Another date with the New England Patriots has New York Jets coach Rex Ryan running his mouth.

Nothing unusual in that.

The fact his banged-up squad has the same record as New England, however, may be a bit more odd.

Two of the four AFC East teams knotted at 3-3 continue their tense rivalry Sunday when the Patriots host the Jets.

Facing the Patriots always seem to bring out an even more boisterous side of Ryan, who again expressed confidence despite his team being outscored 112-40 in losing the last three regular-season meetings.

"I want them to know, and they know, that I think we're going to beat them," Ryan said. "I don't buy into all that other stuff. Look, I recognize they're a great football team and (Bill) Belichick's a great coach. I've never once said he wasn't, OK, but we're not going to back down or concede anything."

Sunday's contest will give the winner an upper hand over the other in the division race, with the Jets trying to improve to 3-0 against East rivals.

"I've never stopped not thinking about them," Ryan said. "That's the team you have to beat to win our division. You always think about them."

Tom Brady took a more leveled approach to the importance of this matchup. New England has won three of the last four overall meetings, falling 28-21 at home in the divisional playoffs Jan. 16, 2011.

"A division opponent is critical. We've only played one of those games this year," Brady said referring to a 52-28 win over Buffalo on Sept. 30. "We play a team that we know pretty well that always gives us challenges defensively. They're always a very good team. They're very much a game-plan defense. They're going to try to figure out what they need to do to stop us and we've got to figure out ways to move the ball and really put the ball in the end zone."

Brady completed 36 of his career-high 58 attempts for 395 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions Sunday, but Seattle's 46-yard touchdown pass with 1:18 remaining dealt New England a 24-23 defeat.

Wes Welker caught 10 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown for the Patriots, whose losses have come by a combined four points. They fell 20-18 to Arizona on Sept. 16 after Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal as time expired, and 31-30 at Baltimore on Sept. 23 when the Ravens made their winning kick with no time left.

"We're 3-3. We haven't earned a better record than that," Brady said. " We haven't played well enough and consistently enough to be better than that, but I don't think six games defines a season and I think that what will define our season is what we do over the course of the next 10 weeks."

While the Patriots may be disappointed with their mark, the Jets may feel a bit more proud given their struggles with injuries.

In fact, health issues led Ryan to say this week that quarterback Tim Tebow could see time at running back Sunday. Backups Joe McKnight (sprained ankle) and Bilal Powell (separated shoulder) are likely to miss the game, leaving starter Shonn Greene as the only active running back who has received a carry.

Tebow has carried the ball 18 times for 64 yards, but Ryan says he's "got power," and as a quarterback, he "knows all the positions."

Among the more serious injuries New York has had were shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis (ACL) and top receiver Santonio Holmes (foot) being lost for the season in September. Additionally, tight end Dustin Keller (hamstring), rookie wideout Stephen Hill (hamstring) and center Nick Mangold (ankle) all have been nursing injuries.

Nothing slowed the Jets last week, though, as they routed Indianapolis 35-9 to end a two-game skid. Embattled quarterback Mark Sanchez finished 11 of 18 for 82 yards and two touchdowns, including a five-yard scoring pass to Hill.

"It was big, especially having some losses like we did," said Keller, who had one catch in his first game back since the season opener. "This is a big win for us. ... It's going to give us a little momentum going into this next game."

The star, though, was Greene, who rushed 32 times for a career-best 161 yards and three touchdowns. He had 49 attempts for 123 yards and no touchdowns in his previous four games combined.

"I think we can do it every week against any team," Greene said. "It's just a matter of us executing, not stopping ourselves and working hard during the week."

Greene rushed for 61 yards and Sanchez threw two interceptions in a 37-16 loss to New England on Nov. 13 in the most recent meeting. Brady, who has a 112.7 passer rating and 10 touchdowns in his last four games versus the Jets, threw for 329 yards in that contest, including 113 and two TDs to Rob Gronkowski .

Gostkowski FG in OT gives Pats 29-26 win over Jets

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- Another game was slipping away from the New England Patriots down the stretch. This time, their opponent made the biggest mistakes.

The New York Jets ' final failure came when Rob Ninkovich knocked the ball out of Mark Sanchez 's hand in overtime and recovered the fumble, ending a 29-26 win Sunday that gave the Patriots sole possession of first place in the AFC East.

For the fourth time this season, a Patriots game was decided in the final two minutes. And, for the first time, they won.

