The New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan and many of the New York Jets players have been talking all week about beating the New England Patriots, as they host them Sunday at the Meadowlands.  They have been saying they are not intimidated by the Patriots and are going to come out with a victory.  The Patriots haven’t had much of a response to all of the Jets smack-talk, as they do their talking on the football field.

Tom Brady and the Patriots offense looked pretty rusty last week, but Brady looked like his old self on the Patriots final game winning drive against the Buffalo Bills.  Brady’s repaired knee looked fine though, so I am expecting Brady to keep improving week by week.  Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez looked impressive in his first NFL start last week against the Houston Texans, but the Patriots defense is not like the Texans.  Expect more of a rookie performance from Sanchez as the Patriots defense will pressure him into some mistakes.  The Jets do have Thomas Jones carrying a lot of the offensive load for the Jets, and with the Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo most likely out with a leg injury, I see the Patriots having some problems stopping the Jets running game.

This will be an exciting match-up between these two rivals, and I expect a close hard fought game.  I think the Jets have the confidence and ability to come out of the game victorious, but I think the Patriots are going to edge out a close win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Patriots 31, Jets 28

Kevin Faulk is getting old in football terms for a running back but the Patriots still get him the ball.  He touched the ball 13 times against the Bills on Monday Night and he rolled up 153 all purpose yards.  He only carried the ball 3 times for 7 yards in this game (2.3 ypc) but he also caught 6 passes for 51 yards (8.5 avg).  The Patriots also used him returning kickoffs in this game as he did it 4 times for 95 yards (23.8 avg).  Faulk is always at the right place at the right time for the Patriots as he has been a unsung hero of this football team.

The Patriots will be without standout middle linebacker Jerod Mayo for likely at least the next six weeks due to a MCL sprain of his right knee.  Mayo only made 1 tackle against the Bills before he was injured.  Mayo was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL last season.  He played in all 16 games for the Patriots last season and he had 128 tackles, defensed 4 passes and he forced 1 fumble.  The Patriots will miss Mayo big time as he was the QB of the defense.  He will be replaced by 23-year old linebacker Gary Guyton.  Guyton had 4 tackles in the season opener against the Bills.  He played in 15 games as a rookie last season for the Patriots in which he made 34 tackles and defensed 3 passes.  Look for Guyton to do a good job for the Patriots while Mayo is out of action.

The Patriots looked dead in the water last night as they were down 24-13 late in the 4th quarter.  But then the real Tom Brady showed up taking the Patriots on two quick TD drives to win the game.  The second TD was set up when Brandon Meriweather and Pierre Woods stripped Bills’ KR Leodis McKelvin of the football.  Tom Brady worked hard last night as he completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Laurence Maroney led the Patriots on the ground with 32 yards on 10 carries (3.2 ypc).  Fred Taylor pitched in with 9 carries for 25 yards (2.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Randy Moss (141 yards) and Wes Welker (93 yards) each caught 12 passes apiece in this game.  But, TE Ben Watson was the star of the game on offense as he caught 6 passes for 77 yards (12.8 avg) with 2 TD passes.  The two TD receptions were 76 seconds apart in the 4th quarter and they gave the Patriots the win.  The Patriots finished up with 441 total yards (73 rushing, 368 passing) of offense in this game.

Brandon Meriweather (8 tackles) and OLB Tully Banta-Cain (4 tackles, 2 sacks) led the way for the Patriots on defense.  The Bills finished up with 276 total yards of offense (90 rushing, 186 passing) despite only having possession of the football for 22:52 of the game.  They need to get better.

The Bills could be in some deep trouble tonight as the Patriots have thumped them 11 times in a row by an AVERAGE of 20.5 points per game!  The Bills best chance in this game will be if they can play keepaway from the Patriots.  The bad thing for them is that they aren’t built for a offense like that.  WRs Lee Evans and Terrell Owens are downfield receivers so maybe the Bills will just try to fight fire with fire.  For that to happen they must protect Trent Edwards and that could be hard with two rookies starting at guard.  Andy Livitre and Eric Wood will have to keep Patriots’ NT Vince Wilfork out of the backfield and that won’t be easy.  If Edwards is having trouble getting time to throw the ball he might throw it to Fred Jackson out of the backfield to challenge the OLBs of the Patriots. 

The Patriots are going to be all about Tom Brady and Randy Moss tonight.  Those two guys will be playing catch all day long unless the Bills can mount a solid pass rush.  If the Bills start bringing the heat then look for Brady to use all of his receivers and he’s just as deadly that way.  If the Patriots build up a nice lead in this game then they will pound the ball with the deep corps of RBs that they have this season.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 45, BUFFALO BILLS 20