Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick at MetLife Stadium in 2019.
It has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions the past few days after the New York Jets won their fourth-straight game in Denver (5-2 on the year) but lost two of their most important players for the remainder of the season in running back Breece Hall and offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker.
All the while, Jets fans are entering perhaps the most intense week of the season — New England Patriots Week at MetLife Stadium. The Pats have beaten Gang Green 12 times in a row, spanning back to the 2015 campaign, and they’ve also won 20 out of the last 22 meetings.
Needless to say, many fans are already calling this a must-win game, and NYC radio personality and long-time WFAN host Joe Benigno is leading the charge.
Joe Benigno: ‘Jets Cannot Lose to Patriots at Home’
Joining the Tiki & Tierney show as he does every Monday, Benigno went on one of his classic rants about Bill Belichick and the Patriots around the six-minute mark of the video above.
“Bro, this is a good team,” Benigno voiced after discussing the Week 7 victory, “and they have to beat New England.”
“If you lose at home,” Benigno began before Tiki Barber cut in with some uncertainty. “You don’t know? If you lose at home to New England you just took three steps backward… No, no, no. You don’t understand Tiki. No, no, no. I don’t want to hear [the excuses]! Tiki, this team has been you know what by the Patriots for years. We’re a better team than them. I don’t want to hear it anymore!”
At this point, Barber and his partner Brandon Tierney were both having trouble getting a word in so they chuckled and let Benigno continue.
“You cannot lose to the Patriots at home!” Benigno shouted. “I’m tired of being the you know what on the floor to the freaking Patriots. The homecoming game! They put [up] 50 last year with Richard Seymour. They put 55 on them last year, they haven’t beaten them for 10 damn years! I don’t want to hear it. They gotta beat New England next week and if I’m Robert Saleh, man, I am putting it all over the place [in the locker room] — homecoming, 55 points last year. I want blood against New England… It’s time to beat the CRAP out of the Patriots.”
Joe Benigno’s Not Wrong, Jets Must End Streak
A 5-2 record is great but Benigno’s not wrong here at all. If the Jets don’t come out and smack around the Pats in this grudge match at MetLife — or worse — if they struggle and lose ahead of a tough matchup with the Buffalo Bills, fans will be livid in no time.
The result of this game may not determine the outcome of the season but it does mean a lot toward the trajectory of this franchise — which you could argue is more important long-term. Saleh’s Jets must prove that they won’t lay down and die against their top division-rivals.
The Miami beatdown was huge, don’t get me wrong, but a couple of losses against the Pats and Bills heading into the bye week would certainly put a damper on the mood around One Jets Drive. Especially with a trip to New England coming up just after that.
In some ways, this is a prove-it game for Gang Green and it’s also a prove-it moment for Zach Wilson and this coaching staff. Can they overcome the injury adversity and power past the most hated franchise rival? Can they end a losing streak that is downright embarrassing?
With a victory, the Jets can show everyone that this is the end of an era for Bill Belichick’s Patriots and in the same breath, bury the “same old Jets” slogan forever. In the words of Benigno himself, get it freaking done, bro.