don’t need to be reminded that Rex Ryan is 2-0 against them in the Meadowlands.
“There isn’t much time to reflect on this one because we know we’re going to have our hands full with the Jets,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “No rest.”
