Jets Fans Trolling Patriots Would Be Funnier If They Weren’t Jets Fans

Given the ridiculous amount of success the Patriots have had since 2002—four Super Bowl wins in six appearances—hating them to some degree is only natural. Add that to public cheating scandals like “Spygate” and “Deflategate,” and you’ve got yourself a recipe for damn near universal disdain.

Of course, while most fan bases are only subjected to periodic beatings by New England, they’ve been a bi-annual event for the rest of the AFC East for over a decade. Though the Bills and Dolphins have largely accepted their bottom feeder status, at least to this point, the Jets have proved less resigned to their fate.

It must be that heated New York-Boston rivalry that continues to drive them, because it’s hard to imagine that 1968 Super Bowl is still fueling Jets’ fans collective fire. Rex Ryan’s posturing and chest-beating definitely encouraged Gang Green’s delusions, despite two AFC Championship losses being the highlight of his tenure.

Ryan may be gone, but it seems that his trademark “poking the bear” mentality lives on in New York. On Thursday a plane with a banner that read “CHEATERS LOOK UP!” flew over Patriots practice, proudly announcing it was message courtesy of Jets fans and media. Though it was probably way more fans than media.

Sure, the whole Deflategate thing has been an ongoing nightmare in New England since January, but considering they won a Super Bowl in February, it’s probably not getting them down too much. Whereas this relatively minor scandal is the best thing that’s happened to the Jets in almost 50 years.

Which means this whole banner stunt might have been a whole lot funnier if it wasn’t so sad.