AFC NEWS ‘N’ NOTES
BATTLE OF UNBEATENS TO DETERMINE TOP SPOT IN AFC EAST Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts will be transformed into a "Wins ‘R’ Us" warehouse Sunday when two of the NFL’s three undefeated teams – the Patriots (5-0) and the Jets (5-0) – compete for first place in the AFC East. New England has won 20 games in a row, including the playoffs. Within that streak are 17 consecutive regular season victories to tie the NFL record held by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears, coached by Pro Football Hall of Famer GEORGE HALAS. The Jets, tabbed "Hempstead Five-O" by the New York Daily News, are at that mark for the first time in their history. New York has a plus-.500 record against three teams it has played at least 10 times. One of those clubs is the Patriots -- 47-39-1, .546. Jets running back CURTIS MARTIN (613) leads the NFL in rushing yards and has run for five touchdowns in the past seven meetings against his former team (1995-97). Martin (12,282) needs 31 yards this week to surpass Hall of Famer JIM BROWN (12,312) for seventh-place on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. "Curtis is, pound-for-pound, probably the strongest player in the league, certainly one of the strongest," says Patriots head coach BILL BELICHICK, a former Jets assistant coach (1997-99). "We know what we’re facing this week," says New York head coach HERMAN EDWARDS, whose team leads the AFC with a plus-9 turnover ratio. "We’re facing the best team in football. They’ve won two Super Bowls out of the last three, and they know how to win tight games." All-time list of NFL games played between unbeaten teams with at least five wins apiece:
Through the past five seasons (since 1999), a look at how the last team in each conference to lose fared at season’s end:
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