As Showdown Sunday approaches, the New York Jets and New England Patriots have put aside all the trash talking and inflated egos and have turned their focus towards football as they prepare for round three in Foxboro.

Following a few days of taunting, name calling and the candidness of player’s feelings towards each other, the tide has seemed to turn with both teams now offering more professional thoughts of their counterparts.

“I’ve always respected the other team and I respect all of these players,” said quarterback Mark Sanchez. “To me, it’s just not worth saying too much before a game, even after the game. You respect those guys as competitors and I just don’t really get into the bulletin-board material stuff, but that’s just me.”

Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady’s mindset was more about the readiness of his team rather than all the off-field hype.

“I’ve been called worse,” Brady said, referring to Antonio Cromartie’s comments. “But what’s most important for us is how we’re practicing and how prepared we are for the game because that’s what is going to determine who wins this game.”

Coach Rex Ryan and the Jets know it will be no easy task beating the Patriots in the unfriendly confines of Gillette Stadium against a well prepared head coach and quarterback.

“He’s the best in the business,” said Ryan of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “He prepares great and it seems like you never outprepare him or outwork him. He’s always got some wrinkles for you.”

“When we won the game at home, we forced three turnovers and they never got any,” remarked Ryan. “It was the opposite when we went to New England, so we will need to protect the ball and try to get some takeaways.”

Regardless of any team’s game plan, when your opposition is led by perennial All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady, there are no easy defense tactics.

“I have a ton of respect for him,” said Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. “I think he’s one of the best in the league and he’s prepping to have a great game, so we need to play well on defense.”

Gang Green came up big in Indianapolis limiting Peyton Manning to few passing options, but can getting one monkey off of their backs lead to doing the same with Brady and the Patriots.

“Both Darrelle [Revis] and Antonio [Cromartie] had tremendous years,” said Ryan. “If you throw towards Darrelle, you will end up with a lot of incompletions. Antonio did an outstanding job filling in for Darrelle and was matched up against some big-time guys.”

Although Brady did not have any compliments for Cromartie, he did praise the play of Revis.

“Since he’s come into the league, he’s been an incredible player,” said Brady. “Holding Reggie Wayne to one catch was a great performance. He’s everything you look for in a corner. He’s a great player.”

“He competes very well against a lot of different receivers, added Belichick. “We know he’s an outstanding player and we’ll just do our best to compete against him.”

Safeties will also play a big role in countering the Brady attack. Despite the talented corners, help from Brodney Pool and Eric Smith will be much needed if the Jets are to shut down the passing game.

“Both guys have been doing a great job for us,” said Ryan. “Brodney is a great talent and Eric is a big, physical guy back there and a tremendous special teams player.”

The Jets got the job done in beating the Colts, but playing on the road in the playoffs adds another difficult dimension to overcome.

“That’s playoff football at its best,” said Sanchez. “It’s the few guys you take up on that trip against everyone in the stadium. That’s how we view it. We play well on the road and we’re excited about it.”

The road through Foxboro however, is very different. It’s personal on both sides. Sanchez and the offense will need to elevate their game to match or out-do Brady’s performance to be victorious.

“If you play like you’re supposed to, if you focus on the defense like you’re supposed to, get completions, make plays when you get your opportunities, inevitable things will go right,” explained Sanchez.

“It’s going to be a very difficult game in many respects,” said Brady. “Certainly the stakes are much higher than the last time we played each other.”

The stakes will in fact be much higher and it will surely take a near perfect game both offensively and defensively if the Jets are to beat the Patriots, especially twice in one season.

The Jets hope this game will not come down to the final play, but if that is if fact the case, they have the confidence Sanchez can lead them to victory.