Just when it looks like the miserly Bill Belichick and his frugal cohorts in New England are letting the Patriots dynasty fade, they make serious moves to bolster both Tom Brady's offense and a stalwart defense - all but assuring them an AFC title and first round playoff bye. The Jets, who made a solid move in picking up Thomas Jones but lost an integral veteran offensive lineman in Pete Kendall, will still have trouble moving the ball against a Pats defense that's a shade tougher now that former Raven Adalius Thomas has landed there.
Predicted Score: Patriots 31, Jets 13
Fantasy Focus New England: The offensive story in 2007 (and Week 1, for that matter), while more prolific, should also be more confusing, if that's possible. Brady's the best at spreading the ball around and finding ways to win, and the only way to have any clue at picking which receiver will benefit the most is by scrutinizing the matchups. In this case, I think Brady will shot deep a few times early to catch the Jets aggressive defenders off guard, meaning Stallworth and Moss will each be good for a TD catch. Things could shake out differently, but the safe money's on the studs in this one.
Start: Brady, Laurence Maroney, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, S. Gostkowski, Team Defense
Consider: Wes Welker, Ben Watson
Sit: Jabar Gaffney, Kevin Faulk
New York Jets: I don't like this matchup, save for a couple role players who usually excel against the Patriots. Pennington's still a decent QB, despite his preseason trouble, and the running game can be effective in the right situation, but I just don't like this matchup. And while the loss of Richard Seymour for the first six games hurts the Pats ability to control the Jets up front, losing veteran safety Rodney Harrison isn't as big a blow as it would have been a few years ago - these guys have learned to step it up.
Start: Lavernues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery
Consider: Thomas Jones
Sit: Chad Pennington, Leon Washington, Chris Baker, Team Defense
Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game
through Weeks 12 to 17 of the 2006 season after deducting the best
and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per
pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on
totals through Weeks 12 to 17 with no adjustment.
Defense Stats Comparison
NE Defense
NYJ Defense
NFL Average
Points against
19.0
11.0
21.1
Rushing yards
128.8
105.8
123.7
Rushing yards per attempt
4.75
4.71
4.30
Completion %
54.5%
61.0%
60.0%
Passing yards
189.3
180.0
201.8
Passing yards per completion
11.01
8.83
10.67
Passing yards per attempt
6.00
5.39
6.40
INT return
2.0
0.8
1.1
Fumble recoveries
0.8
0.5
0.7
Sacks
2.8
2.8
2.2
Weather
Check the current weather forecast for New York from Weather.com.
Team vs. Team History
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets
Season
Week
Date
Vis
Home
Score
Winner
2000
2
2000-09-11
NE
NYJ
19-20
NYJ
2000
7
2000-10-15
NYJ
NE
34-17
NYJ
2001
2
2001-09-23
NYJ
NE
10-3
NYJ
2001
12
2001-12-02
NE
NYJ
17-16
NE
2002
2
2002-09-15
NE
NYJ
44-7
NE
2002
16
2002-12-22
NYJ
NE
30-17
NYJ
2003
3
2003-09-21
NYJ
NE
16-23
NE
2003
16
2003-12-20
NE
NYJ
21-16
NE
2004
7
2004-10-24
NYJ
NE
7-13
NE
2004
16
2004-12-26
NE
NYJ
23-7
NE
2005
13
2005-12-04
NYJ
NE
3-16
NE
2005
16
2005-12-26
NE
NYJ
31-21
NE
2006
2
2006-09-17
NE
NYJ
24-17
NE
2006
10
2006-11-12
NYJ
NE
17-14
NYJ
2006
WC
2007-01-07
NYJ
NE
16-37
NE
Note: Only playoff games from the
2004 and 2005 seasons are included in the team vs. team history.
Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.
