By KIT STIER
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

There will be a striking contrast of coaching personalities when the 5-0 New York Jets visit the 5-0 (and 20-0) New England Patriots on Sunday.

On one sideline will be Herman Edwards, the emotional coach of the Jets who always seems willing to step into the spotlight and answer questions about his team. Across the way will be Bill Belichick, a master strategist who has coached the Patriots to two Super Bowl victories in the last three years and who shuns center stage whenever possible.

Edwards last Sunday loudly proclaimed he'd placed a gag order on his team after the Jets became the first team in the franchise's 45-year history to win its first five games. They were to enjoy being 5-0 and weren't to discuss the Patriots until Wednesday.

When the Patriots beat Miami on Oct. 10 to become the first team in the history of the NFL to win 19 consecutive games, Belichick waved to the crowd in Gillette Stadium, congratulated players, took a Gatorade shower and suggested his team should start looking ahead to the Seattle game.

"Well, that felt good," Belichick told The Boston Globe that day. "I told our team after the game that I was really proud of what they did and that no team in pro football has done that. But that being said, this is not our goal, to win four games (this season). So we're going to try to do a little more than that."

Jets players and Edwards spoke at length last week about the significance of starting a season 5-0. Belichick, in the weeks and days leading up to No. 19, quietly told his players not to discuss the streak.

"I said this makes absolutely zero difference in the outcome of this game, and as many people that want to talk about that, no one here cares," Pats quarterback Tom Brady said before the Miami game. "I don't care, and our coach doesn't care, and the players don't care. We want to go 1-0 against the Dolphins this year and we have our hands full."

Edwards has a sense of history. He said he talked to his team about the 1980 Philadelphia Eagles team he played on that lost to the Oakland Raiders in the 1981 Super Bowl. The Eagles haven't been back to the big dance since, even though they won their first six games in 1981. Edwards noted to his team that the Eagles have reached the NFC title game each of the last three years, but until this year didn't win their first five games.

Edwards did the research to find the teams that have stared 5-0 in the past decade.

Before the Patriots played Miami a reporter inquired of Belichick, who has a library full of football books, if the coach didn't understand the significance of 19 in a row?

"Most of those books are technical football books," Belichick replied. "They are about the single wing. They are about the double-team block. They are the 5-4 defense and option football and that kind of thing. Really, that is what the books are about. That stuff interests me."

Edwards had more to say about the Pats winning 20 straight than Belichick did.

"It's unbelievable," Edwards said. "It's a tribute to their staff, their players, just what they've done in the last year and a half.

"Every week it's a different challenge," Edwards said, adding that each week the pressure grows. "Now you're at 20. Every time you win, the pressure of you just winning, that's big enough no matter who the opponent is."

Well, the Patriots next opponent is the Jets.

"This is not the game of all games," Edwards, the goal-setter, said. "This is our sixth game. It just so happens to be that they are undefeated, we're undefeated, two division teams."

Said Belichick: "The Jets are one of the best teams in the league. We know we are going to have to play our best game on Sunday against the Jets. That's no secret."

But remember Edwards and Belichick are different animals.

"You've been around Bill long enough to know the routine," veteran Pats cornerback Ty Law told the Boston Globe after No. 19. "You know he's going to pump up the opponent whether he thinks they're good or not.

"It actually helps the younger guys to get ready. They walk out of here thinking: 'Man, he's crazy.' And we tell them, 'No, that's just Bill.' "

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