Jets fans can make an impact against the Patriots like they did in 2009

It will be 637 days since the Jets played a regular season game in front of fans at MetLife Stadium when they take the field Sunday against the Patriots.

The team have just suffered a competitive loss in their first game of the season with the Panthers. Rookie quarterback Zach Wilson has shown some promising signs. New head coach Robert Saleh has energized the organization.

There is no reason MetLife not move on Sunday.

It had been a long time since a Jets home game had been a loud event. You may have to go back to the last time the Jets beat the Patriots in 2015, when Eric Decker grabbed the winning touchdown in overtime and the team’s playoff dream lived on for another week.

Since? It was difficult. The team are 13-27 at home since that game and no better on the road. The truth is, the Jets haven’t given fans much to cheer about.

But Sunday feels like luck. It looks a bit like Week 2 of 2009, when a new coach and a rookie quarterback made their home debut. This game was also against the Patriots. Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez were the talk of the town and the town came out to greet them that day.

Ryan made a taped call to all Jets season ticket holders in the week leading up to the game, calling on them to make life “miserable” for the Patriots. The fans delivered. The old Meadowlands stadium was as loud as it had ever been for a Jets game. The Jets won 16-9, keeping Tom Brady out of the end zone and announcing their arrival as a real contender.

“Dude, oh, man, I’ve never been to a stadium like this,” Ryan said Wednesday afternoon. “The stadium has changed. Like, literally, I’m on the pitch and in this fourth quarter and I was like, “This pitch is moving. It was so loud.

Ryan handed fans a game ball, the one that still sits in the trophy case at the team’s headquarters in Florham Park. They mailed mini-balloons to season ticket holders. The game served as confirmation that Ryan could save his bluster.

There are differences between now and then, of course. It was Giants Stadium. The Jets are now in MetLife, which hasn’t been able to match the vibe of the old location. The Patriots are no longer these Patriots. Brady is a Buccaneer and they smash their own rookie quarterback Mac Jones. While Saleh has re-energized the organization, he’s not the glowing force Ryan was.

This Jets team is not as talented as the 2009 version and a win on Sunday won’t make people believe it can be a contender. But it can make people believe that the Jets are no longer a punching bag. The Patriots are no longer Super Bowl favorites, but they aren’t pushovers either.

Saleh likely won’t record any phone messages for Jets fans this week, but he looks forward to their arrival on Sunday. The Jets want their fans to settle in early and bring the place into a frenzy that was only a memory around the same time last year.

“I think I’m speaking for everyone including fans that it’s exciting, it’s going to be awesome,” Saleh said. “It’s been a long time since the building had any Jets fans and I’m really excited to be on the right sideline when the vocals start and when things start to roll, it’s gonna be electric, it’s gonna be. awesome.”

For the record, Ryan is a fan of Saleh. He likes the energy that Saleh gives off. Ryan took over a team that was more successful than the one Saleh took over, but had an identity crisis, which Ryan resolved almost instantly. Something Saleh is also trying to achieve.

“I wanted to bring some pride back to this building,” Ryan said. “I think we did. Hope this guy can turn things around.

Ryan and Saleh both want physical teams, which Ryan’s squad showed in a good way in a Week 1 win over the Texans.

“I think we showed everyone the week before that we weren’t the same Old Jets,” Ryan said. “We were different. We weren’t going to get our ass whipped anymore.

It’s time for Saleh’s Jets to show that they’re not going to get their ass whipped anymore. In 2009, the Jets had lost eight straight games to the Patriots at home. The Jets are currently in a 10-game losing streak against the Patriots.

Jets fans can help Saleh’s side just like they helped Ryan’s side all those years ago. They can make life miserable for the Patriots again.