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You can create many measuring sticks for the Jets and their quest to turn their fortunes around.
But here is an easy one to start with: Can they win games within their division?
The Jets begin that quest again this week with a trip to Foxborough to face the Patriots.
Gillette Stadium has been a horrible place for the Jets to play through the years.
They have one win there in the last 16 seasons.
For the Jets to become a contender, they are going to have to conquer their division demons.
The Jets are 13-47 against AFC East opponents in the last 10 years (since 2016).
They are 4-26 in division road games.
The last time they had a winning record in the division was 2010 when they made their last trip to the playoffs.
The Jets are 0-6 against the AFC East under Aaron Glenn, going 0-for last year against the Bills, Patriots and Dolphins.
The 2026 Jets look better than 2025.
Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey upgraded the roster.
Glenn has the defense humming, holding three of their first five opponents under 200 yards on their way to a 2-3 record.
Glenn is preaching progress.
One way to show it is to start winning games like Sunday against the Patriots.
Glenn was not interested in hearing about the team’s past struggles in the division or elevating this game above others on Monday.
“Well I would say this: we really don’t focus on what happened in the past when it comes to us, we just focus on what’s happening right now,” Glenn said. “But yes, division games are definitely crucial. Sometimes people say they count as two games, but the only thing that we’re focused on is this is the one game that we have to play, this is the one game we want to win, this is the one game that we’re prepared for and look to win. So, good team, a team that was in the Super Bowl last year, and we’re going to look forward to playing them.”
It is a problem for the Jets that they play in a division with the defending AFC champion Patriots and the perennial contending Bills.
But the Dolphins are in the early stages of a rebuild and are 0-5 right now.
The Jets face them in two weeks at MetLife Stadium.
This feels like a year where sweeping the Dolphins should be expected.
That is until you consider the Jets have not swept the Dolphins since 2015, and the road win that year was in London.
You have to go back to 2014 for the last time the Jets won in South Florida in what was Rex Ryan’s final game as Jets coach and a young Geno Smith had a perfect passer rating.
The last win in Foxborough came in the final game of the 2023 season in Bill Belichick’s finale as Patriots coach.
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The last win in Buffalo was the final game of the 2019 season when Adam Gase’s Jets beat a Bills team that rested starters.
The Jets have not won more than two games in the division since 2015 when they were 3-3.
They have gone 0-6 three times — 2020, 2021, 2025 — versus the AFC East.
It’s easy to see why the Jets have had losing records the last 10 years when you look at how they have played the teams they know the best.
The Jets feel that this year is different and are ready to show it on Sunday.
“It’s very important,” cornerback Azareye’h Thomas said of winning division games. “The division games are like two games in one. It’s very important to get a win. But we’re just going to focus on being 1-0 every day, honestly. Yeah, 0-6 last year but it’s not last year. It’s a new year. We’re focused on this year and our main motto is just being 1-0.”
It’s a message that Glenn is pounding into the Jets players heads.
“Every game is important to us; it doesn’t matter who you play,” Glenn said. “Listen, we have a 1-0 mindset every time we go out there. So, listen, I know it’s the Patriots, I know it’s a division game, but we want to win this game just like we wanted to win the Cleveland game, and we’re going to go out there and prepare to win it.”