Patriots receiver Randy Moss and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis will face off once again on Sunday.

The Journal / Mary Murphy

It is around 10 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 9.

New York Jets coach Eric Mangini has arrived at the Meadowlands, ready to kick off a season full of expectations after the rookie coach led the Jets to a 10-6 record and a playoff appearance in 2006.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also at the stadium in northern New Jersey on the day of the season opener, with his team already being called the best in the NFL after the acquisitions of Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss and Wes Welker in the offseason.

What will happen that afternoon, just moments after the teams kick off, will have an impact that lasts for months.

On that day, Mangini dropped a dime to NFL Security and told them that a member of Belichick’s staff would have a video camera on the sidelines, taping the Jets’ signals. By the end of the first quarter, the cameraman, team video assistant Matt Estrella, had been taken off the field by league officials, and the videotape confiscated.

Mangini, who had spent 10 years working with and learning from Belichick, had turned in his former boss.

Just three days before the game, NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson sent a memo to all 32 teams, reminding them that “Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.”

And Estrella was right there, on the Pats’ sideline, pointing the camera at the scoreboard to record down-and-distance and then at the Jets’ coaches on the sideline sending in signals.

After an investigation, league commissioner Roger Goodell, who has ruled with an iron fist since taking over office in September 2006, handed down the stiffest penalties in league history: Belichick was fined $500,000 and the franchise an additional $250,000. The team also had to forfeit either its natural first-round draft pick if it made the playoffs, or its second- and third-round picks if it did not.

But more costly than the fines was the hit taken by Belichick and the Patriots’ legacy.

Suddenly, teams New England had defeated in the past came forward, making more accusations of wrongdoing. Members of the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost Super Bowl XXIX to the Patriots, wondered where there championship rings were, claiming they were the rightful winners of the game.

Others said New England may have scrambled the radio signal on opponents’ coach-to-quarterback system, or wired up their own defensive players on the field to hear quarterbacks giving directions at the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots’ players, especially those who had been part of the team’s championships, were stung by the accusations.

Linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who did not speak in the days immediately following the investigation and punishment announcement, unloaded after New England’s Week Two win over San Diego.

“If you’re on past teams and you’ve got doubts and all these hypotheticals, I’ve got a hypothetical for you: let’s get all the players that played with us and get them back. Then get all the players you had and bring them back on your team. And let’s play again. We would win again, period,” Bruschi said.

Since that time, the Patriots and the Jets have been on wildly divergent paths.

New York has struggled, using two starting quarterbacks behind a weak offensive line. The defense, while improving, has not played the way it did last year, and Mangini has made some questionable calls on the field.

A home overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers three weeks ago is the season’s high point.

New England, however, was seemingly galvanized by the scandal, and the team that was so talented on paper has been dominating on the field. After running their record to 13-0 with a win over the Steelers, the Patriots have a realistic chance of becoming the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to go undefeated in the regular season.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have so little faith in the Jets’ ability to win this week that the Patriots are 23-point favorites. It is the largest spread in NFL history.

Given the way things have turned out since, one has to wonder: if he could get into the DeLorean time machine and go back to the morning of Sept. 9, would Mangini do things differently?

smanza@projo.com