The blood feud will kickoff early in 2007.

The New York Jets will open the 2007 season  with a home game against the New England Patriots. The last time these two teams opened up in the Meadowlands was in 1999 when Vinny Testaverde ripped up his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season.

The Good News: 

The Jets will play seven of their first ten games at home (I'm counting Week 5 "at the Giants" as a home game) which should help the team get off to a good start.  The Jets finished with a disappointing 4-4 mark at home last year and must transform the Meadowlands into a "Green Hell" in order to make strides in 2007.

The Bad News:

Home games in the beginning means road games at the end.  It's your simple mathematics.  Four of the last six games will include trips to Dallas on Thanksgiving, Miami, New England and Tennessee.  The Jets were road warriors last season going 6-2 including a win at New England.

Interesting Match-Ups:

You never know how the season will turn up, but here are a few intriguing out-of-division games on the docket for the Jets in 2007:

Week 5: "at" the New York Giants.  The last time these two teams met with anything on the line was in the final game of the 1988 season.  Ken O'Brien and Al Toon ripped the hearts out of Big Blue fans everywhere by knocking the G-Men out of the playoffs with a 27-21 win.  This game should be early enough in the season to have some juice.

Week 6: Philadelphia Eagles.  The "Iggles" are the only team the Jets have never defeated in the regular season (0-7).  I'm sure this makes depressed fan  (Brian) happy.

Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys (Thanksgiving).  The Jets haven't played on Turkey Day since 1985 when they played at the Detroit Lions (lost 31-20).  The Jets should know what kind of team they have by this point and could be battling for playoff position.

Week 17: Kansas City Chiefs.  Herm Edwards will return to the Meadowlands to take on his former team.  How do you think the fans will treat the former coach?  This game could be wild if the Jets need the win.

The Jets have the seventh hardest schedule for 2007  (their opponents' 2006 winning percentage comes in at .516) so the Green and White will have their hands full this year, but this is just a guide.  After all, the Jets were expected to finish dead last in 2006.  How did that turn out?

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