"The whole time I'm thinking, `Hey, this can't happen again. We've just got to fight all four quarters, hold them to a field goal at the end,"' Ninkovich said. "In overtime we said, `Hey, it's overtime. We know we're going to get a chance, so let's go out there and finish this game."'

The Patriots (4-3) moved into sole possession of first place in their division. The day started with all four teams tied at 3-3, but the Jets (3-4) and the Buffalo Bills lost, while the Miami Dolphins were idle.

"There's a lot of football left to be played," New England coach Bill Belichick said. "I don't think anybody clinched anything today."

Stephen Gostkowski 's 48-yard field goal put the Patriots ahead on the first possession of overtime. But each team gets the ball unless the first team with it scores a touchdown. So the Jets weren't done.

The game might not have reached overtime had they capitalized on their chances late in regulation.

"We made too many mistakes but we had our opportunities," New York coach Rex Ryan said. "It just stinks being on this end of it."

Trailing 23-20, Sanchez threw a good pass to a wide-open Stephen Hill that would have given the Jets a first down inside the Patriots 20-yard line with just over two minutes left. But Hill dropped it and New York settled for a 43-yard tying field goal by Nick Folk .

"I think he was trying to make a big play," Ryan said. "You've got to catch the ball first then worry about making the run."

Then, Devin McCourty fumbled the kickoff and Antonio Allen recovered for the Jets.

"Our emotions were high and everyone was full of energy," Allen said, "but they took it right back."

Sanchez was sacked for a 10-yard loss on third down and Folk kicked another 43-yarder for a 26-23 lead with 1:37 to go in the fourth quarter.

So all the Patriots needed to force overtime was a field goal, not a touchdown, and Gostkowski kicked a 43-yarder on the final play of regulation.

After Gostkowski's overtime field goal, the Jets moved to their 40 before Ninkovich got around right tackle Austin Howard and hit Sanchez high while Jermaine Cunningham got him low for a sack. The ball came loose, Ninkovich pounced on it and Belichick went out and patted Ninkovich on the helmet.

"In overtime, Bill came to us and said we're going to need the rush," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "We all understood that we had to get after it."

Said Sanchez: "We got pressure inside and I didn't feel Ninkovich on the outside."

After a required replay, the ruling was upheld and the Patriots escaped with a win after blowing a 10-point lead in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter.

In their other losses, Gostkowski missed a 42-yard field-goal attempt on the next to last play of a 20-18 loss to Arizona, Justin Tucker kicked a 27-yarder on the last play of a 31-30 Baltimore win and Sidney Rice caught a 46-yard touchdown pass with 1:18 left in Seattle's 24-23 victory.

"It comes down to a few plays," Tom Brady said. "We had opportunities last week (at Seattle). We had opportunities against Baltimore. We had opportunities against the Cardinals, and when you make the plays you win the game."

On Sunday, the Jets rallied from a 23-13 deficit in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to Dustin Keller and Folk's third and fourth field goals.

But Brady marched the Patriots downfield after starting at his 21-yard line to put Gostkowski in position to force overtime.

Brady completed 26 of 42 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns to Rob Gronkowski . Sanchez was 28 for 41 for 328 yards and one touchdown.

The Patriots led 16-10 at halftime, scoring on offense, defense and special teams.

Trailing 7-0 after Shonn Greene 's 1-yard touchdown run, the Patriots scored on the next play when McCourty returned a kickoff 104 yards for a touchdown, second in team history only to Ellis Hobbs ' 108-yard kickoff return. Both came against the Jets.

Then, the offense came through on Brady's 17-yard scoring pass to Gronkowski. And the defense followed with a safety two minutes into the second quarter when Sanchez deliberately kicked a loose ball beyond the back of the end zone after Greene's fumble.

The Jets nearly reached the other end zone midway through the second quarter when Hill got open in front of the right corner of the end zone, but Sanchez's long pass came up short and rookie Alfonzo Dennard intercepted at the Patriots 2.

Folk kicked a 54-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the first half and a 21-yarder on the first series of the third quarter.

Brady then threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Gronkowski for a 23-13 lead late in the third quarter.

"We did a good job of it when we needed to," Brady said. "It's nice to pull out a close one."

Notes: The Patriots gained at least 350 yards for the 16th straight regular-season game, tying the St. Louis Rams of 1999-2000 for the most in NFL history. ... Sanchez's 328 yards passing were the fourth-most of his career. ... Gronkowski scored two touchdowns in a game for the first time this season and 10th in his career.

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