A pair of surging squads meet in primetime on Thursday Night Football in Week 11 as the New York Jets visit the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA.
New York arrives with wins in their last two contests, while New England has run through the league like a buzzsaw with seven straight victories. With both teams feeling good about themselves, this AFC East Divisional matchup has the potential to be one of the more dynamic weekday contests on the NFL’s schedule in 2025.
A long-awaited winning streak for New York?
Against all odds, the last team in the NFL to pick up a win in the 2025 season, the Jets are on the cusp of their first winning streak since the 2023 season. According to Merriam-Webster, a winning streak is defined as a series of wins. Conventionally, the term is used starting with the third win in a string of victories. It’s been a bit of time since Jets fans enjoyed a near month-long string of success.
New York’s last winning streak was during Week 4-6 of the 2023 NFL season. Zach Wilson led the Jets to three consecutive victories in Denver, at MetLife Stadium against Philadelphia, and “on the road” against the New York Giants, a game tied at the buzzer by Greg Zuerlein before he won the game, 13-10, on a 33-yard boot in overtime. The game against the Giants was a harbinger of things to come as the Jets lost the next five games, ending any hopes of a trip to the postseason in 2023.
The 2022 season also featured a Zach Wilson-driven early-season winning streak, a four-game celebration from Week 4-7, featuring wins over Pittsburgh, Miami, Green Bay, and Denver. The Jets were flying high at the bye week with a 6-3 record, but New York managed only one more win over the final eight games of the 2022 campaign.
Slowing down New England’s powerful offense
New England arrives in a winning freight train of its own after winning seven straight games, including consecutive one-score contests against Atlanta and Tampa Bay over the last two weekends. The Patriots offense ranks 10th in average yards per game (359.1 yards), eighth in passing offense (241.4) and in points scored per game (26.5 points).
Conversely, the Jets place 28th in average yards per game (285.6 yards), dead last in passing offense (143.8) and 25th in points per game (21.7 points). As you can see, Aaron Glenn’s squad faces quite the mismatch in slowing down New England in Week 11.
The Patriots are middle of the pack in rushing with an average of 117.7 rushing yards per contest in 2025. If New York can force New England into being a one-dimensional run team by slowing down the passing game, the Jets could steal an important divisional road contest in primetime.
Special teams powering Jets’ wins
The pair of touchdowns from the special teams unit last weekend’s 27-20 win over the Cleveland Browns was more of the same from New York in 2025. The Jets group is ranked as the third best kick return team in the NFL with an average of 28.8 return yards per kickoff, a mark that trails only the Washington Commanders and Indianapolis Colts. New York joined the Patriots and Cincinnati Bengals as the only teams to return a kickoff to the painted area in the 2025 campaign.
The punt return unit has been dynamic as well. New York ranks seventh in the league with 13.6 return yards per punt. The Jets are one of only eight teams to return a punt for a touchdown in 2025. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars have returned more than one punt for points this season.
Chris Banjo, New York’s special teams coordinator, has the Jets special teams group moving in the right direction in his first season with the squad. If New York has plans on a big-time divisional upset, it will likely start with more exceptional play from the special teams group in green and white.
For more on the Jets and the NFL, visit AMNY.com.
