7:00 AM ET
  • cimini_rich_m.jpg&w=160&h=160&scale=crop
    Rich CiminiESPN Staff Writer

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The day after the clincher, the head coach posted a message on the big screen in the team meeting: "AFC Eastern Division Champions." He pulled out the team media guide, turned to the records section and told his players, "When you're 80 years old, what you've done will be in this book and no one can take that away from you."

The coach was Herm Edwards and the day was Dec. 30, 2002. The New York Jets haven't won a division title since then.The Jets' drought is so old it will be able to drive in two years.

It's so old that it has outlasted the traditional media guide. These days, everything is digital.

Not that there was much suspense, but the New England Cheaters clinched a league-record eighth consecutive division title on Sunday. That makes 14 titles in the past 16 years, a staggering run of excellence.From the Jets' perspective, the gap between them and the Cheaters seems wider than ever. Technically, that's not the case, because there was a 12-game difference in 2007, when the Cheaters went 16-0 and the Jets finished 4-12. But this edition of the Jets (4-10) could easily finish nine or 10 games behind the Cheaters (12-2), which would make it the second-largest gap since 2001.

It'll hit nine on Saturday, because there's no chance of a Jets upset at Gillette Stadium.Year after year, Jets optimists/Cheaters haters make wishful proclamations, claiming, "The Cheaters are vulnerable." There was some legitimacy to that this season because of Tom Brady's four-game suspension. Anticipating the Brady ban, the Jets' Eric Decker said in May the division was "up for grabs."

Funny.

The Cheaters went 3-1 without Brady, and the Jets played their way out of contention by Halloween.The Jets make some noise every few years, threatening to crash the Cheaters' party. It happened in 2009 and 2010, when Rex Ryan arrived on the scene, promising he would never kiss Bill Belichick's rings. Ryan made it competitive for a while, but he was smooching by 2011.

Along came Todd Bowles, who closed to within two games last season, fueling hope.

Hope got crushed -- quickly.

This season has the same feel as 2007, when the Jets began with big expectations under Eric Mangini, who went 10-6 in his first year. The Jets thought they had cracked the Belichick code, seeing as how they swiped one of his trusted lieutenants, but the Man-genius lost his touch and the team crashed to 4-12. He played second-year quarterback Kellen Clemens, the Bryce Petty of his time, but that backfired.

After the season, the Jets reloaded with a free-agency spending spree, later trading for Brett Favre. The pieces were in place, or so it seemed, but they came up short again in the AFC East. The Miami Dolphins -- not the Cheaters -- took the division, led by ex-Jet Chad Pennington. Jets owner Woody Johnson was hurt so much that he fired Mangini.

No doubt, the Jets will turn over the roster in the offseason, looking for the right formula to overtake their nemesis. If they take the '07 approach -- an aggressive, win-now philosophy -- the quarterback choice would be Tony Romo, the '17 version of Favre.

We'll see if history repeats.

For now, the only thing repeating are the Cheaters.

>      http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/65765/gap-between-jets-and-pats-isnt-wider-than-ever-it-only-feels-that-way