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Socci's Notebook: The Ultimate Sign of Respect

BOSTON (CBS) -- Either Jeremy Kerley hasn't paid attention all week to the compliments of his New York Jets from their Sunday counterparts or he simply isn't buying what he's been reading and hearing out of New England.

"This game is personal," Kerley told Newsday on Thursday, as reported by the New York paper's Kimberly Martin. "It's as big as people want it to be, or it's as small as people want it to be. But for us, it's personal.

"You can't give respect to someone who doesn't respect you. If you don't give me any respect, I don't care what you've got. I'm coming for you."

True, the Patriots seem to strike a reverential tone regarding every upcoming opponent, always going out of their way not to give away bulletin-board fodder for their foe. But from Wednesday through Friday, the Pats to a man offered plenty of props to the Jets.

Considering New York's 3-11 record irrelevant, the Patriots spoke often of their recent struggles to get by the Jets, even while winning six of their last seven meetings. They needn't be reminded that four of those five encounters were settled by a field goal or less. Or, in the case of this year's Week 7 outcome -- a 27-25 victory in Foxborough -- a blocked field goal.

"I know the records are what they are, but we don't look at it like that," said Tom Brady, who looks to lead New England to its 12th win of 2014 a week after clinching the 12th division title of his career. "It's a good challenge for us. We lost going into the Meadowlands last year, so we're anticipating getting their best game."

On that visit, the Patriots led 21-10 at halftime, but managed only two field goals in the second half and fell in overtime, 30-27. A turning point was early third-quarter pressure on Brady leading to pick-six by New York's Antonio Allen.

"They've got a multitude of things that they do," Brady said. "They really test your communication and certainly execution is something that we look (at) on all our past games we've played against them and said, 'Gosh, our execution just wasn't very sharp.'"

That's led to sub-Patriot-par production. According to ESPN Stats & Information, New England failed to score at least 14 points in three of their 94 regular-season games since the start of 2009. Two of those times were opposite the Jets.

The last five years, whether it was head coach Rex Ryan or former defensive coordinator Mike Pettine spinning the so-called dial of New York's defenses, the Jets frequently blitzed. But this season, with Ryan hamstrung by one of the league's worst secondaries, they've shown more restraint.

When they did go after the passer aggressively -- as in San Diego or Minnesota -- they paid dearly.

Pro Football Focus cited 18 blitzes on 32 drop-backs by the Chargers' Philip Rivers. The result was a 31-0 shellacking. Twice Rivers beat the blitz with touchdown passes.

Opposite the Vikings, Ryan called for a 'zero blitz' before a 3rd-and-5 overtime snap to rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater deep in his own territory. Bridgewater spied the soon-to-be-rushing seven defenders and audibled to a wide receiver screen. Seconds later, he celebrated Jarius Wright's game-winning, 87-yard catch and run through New York's mostly vacant secondary.

Fewer blitzes, or at least less pressure, has led to fewer forced turnovers -- only 11, including just five interceptions for the Jets, compared to the 23 takeaways and 15 picks by the Pats' defense.

Nonetheless, New York is still imposing up front and remains a pain in the you-name-it to run against. The Jets allow a meager 3.51 yards a carry, after holding nine of their first 13 opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing.

"They have a very solid front seven," New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "They're tough, they're physical, they're big and they do a great job of trying to force you into becoming one-dimensional by defending the run so well."

Second-year Sheldon Richardson is brazen enough to put himself on the same level as Houston's J.J. Watt and good enough to, at the very least, rank among the best of the rest of NFL defensive linemen. Veteran David Harris is on the verge of 1,000 career tackles, as one of the league's most unheralded linebackers. And Muhammed Wilkerson, who missed the last three games due to turf toe, poses a dangerous prospect should he return to defensive end.

At the same time, as shown in their narrow defeat at Gillette Stadium earlier this year, the Jets can also play defense with their offense.

In October, they controlled the line of scrimmage, pounded out 218 yards on the ground and consumed more than 40 minutes of game time. As a result, they had 27 more offensive plays than New England.

Chris Ivory earned 107 yards on 21 carries, including a touchdown, while recording his second straight 100-yard performance against the Patriots. Expect him to haul the bulk of the load again this time around.

Of course, like in Week 7, New England must also defend the still-speedy Chris Johnson, deal with several threats out of the Wildcat formation and deny quarterback Geno Smith from escaping the pocket. And unlike then, they'll also have to deal with since-acquired Percy Harvin and the threat of the Jet sweep.

"We know how important it is for us to do a real good job," Vince Wilfork says. "The first time we didn't do (it). But it's going to be a challenge for us, being on the road, knowing that they've got something they want to do to get their offense going. They want to stay on the field.

"If we can't slow 'em down, it's going to be a long day for us."

Big Vince and company are also well aware of the so-called elephant -- granted, a trimmed-down version of his former self -- who'll be in the other MetLife Stadium locker room prior to kickoff.

Ryan recorded his first home victory as New York's head coach over New England in 2009. The following season, the Jets gave him a signature win by beating the Patriots in the playoffs. This Sunday, they're expected to play their final home game under Ryan.

No doubt, the Jets will be fueled by mixed emotions -- a dislike for the Pats and a like of Ryan -- they hope proves toxic to the Patriots. Ryan's lost a lot of weight in recent years and a lot of games this season, in particular.

But he hasn't lost the chip he carried on his shoulder to New York six years ago. Nor has Ryan lost his players.

After the Jets survived at Tennessee with a 16-11 triumph in Week 15, longtime offensive lineman D'Brickashaw Ferguson presented Ryan with a game ball.

"We've been all battling and we've been all struggling," Ferguson declared in crowded locker room. "But we really appreciate everything you've done, Coach."

Later, ex-Seahawk Breno Giacomini, who celebrated a Super Bowl XVIII win at MetLife Stadium last winter, expressed similar allegiance.

"I don't want him to go anywhere," Giacomini told reporters. "We all know this is a business, so I'm going to do what I can do, and that is to go out there and fight for my head coach on the field."

The Patriots don't expect anything less. How could they? And considering the recent history of these AFC East rivals, how could the P-A-T-S not R-E-S-P-E-C-T the J-E-T-S?

"It would be hard for us to say we don't respect a team that the last, I want to say (four of five) games have been decided by like three points or (less)," says Patriots co-captain Devin McCourty. "One of 'em last year, they won.

"You've got two teams that like playing each other. You watch the film you can tell that right away. There was a fight here, a scuffle here last year. There's no love lost between the two teams. But I think there's definitely a good amount of respect, definitely coming from our side. I think they respect us too and I think that's why we go out there (and) we play each other tough and have competitive games."

Familiarity breeds contempt; not a lack of respect.

"We know how they want to play us. They know how we want to play them and I think that's why there's so many good games between the two teams," McCourty continued. "I don't care if we were both undefeated or both out of the playoffs, they don't want to lose to us and we don't want to lose to them.

"I feel like it's like that every year, twice a year. That's just how it is. Neither team wants to lose to the other one."

There's no surer sign of respect than that.

Bob Socci is the radio play-by-play voice of the New England Patriots. You can follow him on Twitter @BobSocci.

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