Tomorrow at 1pm the Jets take on the undefeated New England Patriots who are coming off of a prime time win over Andrew Luck and the Colts. The Patriots are a long time foe of the Jets. The border war between these teams is well documented. The teams have had not only players but coaches and front office personnel go back and forth over the years. None bigger this year than Darrelle Revis who spent last season winning a SB ring with the Patriots. Other players joining the Jets roster via the Patriots this year are Stevan Ridley (PUP List), Kembrell Thompkins (Raiders last year) and Coach Pepper Johnson. Hopefully these four can help the Jets slay the beast this Sunday.
Trying to compare each teams starting QB is literally like comparing apples and oranges. One of them is a 4 time Super Bowl Champ with numerous MVP's and the stats to coast directly to Canton when he retires... and the other is Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has played well this season but will certainly need to bring his "A" game Sunday against Brady and the Pats.
The fascinating matchup in this game is the Patriots #1 Offense vs the Jets #1 Defense. The Jets like to rush the passer and blitz more than any team in the league. It will be interesting to see how Todd Bowles choses to mix up his blitz package against Brady. As just about everything else involving the QB position, Brady handles the blitz better than anyone. The Jets offense has a favorable match up against the Patriots defense. Look for the Patriots to try to take away the run against the Jets and Chris Ivory, doing so could mean favorable matchups for Eric Decker and or Brandon Marshall in the pass game.
Predictions for the game: The line on this game opened at 9 1/2 and has since moved all the way to 7 1/2. That tells us that most of the money in vegas is on the Jets. For the Jets to win the game it will take 100 yards from Ivory and they can not lose the turnover battle. Getting their defense off the field on 3rd down will be crucial. For the Patriots, they will have to find a soft spot in the tough Jets defense. If the Jets have a weakness on defense, its covering dump off passes out of the back field. Look for Brady to attempt to exploit this often with Dion Lewis.
BOLD PREDICTIONS: Patriots 27 Jets 17. All week I have thought the Jets would lose this game by 10 points. Look for the game to be close going into the 4th quarter with the Patriots pulling away with a late TD. The Jets will give up a Special Teams TD.