New England Patriots vs. New York Jets thread

[Kneel B4 Zod]

Some thoughts on the game, mostly from the Pats POV, other views welcome of course.

The first game between these 2 teams was dominated by the Patriots. The Jets did spring 2 big plays that had a bit of luck and extraordinary effort. Sure you give them credit for this, but these plays aren't the type that are very repeatable.

The second game the Jets outplayed the Pats, but they had a lot of things going for them:

- Jets were coming off of a bye week, Pats were coming off of a Sunday night loss to the Colts

- The game was played on a completely muddy field, which always gives the advantage to the worse team (by leveling the literal and figurative playing field).

- Ty Warren did not play, and Seymour was still banged up. 2 Pro Bowl level Dlineman for the Pats.

The point is, I wouldn't look for a repeat of the second game. Lots of things will be different this game. (Rodney Harrison did not play in game 2 either btw).

Re: the 2 teams, the Patriots are better. I think the Jets have had a successful season, but they were lucky to get as many wins as they did. They have an average offense and a below average defense; the Pats are above average on both.

I think the Pats win by a TD.

[brettbrettr]

link

[THAY3R]

In the playoffs luckboxing can continue. Go Jets!

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
link

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't like the title of that thread. plus it was low content!

[brettbrettr]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
link

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't like the title of that thread. plus it was low content!

[/ QUOTE ]

Low content? I predicted a W, that's pretty much all that matters.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
link

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't like the title of that thread. plus it was low content!

[/ QUOTE ]

Low content? I predicted a W, that's pretty much all that matters.

[/ QUOTE ]

yes but you haven't accepted my avatar bet!

[brettbrettr]

Terms?

[sam h]

Here is my quick breakdown/synopsis:

Jets O versus Pats D

Jets had a lot of success running the ball in the second game that I don't expect to be repeated, hammering out 26/110 but with a long of only 12. They were consistently able to pick up 3-5 yards and, as KB4Z alludes, a lot of this can be attributed to the depleted NE line. Warren is a monster against the run (84 tackles in 15 games is ridiculous for a 3-4 end) and was missing while Seymour was basically playing with one arm. I am pretty high on Pennington but their whole approach depends on getting into 3rd and manageable situations. He's not a guy who is going to succeed with a lot of 3rd and longs, nor is he a guy that is going to shorten drives by picking up yards in big chunks. If the Pats D-line can stand up the Jets O-line a bit more and force a lot of 2nd and 9, 3rd and 8 type of situations, its going to be a long day. I think Mangini knows this, however, and I would expect him to come out spreading the field a lot, getting the Patriots out of their base defense, using the same hurry-up that has been pretty effective all year, and basically trying to utilize Pennington's intelligence and short accuracy to pick on some of the weaker Pats dime and nickle d-backs. Basically, my best guess is that the Jets will try to pass to set up the run against the nickle.

Pats O vs Jets D

This one kind of baffles me. The Pats have probably been most effective this year when they spread the field and use quick drops, basically letting their best player dictate events. On the other hand, the Jets run D is pretty atrocious and the Pats had a lot of success, especially with Dillon, just hitting the Jets in the mouth. One element that the Jets seem to lack is a top-end speed rusher on the outside, which has been a real achilles heel for the Pats this year on several occasions as Matt Light has been exposed (incidentally, this really concerns me against the Chargers or Ravens if the Pats reach the next round). Ultimately, I think coaching is going to be pretty huge in this matchup. This is Mangini's strength and Pat's O-Coordinator Josh McDaniels has been very up-and-down this season. In particular, he's shown a worrying inability to make adjustments in some games and a bit of stubborness, which I hope don't come back to kill the Pats on Sunday.

Special Teams

Both teams have pretty strong special teams. But I think any Pats fan out there who claims he doesn't still have concerns about Gostkowski is lying. In retrospect, I think BB handled the situation very well this year in being somewhat conservative in his use of Gostkowski after he flubbed a few early. And with some shorter kicks he ended up making a respectable 20-26, including a few long ones. On the other hand, there's something about experiencing a lot of siutations in which your team is going for it on 4th and 6 from the 30 yard line that makes your stomach a little queezy come playoff time...

What It All Adds up To

Pats 24 - Jets 16

[youtalkfunny]

Guess who wrote this in today's column?

PATRIOTS (-8.5) over Jets
It's been fun to see the Jets fans come out of a decade-long hibernation/depression to unleash taunting "you're going down!" e-mails and phone calls to Patriots fans like myself. You guys are cute. It's like having a puppy hump your leg or something. Anyway, here's the lingering question: How does a team with no home-field advantage, no deep threats, a banged-up secondary and one of the worst special teams units in football give 8.5 points to a team that played them tough twice? It makes no sense, right?

Here's the answer: The Pats tipped their hands in a meaningless Tennessee game last week. There's been a nagging sense since the curious Colts defeat that they were better than they were letting on, that they were playing possum to an extent, blessed with an easy schedule that guaranteed them the 4-seed four months ago. When the Titans got them riled up with a couple of chippy plays, the ticked-off Pats switched gears, kept their starters in, opened up both barrels and blew them off the field. It was an awesome performance. For the first time all season, they looked like the physical, nasty, ball-breaking, smashmouth team that won 21 straight and 31 of 33 during the '03 and '04 seasons. I can't imagine that team losing at home, in January, in a do-or-die game, to an opponent that can't run the ball or stop the run. It's not happening.

The Pick: New England 31, New York 10

(Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons, of course.)

[Fallen Hero]

he's way too optimistic