FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -In his haste to reach his one-time employee and current adversary for a postgame word, Bill Belichick pushed aside a photographer in his path.

Seems he just couldn't wait to hug Eric Mangini. All was forgiven between mentor and pupil - or maybe not.

Belichick could afford to magnanimous on this Sunday.

After all, his New England Patriots humbled the New York Jets 37-16, winning the rubber match of their season series. The Patriots move on to San Diego in a run they hope will end with their fourth Super Bowl victory in six seasons.

But this rivalry is only going to get hotter.

Yes, the Patriots used their playoff experience this week, although it took them until late in the third quarter to take command. That was when the Jets bungled a flanker screen that ended up as a lateral. It was picked up off the ground and returned 31 yards by 325-pound Vince Wilfork to set up a field goal.

But New England had its trouble with the game plan devised by Mangini - dubbed ``Mangenius'' by the New York tabloids. In fact, it was a game plan similar to ones Belichick has concocted with the Patriots. What would a pupil be, after all, if he didn't emulate his teacher?

``We went no-huddle, they went no-huddle. We got caught with 12 men on the field and they got caught with 12 men on the field,'' Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. ``It was like we were mirroring each other over and over again.''

Over the long run, that could be a problem for New England.

And it may be the real reason - among the dozens given - why the 54-year-old Belichick is really so burned that the 35-year-old Mangini left for New York after six seasons as a Patriots assistant. The fact is, Belichick doesn't want another ``genius'' coach competing in the same division year after year.

It's not so much that the Jets went from 4-12 in 2005 to 10-6 and the playoffs this season. They were, after all, a couple of missed field goals away from meeting the Patriots in the AFC title game two years ago.

Under Herman Edwards, a solid but conventional coach, the Jets weren't likely to be an annual Super Bowl threat - at least, presumably, in Belichick's eyes.

Under Mangini, as Belichick well knows, the Jets will continue to innovate, continue to force the Patriots to call timeouts because they are going no huddle or snapping the ball when the other team is hustling defenders on and off the field. Belichick has never seemed to worry as much about other head coaches who have worked for him: Cleveland's Romeo Crennel or Nick Saban, who just left the Miami Dolphins to go back to college at Alabama.

In other words, Belichick knows that this pupil learned well and, as he gets more experience, could come up with innovations even his mentor may not be ready to counter. On Sunday, Belichick had the advantage of Bruschi, Tom Brady, Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin, guys who have been around for playoff wins. Super Bowl wins.

And he also has the adaptability that Mangini is now bringing to the Jets.

``His approach from Game 1 to Game 2 to Game 3 is going to be different,'' Mangini said after Sunday's game. ``There are problems, and you work on fixing them.''

So Belichick will face the same thing against a team built around a young core that includes three rookie starters on offense: running back Leon Washington and linemen Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the opposing coaches each tried to outsmart a familiar mind.

``They had us jumping around a lot out there,'' Brady said. ``It was a real chess match out there.''

Then there was that meeting at midfield.

``He said 'Good luck' and I wished him luck,'' Mangini said. ``I do wish them luck.''

Was he surprised at the embrace?

``I've got to tell you, I wasn't really focused on that moment. It was nice, but I honestly wasn't thinking about that''

Nope.

He was thinking about how to beat Belichick next season.

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