The New England Patriots (7-4) were not able to keep up with Drew Brees and the high-scoring New Orleans Saints (11-0).  The Saints offense did to the Patriots what they have been doing to every other team all season, as they Pats let Brees throw for 371 yards and 5 touchdowns on 18/23 passes.  They didn’t do a good job stopping the run either, with Mike Bell and Pierre Thomas combining for 114 yards 24 carries.  The defense was not able to slow down the Saints very much at all, which put a lot of pressure on Tom Brady and the offense.

The Patriots offense was able to keep up with the Saints for most of the first half, but the Saints were still able to build a 24-10 lead at halftime.  Tom Brady did not have his best stuff, as the Pats needed a near perfect game out of Brady for him to keep up with Brees.  Brady overthrew a few receivers and just wasn’t sharp.  He ended up with 2 interceptions and failed to reach to the endzone, passing for 237 yards 21/36.  Laurence Maroney had a good game, rushing for 64 yards on 15 carries.  He had a nose for the endzone as well, getting in for 2 rushing touchdowns.  The Patriots need more production like that out of Maroney, although he did lose a key fumble.  I thought the Patriots were at the same level as the Saints, but it looks like they need to make some improvements if they want to get to the Super Bowl this year.

The New England Patriots (7-3) are heading south in what I expect to be one of the best games of the season against the New Orleans Saints (10-0) on Monday Night Football.  If the Patriots don’t end the Saint’s undefeated season Monday night, then the Saints are very likely going to tie the Patriots 16-0 season from 2007 since their schedule is not very difficult after this week.  The Saints have an electric offense, so even though the Pats are holding opponents to 187 passing yards per game, the Saints offense is going to find success.  Drew Brees has 22 touchdowns and has been having an MVP caliber season.  They also have a three-back attack in the running game, with Pierre Thomas, Reggie Bush, and Mike Bell all contributing to the 154 rushing yard average per game.  The Patriots offense is going to need to be on top of their game, and it should be a shoot-out.

Tom Brady and the Pats’ offense has been just as impressive at times this year as the Saints’ offense has been.  Brady has been going to his favorite target Wes Welker even more than usual lately, as teams have been trying to shut down Randy Moss and the deep ball.  Welker has been so successful lately that it may open that deep ball back up for Brady and Moss.  The Saints’ defense is giving up 330 yards per game, compared to the Patriots’ defense who only gives up 297 per game.  I think Brady and the Pats’ offense will be able to keep up with Brees and the Saints, and I am going to go with the Patriots with a late field goal for the win.  This should be a very exciting game.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 34, New Orleans Saints 31

The New England Patriots (7-3) were able to force 5 turnovers against the New York Jets (4-6) and cruised to an easy win.  Leigh Bodden got the Patriots off to a good start when he intercepted a Mark Sanchez pass and ran it back 53 yards for the first score of the game.  Bodden ended up intercepting Sanchez 3 times, and Sanchez finished the game with 136 yards and 4 interceptions on 8/21 passes.  The Patriots defense didn’t do as well against Jets’ running back Thomas Jones, who had 103 yards on 21 carries, but they kept the Jets scoreless until late in the first half, giving the offense the chance to build a big lead.

Tom Brady and the offense were able to get pretty much whatever they wanted.  Brady and Welker hooked up for some big plays in this game, as Welker caught 15 passes for 192 yards.  Brady finished with 310 yards and a touchdown on 28/41 passes.  Laurence Maroney also rushed for 2 touchdowns and 77 yards on 22 carries.  The closest the Jets got to the Patriots was 24-14 in the 3rd quarter, but the Patriots held them off the rest of the game and scored another touchdown in the 4th quarter to seal the win.

33-year old running back Kevin Faulk is a outstanding football player as he does anything the Patriots need him to do.  He has played in 9 games so far this season for the Patriots and he has carried the ball 37 times for 188 yards (5.1 ypc) and he has also caught 25 passes for 199 yards (8.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Faulk is also helpful on special teams when needed as he has returned 5 punts for 31 yards (6.2 avg) and 6 kickoffs for 144 yards (24.0 avg) so far this year.  Faulk has now played in 146 games for the New England Patriots in which he has carried the football 814 times for 3,358 yards (4.1 ypc) with 14 TD runs and he has also caught 406 passes for 3,503 yards (8.6 avg) with 15 TD grabs.  Faulk has returned 99 punts in his career for 932 yards (9.4 avg) and 181 kickoffs for 4,098 yards (22.6 avg) with 2 TD returns.  Faulk has never been the main man of the offense for the Patriots but he has always been there to make a big play when they need one.

The New England Patriots (6-3) are hosting the New York Jets (4-5) this week and are looking for revenge.  The Jets beat them 16-9 in week 2 and the Patriots were shocked.  That was when Tom Brady was still struggling and adjusting after returning from his knee surgery that kept him out the entire 2008 season.  The real Tom Brady is back and I don’t think the Jets will have an answer for him and the Patriots offense.  He has been finding Randy Moss for some big touchdown passes and hitting Wes Welker and a lot of catch and run plays.  They are also averaging 114 rushing yards per game, so it will  be a big challenge for the Jets to contain Brady and the Patriots.

The Patriots offense needs to key in on stopping the run.  The Jets limit what their rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez does, as Sanchez tends to throw a lot of interceptions when he is given too much freedom.  The Jets average 170 rushing yards per game, so they don’t exactly need Sanchez to have big games.  So, if the Patriots can shut down Jets’ running back Thomas Jones then they will win the game for sure.  It will force Sanchez to throw more, most likely leading to some Patriots interceptions.  The Jets have a strong defense though and may be able to contain the Patriots offense some, but it wont be enough and the Patriots should win easily.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 31, New York Jets 20