FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are determined to bounce back from their big loss.

No, not that one.

While Sunday night’s 35-34 shocker against the Indianapolis Colts held the spotlight for days because of coach Bill Belichick’s ill-fated fourth-down decision, the Patriots want to even the score with another major rival, the New York Jets, on Sunday.

In the second game of the season, New York ended New England’s streak of 36 games with at least one offensive touchdown and forced Tom Brady into his worst game of the season.

“We can’t play much worse than we played,” Brady said.

A lot has changed since that 16-9 loss at the Meadowlands in a division game that left the Jets at 2-0 and the Patriots facing questions whether Brady was back to his old self after his season-ending knee injury in last year’s opener.

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Jets coach Rex Ryan has gone from talking boldly to shedding tears — “I’m an emotional guy,” he said after crying in front of his players Monday. Nose tackle Kris Jenkins and running back-kick returner Leon Washington are sidelined for the season, quarterback Mark Sanchez has struggled, and New York (4-5) has lost five of its last six games.

The perception of Patriots coach Bill Belichick as a mastermind who makes the right calls has been blurred after he went for it on fourth-and-2 at his 28-yard line with a six-point lead and just over two minutes left.

But Brady has thrown for more than 300 yards in his last four games; Randy Moss has more than 100 yards receiving in four of the seven games since being shut down by the Jets; Wes Welker is back after missing the first meeting with a knee injury; and the AFC East-leading Patriots (6-3) have won five of their last seven.

“We’re definitely better than we were in Week 2, but so is everybody else,” Belichick said. “It’s not about improvement, it’s about the rate of improvement.”

For the Jets, that rate may not be as low as their record indicates. They lost last Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-22 on a field goal on the final play, their fourth loss by five points or fewer. A loss to New England would be their fourth in the division, a huge blow to their chances of winning the AFC East.

“We’ve found (different) ways to lose,” Ryan said. “We’ve basically been beat on the last play of the game in four games. So, if people think we’re going to be pushovers, they have another think coming.”

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The Jets blitzed the Patriots often on Sept. 20 and allowed just 83 yards rushing with Jenkins clogging the middle. His absence should open up things, but the Jets still have cornerback Darrelle Revis, the main reason Moss had only four catches for 24 yards in that game.

Moss attributed that to double coverage, a notion Revis disputed.

“I was in man-to-man coverage,” he said. “One thing I know is I’m giving him respect. He’s one of their best and it’s great competition between me and him. I love it, and I’m sure he loves it, too.”

Patriots tight end Chris Baker, who played for the Jets the past seven years, called Revis “the best corner in the league.” Ryan called Moss “the best vertical receiver in football.”

Now the Jets also must contend with Welker. Despite missing two games, he’s second in the NFL with 64 receptions. Rookie Julian Edelman, similar in size to Welker, made eight catches in the first meeting.

“Whenever he’s not playing, you have to make up for it in other ways,” said Brady, who completed a season-low 48.9 percent of his passes in that game, “but there’s only one Wes Welker.”

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Having Welker didn’t help last Sunday night when Belichick went for the first down instead of punting. Brady threw to Kevin Faulk, who bobbled the ball before catching it and missing the first down.

Tedy Bruschi, an ESPN analyst after spending the last 14 seasons as a Patriots linebacker, said Belichick’s decision “would be enough to make my blood boil for weeks” and showed a lack of confidence in the defense.

“I have the ultimate respect for Tedy,” Patriots inside linebacker Jerod Mayo said, “but he’s not in this locker room at this point in time so he doesn’t know the feeling that’s in this defense or that this team has. We still have our confidence. We still have our swagger.”

The Jets also have their critics,

“There are not a lot (of people) that believe in us outside of this locker room, but that really doesn’t matter,” said wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who was with the Cleveland Browns when the Jets and Patriots first met. “As long as we continue to believe in ourselves I think we can put something together and come out of it this week.”

Maybe then Ryan will be smiling instead of crying.

“We had the better team in Week 2,” he said. “Obviously, over the last month and a half, they’ve played much better than we have. But we’re going to find out who has the better team on Sunday.”


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