The New England Patriots love to play in the Meadowlands as they have covered the pointspread against the Jets 8 straight times there. You have to wonder if the Patriots are in the Jets heads at this point. The Jets have a poor pass rush and they couple that with below average CB play and you have a recipe for disaster against the Patriots. The Patriots prefer to mix up the playbook but they have to like their chances with Tom Brady throwing the ball down the field to Randy Moss, Donte’ Stallworth and Wes Welker. Welker will also go over the middle for a pass as he is truly fearless and Brady will look for him. The Jets safeties (SS Kerry Rhodes and FS Erik Coleman) are the playmakers of the secondary but look for Brady to attack them with TE Ben Watson. The Patriots will also attack the inside of the Jets defense in the running game with Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris running behind LG Logan Mankins, C Dave Koppen and RG Stephen Neal. The Jets will need good efforts out of NT Dewayne Robertson and ILBs Jonathan Vilma and Eric Barton to stop the power game. OLBs Victor Hobson and Bryan Thomas must contain the running game and keep it away from the sideline.

The Jets were foolish in how they handled the Pete Kendall situation at LG and they will likely go with rookie Jacob Bender from Nicholls State. His welcome to the NFL will be rude with NT Vince Wilford staring him in the face for most of the football game. C Nick Mangold and LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson must help Bender out while Ferguson will have to also worry about RDE Jarvis Green. LDE Ty Warren is a rising player and he will be homing in of Chad Pennington’s chest all game long. The Jets will likely try to run the football with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington on the outside of the defense where OLBs Roosevelt Colvin and Mike Vrabel roam. Still, that would be an easier task than dealing with Tedy Bruschi and Adalius Thomas on the inside. Look for Pennington to go to his receivers often if he gets enough time to throw the football as Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery both had solid seasons in 2006 for the Jets.

This game features 4 electric return men so that could be a huge factor in this football game. For the Jets…Justin Miller will return kickoffs and rookie Darelle Revis will return punts. Either of those guys can score from anywhere on the football field. Ellis Hobbs (KR) and Wes Welker (PR) also are a threat to go the distance on any kick.

PREDICTION: This will be a good football game but the Patriots defense will stop the Jets at key points in the football game giving them the victory.

The New England Patriots have released veteran QB Vinny Testaverde.  Testaverde completed 7 of 13 passes (53.8%) for 99 yards with 0 TDs and 1 interception (46.6 QB Rating).  The Patriots felt that Matt Gutierrez was a better fit for the #3 QB job for 2007.  Gutierrez completed 19 of 31 passes (61.3%) for 184 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (88.6 QB Rating) and he also carried the football 4 times for 5 yards (1.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Still, look for Testaverde to get a call if any of the Patriots’ QBs gets injured in 2007.

The Patriots have placed DE Richard Seymour on the PUP list with a knee injury.  This will cause Seymour to miss the first six games of the regular season and is a huge blow to the Patriots defense.  Seymour played in 13 games last season for the Patriots and he made 45 tackles, defensed 1 pass and had 3 sacks.  Seymour has now played in 87 career games and he has 285 tackles, 29.5 sacks, has defensed 27 passes, forced 3 fumbles and has 2 interceptions.  Jarvis Green will replace Seymour until he’s ready to return to action.  Green played in all 16 games last season for the Patriots and he made 33 tackles, had 7.5 sacks and defensed 2 passes.  Green has now played in 78 career games and he has made 128 tackles, has 18.5 sacks and he’s defensed 5 passes.

The Patriots have placed rookie linebacker Oscar Lua on the Injured Reserve List with a knee problem which will cause him to miss the season.  That is a shame as Lua was probably going to make the Patriots’ opening day roster as he made 13 tackles and had 1 interception in the pre-season.

The Patriots have released linebacker Chad Brown and cornerback Dante Wesley.  Brown had 10 tackles in the pre-season and Wesley had 10 tackles and 1 interception.  These moves prove that the Patriots feel pretty darn good about the players they have on defense for this season.

The Patriots have released WR Reche Caldwell.  Many Patriots fans have been waiting for this day since Caldwell dropped a pass with no one around him in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts last season.  Still, he had a decent pre-season with 4 catches for 50 yards (12.5 avg).  Caldwell was the leading receiver on the Patriots during the regular season last year as he caught 61 passes for 760 yards (12.5 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  But, Caldwell was not good enough to make the Patriots who made it there off-season mission to improve the wide receiving corps for 2007.

The NFL has suspended starting safety Rodney Harrison for the first four games of the season after hie admitted obtaining and using HGH.  Harrison said he needed the drug to recover from the beatings he took on the football field.  Harrison played in 10 games last season for the Patriots and he made 50 tackles, defensed 3 passes, had 1 sack and 1 interception.  James Sanders will start at strong safety until Harrison returns.  Sanders played in all 16 games last season for the Patriots and he made 43 tackles, defensed 1 pass, had a sack and an interception.