FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots-New York Jets rivalry will add quite possibly its most exciting chapter in over a decade on Sunday.

Both teams enter the Week 11 matchup with winning records as the Patriots are 5-4 and the Jets are 6-3, good enough to put both in the playoffs if the season ended today, too. There's certainly some added hype to Sunday's game considering that the Patriots just beat the Jets in their building three weeks ago, too.

The Jets side has been hyped up for Sunday's game since they defeated the Buffalo Bills in Week 9. Moments after that game, star rookie cornerback Sauce Garnder said “I can't wait” to face the Patriots again after both teams were on their bye week in Week 10.

Former Patriots receiver Braxton Berrios, who joined the Jets in 2019, said Monday that New England “got us at home and obviously our goal is to return the favor.”

Patriots linebacker and captain Ja'Whaun Bentley certainly understands the feeling both players have entering Sunday's game. But he's also keeping it in perspective, too.

“I would feel the same way,” Bentley said. “I mean, this is football. We next on the schedule, they next on our schedule. So, we eager for the competition. Like I said, this is ball. All the hype, all that kind of stuff, all the build-up, we let y’all kind of do that, but at the end of the day, we on the field.

“So we got to make sure that when we hit the field, we do everything that we need to do to try to end up with a win, and that’s our sole goal. All the other stuff leading up to the game, none of that really matters.”

While there's more attention than usual being shined on the upcoming Patriots-Jets game, recent history is in New England's favor. The Patriots have won the last 13 matchups between the two teams. In the matchup between the two teams in October, the Patriots took control in the second half when Zach Wilson threw three interceptions (including one to Bentley) in what ended up being a 22-17 win.

Both Bentley and Patriots corner Jonathan Jones don't expect the Jets quarterback to have another performance like that on Sunday. What Bentley does expect though is for his squad to show up after all of the exciting build-up by Sunday's kickoff.

“That’s the beauty of football, and when you think about the National Football League, in general, you get the media involved. You have press conferences and things like that,” Bentley said. “The build-up just kind of gets everything going, gets the competitive juices flowing. But at the end of the day, when Sunday hits and the ball is out there, we all gotta go out there and play the game. You can’t take what everybody says in the media out on the field.

“At the end of the day, you’re there, so we just go to make sure when we hit the field, we’re prepared. I don’t look down the line. I’m focused on if we had a good solid practice today, I’m looking forward to tomorrow so we can have another solid practice. And leading up to the game, just making sure we don’t let opportunities slip by.”

A win on Sunday would keep the Patriots firmly in the AFC playoff picture and would put them in a good spot ahead of back-to-back Thursday matchups against the Minnesota Vikings and the Bills.