AFC East unbeatens meet

FOXBORO, Mass. — Every NFL team would be eager to knock off the New England Patriots and end their NFL record winning streak of 20 games. Not all of them would have as good a chance as the New York Jets.

In a matchup of two of the league's three unbeaten teams, Patriots safety Rodney Harrison expects the Jets to come into Sunday's game with great confidence.

"They're 5-0," he said. "Wouldn't you?"

With Curtis Martin leading the NFL in rushing, Chad Pennington tops in the AFC in passing accuracy and John Abraham first in the AFC in sacks, the Jets have a much better chance to beat their AFC East rivals than they did last year when they started 0-4 and finished 6-10 with two losses to the Patriots.

A win Sunday would match their victory total for all last season.

"Going up there, playing well and winning means we're making progress and taking the right steps toward being a championship organization," Pennington said.

That's what the Patriots are after winning their second Super Bowl in three years on Feb. 1. That was their 15th consecutive win, including playoffs. They set the record of 19 straight by beating Miami and can set the regular-season mark of 18, surpassing the 17 won by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears, with a win over the Jets.

But there's no gloating or celebrating in the locker room, only hard work, serious expressions and a coach, Bill Belichick, who won't let them get impressed with themselves.

"You've got to be humble. You're playing against a 5-0 team that's playing really well right now," Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest said. "We're not playing the way we want to be playing."

Last season the Patriots ended a five-game home losing streak against the Jets. The Patriots are 18-3 at Gillette Stadium, where their last loss was against the Jets on Dec. 22, 2002.

"Anybody that's coming in here is expecting to end the streak some way," New England cornerback Ty Law said. "We were last year's Super Bowl champions and we're getting a lot of attention because of streaks."

The Patriots did beat Indianapolis and Seattle, but the combined records of the five teams they've beaten is 9-17. That's impressive compared to the quality of the Jets' opponents, who are 6-22 with none of them having a winning record.