Patriots have to be ready for Jets' Super Bowl on Sunday in Foxboro

BOSTON -- It wasn't all that long ago that the New England Patriots and New York Jets had themselves a real, viable rivalry. The Jets may not have been winning Super Bowls like the Patriots were, no. But they were winning some head-to-head battles, including the most important one in the 2010 playoffs.

Alas, some time has passed since the days of Rex Ryan and Bart Scott walking into Gillette Stadium with a certain level of bravado, and the Jets have assumed the role of Patriots punching bag for about a dozen years. Since that fateful Jets playoff win in Foxboro, the Patriots are 21-2 against their one-time rivals from New York. That includes 13 straight wins overall and 13 straight regular-season wins at Gillette Stadium.

Given that recent history, you can be forgiven if you've felt inclined to overlook this weekend's meeting. Yet that would be unwise.

While the Jets have been careful to not fill up any bulletin boards this week, there should be no mistaking their focus and purpose this week. This will be the biggest game the franchise has had since 2015. But for the current group of Jets, it's their biggest game together.

Just think about the implications.

A win will improve the Jets to 7-3 and further establish their spot in the playoff picture. With a win against the Bills and Dolphins already in their back pocket, they'll be in great shape tiebreaker-wise when it comes to staying there. They'll lock down a win in Foxboro for the first time since the 2010 playoffs and the first time in the regular season since Brett Favre outlasted Matt Cassel on a Thursday night in 2008. Robert Saleh will have his first win over Bill Belichick, Zach Wilson will finally get the elephant off his back, and the Jets will be rolling into the final seven weeks of their season. They'll feel justified in believing they'd have swept the season series if not for that unfortunate roughing the passer penalty that negated a Mac Jones pick-six in Week 8.

The Jets haven't been 7-3 or better after 10 games since 2010. If they win, they'll be in first place in the AFC East. That's a spot they haven't been this late in a year since that same 2010 season. These Jets obviously haven't experienced all of that organizational futility from the past 12 years, but they surely know how long it's been since the fans and the franchise had cause for excitement and optimism in the month of December.

The flip side of all of that, though, would be the devastation that would come with a loss. For all that the Jets have to feel good about -- their win over the heavily favored Bills, their road win in Green Bay, their miraculous comeback against Cleveland -- it will largely all feel meaningless if they lose to the Patriots for the second time in a span of four weeks.

Wilson, who's thrown two touchdowns and seven interceptions in three games against the Patriots, needs to prove that he can play a game against a Belichick-coached team without falling apart ... even if Wilson says that's not the case.

"Excited because it's another challenge and this is a big divisional game for us, obviously," Wilson said this week. "So, not necessarily to feel like I've gotta prove anything of, 'You know what, last game didn't go great, I've got to do something different this time.' But just the progress of we won a big game last week and it's on to the next, and this is our next challenge."

While Wilson was careful to speak in generics, he also made one notable comment when asked about his emotions from his last meeting with the Patriots.

"I thought they were good emotions. I mean, I was frustrated," Wilson said. "I still believe nobody outside of this building knows what they're talking about."

That comment -- plus Wilson's gum-smacking "we'll have these guys in two weeks" quote from the Week 8 postgame -- provides a glimpse into what this game means for Wilson and for the Jets.

You'll surely recall that after the Jets' blowout loss in Week 1, Saleh told the media that he was keeping receipts from those who mocked and dismissed the Jets. It was Saleh who got mocked for that stance, as it felt from the outside like a premature plan for a victory lap.

But the second-year head coach has been vindicated to some degree for that outlook, and a win on Sunday in Foxboro would really signify that it's a new era in New York Jets football.

They'll still have more work to do to get where they hope to get, but in the short term, the Jets are sure to be treating Sunday's game like their Super Bowl. The Patriots will need to be prepared for that.

"The reason why it's so hard to beat [a team twice] is because they have that nasty taste in their mouth," Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai said this week. "And same goes for us if we were playing a team that we lost to these past few games. You have that nasty taste and you want to come back for some revenge, you know?"

How the game turns out -- just like any game -- is anyone's guess. But it has been quite some time since nasty feelings of revenge have been coupled with real implications for a late-season game between the Patriots and Jets. Without overstating the stakes, Sunday could usher in a new era in the interrelationship between the two teams ... or it could be the latest chapter in a once-great rivalry that has turned grossly one-sided.

Both teams obviously have quite a bit at stake, but it does feel just a touch more significant for the team from New York.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.