The Patriots are really hot right now as they have won 4 games in a row.  The Vikings have not been good at all this year as they have not been able to put 2 goods weeks together.  It’s up in the air as to whether Brett Favre (stress fracture in left ankle) or Tarvaris Jackson will start under center for the Vikings in this game.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the football:  The Vikings only have six sacks this season so it’s likely that Tom Brady is going to have a lot of time to throw the ball.  He will probably spread the ball around with no one getting more than 100 yards receiving tomorrow.  The Patriots will also likely give the ball to BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead a lot to keep the Vikings’ offense off the field.

When the Vikings have the ball:  No matter who is playing QB the Vikings are going to try to get the ball to Randy Moss who likely wants to stick it to the Patriots.  The Patriots also have to worry about Percy Harvin who is a big time weapon any time he’s on the field.  The linebackers and D-Line better tighten up the chinstraps because Adrian Peterson is going to be taking aim at them.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 30, VIKINGS 20

The Patriots gave the Chargers just enough rope to hang themselves and that’s exactly what they did in this game.  The Patriots’ D was very opportunistic as the Chargers kept turning the ball over giving Tom Brady short fields to work with.  LBs Jared Mayo (11 tackles, 1 fumble recovery) and Gary Guyton (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) led the way for the Patriots on D in this game.  Safety James Sanders (fumble recovery), LB Rob Ninkovich (fumble recovery) and CB Devin McCourty (interception) also made huge plays for the Patriots today.  The Chargers finished up with 38 yards rushing on 19 carries (2.0 ypc) and they also completed 34 of 50 passes for 325 yards.

Tom Brady was a game manager and little more in this game as he completed 19 of 32 passes for 159 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Benjarvus Green-Ellis (11 carries, 24 yards, TD) and Danny Woodhead (8 carries for 24 yards and 3 receptions for 28 yards) led the way for the Patriots on the ground in this game.  Rookie TEs Aaron Hernandez (5 rec, 54 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (2 rec, 10 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Patriots.  The Patriots finished up with 51 yards rushing on 22 carries (2.3 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 32 passes for 128 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 25:35.  The Patriots are now 5-1 on the season.

The Patriots are 1-1 on the road this season as they beat the Dolphins but lost to the Jets.  The Chargers are 2-0 at home this year outscoring the Jaguars & Cardinals by a combined score of 79-23!  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots will likely come out throwing the ball against the Chargers.  But they will keep the passes short to try to nullify the Chargers’ pass rush as they already have 21 sacks so far this year.  The Chargers also have been tough against the run allowing only 91.5 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  But the Patriots will still try to get BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead going against them in an attempt to control the clock and keep the Chargers’ offense off the field.

When the Chargers have the ball:  The Chargers are definitely going to come out throwing the ball against the Patriots in this game.  The Patriots are allowing 273.4 yards passing per game this year and opposing QBs have a 96.5 Rating against them.  The only thing that could derail Philip Rivers from having a good game is if he doesn’t have time to throw the football.  He has been sacked 18 times already this year.

PREDICTION:  CHARGERS 30, PATRIOTS 27 

23-year old rookie WR/KR Brandon Tate has really been solid in his second season for the Patriots.  He had a lost year as a rookie in 2009 when he played in 2 games without catching any passes.  He carried the ball 1 time for 11 yards in 2009 and he returned 4 kickoffs for 106 yards (26.5 avg).  But this year Tate it stepping up.  Tate has played in 5 games so far this year for the Patriots in which he has caught 11 passes for 135 yards (12.3 avg) and he has carried the ball 2 times for 27 yards (13.5 ypc).  Tate has also returned 19 kickoffs for 620 yards (32.6 avg) with 2 TD returns including one that went for 103 yards.  He also has returned 1 punt for 4 yards this year.  Tate has touched the ball 33 times for 786 total yards (157.2 total yards per game) which averages out to 23.8 yards every time he touches the football.  The Patriots hope he can stay healthy and productive the whole season.

Kicker Stephen Gostkowski finished off the Ravens in this game with a 35-yard field goal with 1:56 left in the overtime period.  Tom Brady was solid as usual in completing 27 of 44 passes for 292 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  Danny Woodhead was pretty effective for the Patriots in this game as he carried the ball 11 times for 63 yards (5.7 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 52 yards (10.4 avg).  BenJarvus Green-Ellis pitched in on the ground with 20 yards rushing on 10 carries (2.0 ypc) with 1 TD carry.  Deion Branch looked like he never left the Patriots today as he led the way in the passing game with 9 grabs for 98 yards (10.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.  TE Aaron Hernandez (4 rec, 61 yards and 1 carry for 18 yards) and WR Wes Welker (7 rec, 53 yards) also pitched in for the Patriots in the passing game today.  The Patriots finished up with 127 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 44 passes for 267 yards.

