The rivalry between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, already one of the most intense in the NFL, might reach a feverish new high when they clash for the 100th time Sunday.

First-year Jets coach Rex Ryan enters the fray with a style rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez refers to as “blunt force trauma.” In discussing the Patriots coach and the three Super Bowls he won this decade, Ryan says, “I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings.”
Ryan, on the Patriots defense: “How many people are intimidated by that defense?”
It is the second game in a 16-game regular season. Both teams opened with wins, New England vs. the Buffalo Bills and New York vs. the Houston Texans. But the latest confrontation is big in a series so hotly contested that it stands dead even at 49-49-1.
“It’s a huge, huge game. It’s almost like a playoff game, and you prepare for it like a playoff game,” NBC analyst and former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison says. “The teams respect one another, but they definitely don’t like one another. These guys have a fond dislike for each other, believe me.”
New York nose tackle Kris Jenkins compared his team’s home opener to the Super Bowl.
“It’s not the Super Bowl,” New England quarterback Tom Brady said. “That doesn’t get played until February. But it’s as important as they come, in terms of our division and what that means in our place in our division.”
What does the team that has ruled the AFC East with a 40-11 record since 2001 - the Jets are next at 25-25 - think of Ryan’s talk?
“We do our talking on the field,” Patriots safety James Sanders says.