EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Football on Monday nights meant a great deal to Bill Belichick in the early days.

Can you picture the Patriots coach dissecting plays and second-guessing calls while watching games? Sure. But that is not why he watched.

“The early Monday night games in college, that was a big thing because we’d do anything not to study in college,” Belichick recalled. “We needed a good excuse and Monday Night Football’ was that.”

There might not be many people flicking on the final Monday night game on ABC this time around. The downtrodden Jets (3-11) take on the AFC East champion Patriots (9-5) to close out the tradition that began in 1970. Coincidentally the Jets played Cleveland and lost 31-21 on the first MNF game.

“Monday Night Football” moves to ESPN after 35 years on network television, starting in 2006.

“When it first got started it was really the thing to be on if you were a player,” Jets coach Herman Edwards said. “I can remember when I first came in; you were excited about Monday night. It was a special deal and I think it still is.”

Of course, when the schedule came out, it looked as though this would be a huge game that could decide the division. Instead, the Jets floundered because of injuries and squandered their shot to wrest the AFC East from the Patriots, who have also had their shares of ups and downs.

Being the Patriots, however, means there are mostly ups these days. After a decisive 28-0 victory over Tampa Bay last weekend, New England served notice it was not ready to give up its Super Bowl title without a fight.

“We don’t really care about what’s happened the past couple years,” Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest said. “I think we’re just concentrating on what’s going on now. It’s an advantage against everybody else. They can think what they want to think, they can worry about that and if they have that perception of us, great. They line up against us, we got them thinking like that, then they’ll see a different team.”

The team is slowly getting healthy, but the one constant has been Tom Brady, having one of the best seasons of his career. Brady took the team on his back when it was down and kept everything going. He already has set a career high for yards passing with a league-leading 3,888.

Against the Bucs, he had three touchdown passes and looked as good as always.

“They’re really coming to life a little more,” Jets cornerback David Barrett said. “They’re trying to make their playoff push, they’re trying to be a competitive team right now. Anytime you play a three-time champion, you’ve got to expect them to come out and play hard regardless, because they’ve been there before.”

They also know how to beat the Jets, with five straight victories. Belichick said he will play his starters even though the Patriots have clinched the division.

“You don’t want any team to feel they have that advantage,” Jets defensive end John Abraham said. “Once you start winning consecutive times like that, teams start feeling you can beat them every time.”

The Jets usually play well on Monday nights, though their last appearance was downright horrifying. In a 27-14 loss to Atlanta in Week 7, Vinny Testaverde fumbled three times in the first 17 minutes and the Jets trailed 20-0 before anyone had a chance to make a refrigerator run.

Brooks Bollinger is now starting and has improved with each week. But Edwards said he wants to get Testaverde into a game for one final time before the veteran quarterback retires after 19 seasons. It could happen Monday or in the season finale Jan. 1 against Buffalo.

“I said, Hey Herm, don’t feel like you owe me anything,”‘ Testaverde said. “This last year was like a bonus, I’m happy to be here.”

It might not be wise to put Testaverde out there again with the way the Patriots’ defense is playing. Over their last three games, the Patriots have allowed 10 points, setting a franchise record for the fewest number of points allowed during any three-game span.

On top of it all, they have allowed an average of 9.8 points in their last six games. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a playoff run.

“We’re not really worried about playoffs and the Super Bowl and that type of stuff,” McGinest said. “What we were doing the first half of the season is kind of uncharacteristic of us, and you got to credit the coaching staff and the guys for getting back on track for what we’ve been doing in the past.”