The Patriots gave up a lot of yards today but it didn’t matter in the end.  LB Jared Mayo (18 tackles), LB Brandon Spikes (14 tackles) safety Patrick Chung (13 tackles) and LB Rob Ninkovich (8 tackles, 2 QB hits) led the way for the Patriots in this game on D.  The Ravens finished up with 99 yards rushing on 34 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 35 passes for 278 yards.  The Patriots are now 4-1 on the year.

The Patriots are 2-0 at home this year but the Ravens travel well as they are 2-1 on the road.  The Patriots will try to avenge a absolute beatdown that the Ravens applied on them last January in the playoffs (33-14) on this very field.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to try to be balanced in an attempt to keep the Ravens’ offense off the field.  That means that BenJarvus Green-Ellis could get a lot of carries this weekend.  When the Patriots throw the ball I expect it to be of the shorter variety to help nullify the Ravens pass rush and keep the clock running.  Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Julian Edelman and Deion Branch will likely get targeted a lot by the guy with the Justin Bieber hairdo.

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Ravens will likely want to stay balanced.  But this could be the week that Joe Flacco really breaks out against a Patriots’ D that is giving up 272.3 yards passing per game.  The Patriots are likely going to have to key the running game against the Ravens though because Ray Rice and Willis McGahee will likely cause them a lot of problems if they try to get extra DBs on the field.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 23, PATRIOTS 20

The Patriots have acquired 31-year old WR Deion Branch from the Seahawks for a 4th round pick in 2011.  Branch played in 4 games for the Seahawks this year and he has caught 13 passes for 112 yards (8.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 104 games in his NFL career and he has 403 catches for 5,091 yards (12.6 avg) with 29 TD grabs.  Branch played in 53 games for the Patriots in the first four years of his NFL career and he caught 213 passes for 2,744 yards (12.9 avg) with 14 TD grabs.  This was a good trade for the Patriots as Branch is a player that Tom Brady likes to throw the ball to.

I’m beginning to think that Tom Brady could pull five guys off the street to play TE and WR and win with them.  I don’t think losing Randy Moss will hurt Tom Brady’s performance one bit as he will just make a star out of someone like Brandon Tate.  Brady has completed 85 of 122 passes (69.7%) for 911 yards with 9 TD passes and 2 INTs (109.0 QB Rating) so far this year.  Brady is even more deadly now that the Patriots have a running game.  The Patriots are averaging 122.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry so teams can’t just put a lot of extra DBs in the game to deal with Brady and his receivers.

The Patriots have dealt 33-year old WR Randy Moss and a 7th round pick in 2012 to the Vikings for a 3rd round pick in 2011.  Moss played in 4 games for the Patriots this year and he caught 9 passes for 139 yards (15.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He played in 52 games in his four years with the Vikings and he caught 259 passes for 3,904 yards (15.1 avg) with 50 TD grabs.  Moss seemed to get on Coach Belichick’s bad side which likely had a lot to do with this deal. 

The Patriots were losing this game 7-6 at the half but things changed quickly thanks to the special teams.  Brandon Tate returned the opening kickoff 103 yards for a TD for the Patriots and they never looked back.  Starting safety Patrick Chung blocked a punt that sent up a score and he also blocked a field goal that was recovered by CB Kyle Arrington who returned it 35 yards for a TD!  The special teams was the big reason for the blowout last night!

Tom Brady was in game manager mode as he completed 19 of 24 passes for 153 yards with 1 TD pass last night.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis was solid on the ground for the Patriots in this game with 16 carries for 76 yards (4.8 ypc) with a TD run.  Danny Woodhead was also very productive for the Patriots last night with 8 carries for 46 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 11 yards which went for a TD.  Wes Welker (8 rec, 70 yards) and Brandon Tate (4 rec, 39 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Patriots last night.  The Patriots finished up with 119 yards rushing on 32 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 24 passes for 146 yards last night.

The defense gave up a lot of yards last night but it’s a tad misleading as they also made a lot of big plays.  LB Jared Mayo led the way for the Patriots in this game with 16 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  CB Kyle Arrington (7 tackles) and Safety Patrick Chung (5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception that he returned 51 yards for a TD) also had big games for the Patriots.  Linebacker Rob Ninkovich also turned in a incredible game for the Patriots last night with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed, 1 QB hit and 2 interceptions!  The Dolphins finished up with 95 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 31 of 45 passes for 305 yards.  The Patriots are now 3-1 on the season after this huge road division win.