NY Jets can make JetLife Stadium a reality tonight

The NY Jets have an opportunity tonight to stake their claim as the kings of New York. They have an opportunity to prove that the offseason of hype was warranted and that MetLife Stadium is their kingdom.

And they can do it under the bright lights of primetime — the same lights that illuminated a humiliating 40-0 New York Giants defeat the night before.

The Jets/Giants rivalry that had been rather stagnant for years was reignited this summer following a series of back-and-forth interactions between new Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and a number of Giants players.

During the verbal sparring, Rodgers claimed that MetLife Stadium, the home of both the Jets and Giants, should actually be called "JetLife Stadium." The Giants took umbrage with this claim, with outside linebacker Jihad Ward and wide receiver Sterling Shepard commenting publicly after the fact.

All the while, the Giants claimed that they were focused on their Week 1 meeting with their arch-rival Dallas Cowboys, but after last night's disastrous 40-0 blowout loss at home, the Jets now have an opportunity to prove Rodgers right.

Aaron Rodgers and the NY Jets can claim JetLife Stadium tonight

The Jets have long been seen as the so-called "little brothers" to their more successful Giants counterparts. In fact, since MetLife Stadium opened in 2010, the Jets have only made the postseason once — and that was in the stadium's very first year of existence.

Meanwhile, the Giants have won a Super Bowl, and while they haven't exactly been the model of success over the last decade either, they have undoubtedly achieved more than the Jets.

That could all change this year, however. The Jets are the talk of the town. They have the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback. They have the elite defense. They are the ones seen as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

But all that talk doesn't matter if the Jets can't back it up on the field. The Jets may have a championship-caliber roster on paper, but paper doesn't win football games.

The Giants were embarrassed on national television last night in a way they rarely have been throughout their history. If the Jets come out and win tonight against the Bills, in front of a national audience at that, they will establish themselves as the team to beat in New York.

The Jets have played second fiddle to the Giants for far too long. Monday night is an opportunity to change the narrative. It's an opportunity to show that the Jets are the ones that run the city now.

It's an opportunity to make JetLife Stadium a reality.