<P> Herm Edwards replaced Groh as Jets coach, and in September 2001 Drew Bledsoe was badly injured by a hit by Mo Lewis in Foxboro Stadium; with his chest cavity filling with blood (an injury requiring hospitalization) he was replaced late in the game by backup Tom Brady, but it was not enough to overcome a 10--3 Jets win . From there, however, the Patriots surged forward, and both teams met in late November in Giants Stadium, the Jets at 7--4 and the Pats at 6--5 . The Jets raced to a 13--3 halftime lead, then were shot down by touchdowns by Antowain Smith and a Brady toss to Marc Edwards to go with an Adam Vinatieri field goal and two Vinnie Testaverde picks . The 17--16 final continued a Patriots streak all the way to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVI while the Jets finished a strong 10--6 only to fall, 24--22, to the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs . </P> <P> The 2002 season opened with a comeback Jets win in OT in Buffalo, but in Week Two the Patriots mopped the Meadowlands with the Jets, 44--7; Jets placekicker Matt Turk (14 yards on a botched punt attempt) outrushed the entire Jets offensive backfield (nine yards by Curtis Martin, LaMont Jordan, and Richie Anderson combined) and two Testaverde turnovers (a fumble to Tebucky Jones and an interception by Victor Green) led to Patriot touchdowns . A humiliating 30--3 loss in Miami was followed by a 28--3 loss in Jacksonville; during this game Testaverde failed to complete a pass in four tries and was sacked once; he was thus benched and sophomore Chad Pennington took over under center, finishing with 281 yards and one INT . </P> <P> From there, however, the Jets came to life . Against the Kansas City Chiefs Pennington completed 22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns as the game lead tied or changed eight times; the Chiefs won 29 - 25 on a Trent Green touchdown (19 yards) to Priest Holmes with 27 seconds left . The Jets now began winning in an unusually competitive NFL season, beating the Minnesota Vikings, 20--7, as they won six of nine games entering their Week 16 showdown with New England . The Patriots meanwhile fell to 3--4 after an OT win (41--38) over Kansas City was followed by four straight losses (to San Diego, Miami, Green Bay, and Denver;) the Patriots then rallied to 8--6 with routs of Buffalo twice, a huge comeback over Chicago, and wins over Minnesota and Detroit when they hosted the Jets at new Gillette Stadium in December . With both teams coming off losses (the Patriots lost to Tennessee on Monday Night Football while the Jets were beaten in Chicago), the resurgent Jets shot down the Patriots, 30--17, and suddenly with both teams 8--7 the final week of the regular season became a dizzying conundrum; the Patriots needed to beat the Miami Dolphins and have the Green Bay Packers defeat the Jets to win the AFC East, their only chance of a playoff berth; the Jets needed a Patriots win and to beat the Packers to win the division and thus make the playoffs, while Miami needed to win to make the playoffs . The Patriots rallied from down 24--13 in the final five minutes to force overtime and defeat the Dolphins, 27--24; the Jets game against Green Bay started on time with overtime in Foxboro approaching; Brett Favre had thrown a long incompletion on a neutral - zone infraction by the Jets just as the winning FG in the Patriots game took place; when the game was decided the crowd at Giants Stadium exploded in cheers . From there the Jets rolled over the Packers, 42--17, knocking Miami and New England out of the playoffs and winning the AFC East, only their second division crown since the 1970 merger . The Jets followed up by crushing the Indianapolis Colts, 41--0, in the wildcard round, but then fell to the Oakland Raiders, 30--10 . </P> <P> Chad Pennington was injured in the Jets' 2003 preseason game against the Giants and missed half of the year . He returned in the latter half of 2003 but the 2--4 Jets could only salvage a 6--10 record . The Patriots, meanwhile, roared to 14--2, sweeping the Jets (23--16 at Foxboro, 21--16 at The Meadowlands) en route to victory in Super Bowl XXXVIII . </P>

When was the last time new england lost two games in a row