Getty Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman making a diving attempt in the middle of an NFL game.
The stakes are incredibly high on Sunday between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots.
It is the game that will have the largest impact in terms of playoff implications of any contest this weekend. However, there is a lot more at stake than just two teams fighting for the postseason.
Julian Edelman, Brandon Marshall Make Crazy Jets-Patriots Bet
On the Inside the NFL television show, longtime former Patriots star Julian Edelman made a bet with former Jets Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall.
They both serve as analysts on the program and were discussing the rivalry and game on Sunday.
Marshall made it a simple wager: if Gang Green wins then Edelman has to get the logo of the Jets tattooed on him. However, if New England wins then Marshall must get the logo of the Patriots tattooed on him.
In response to that bet, Edelman replied, “Patriots all day.”
“It’s in Foxborough. There’s one way. There’s one way out,” Edelman said via Boston dot com. “You know [Route 1], Titletown and you see ‘Foxborough,’ the sign? Ray [Lewis], you’ve been on that lonely drive a couple of times. It’s one way in and it’s one way out. The Jets ain’t going out with the win. Pats all day long.”
Brandon Marshall (@BMarshall) & Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) made a tattoo bet this week on the #Jets, #Patriots game. If NYJ wins, Jules is getting the #TakeFlight logo on him + if NE wins, BM is getting the #ForeverNE logo on him 😳: 🎥 @insidetheNFL #NYJvsNE @nyjets @Patriots
The reason why Marshall was willing to make this bet is because of the tainted history between these two division rivals:
“We still feel some type of way about Bill Belichick having that press conference and leaving the Jets,” Marshall replied to Edelman via Boston dot com. “This is personal. This is serious. … I want [the tattoo] right there on his neck, right there, just a nice little Jet right there.”
Marshall spent two years on the Jets highlighted by his Pro Bowl season in 2015. While Edelman spent his entire 11-year NFL career with the Patriots winning three Super Bowl championships during that run.
2 Ways to Look at Jets-Patriots History
If we are viewing the recent history then Edelman should have absolutely nothing to worry about. New England has won 13 in a row in this series and hasn’t lost in their own building to the Jets in the regular season in over 14 years.
However, there are two ways to look at this one.
On one hand, there’s recent history suggesting that if something keeps happening perhaps it will continue to happen.
Or just maybe the Jets are long overdue. In their last 19 matchups against one another, eight of those have been decided by one-score games in which the Patriots ended up winning.
So in a sport with an oblong-shaped ball, the majority of the time in that large sample size it has bounced in New England’s direction. That doesn’t sound very sustainable.
Especially when you consider in this particular season *looks around* the Jets are the better team. The more talented team. Gang Green has a better offense, defense, and heck even special teams.
As we are all painfully aware the better team doesn’t always win, but all the planets and stars seem to be aligning for a changing of the guard on Sunday in Foxboro.