The New England Patriots are averaging 540.3 total yards of offense per game so far this year, which is leading the NFL by a wide margin.  The problem with the Patriots is the defense as they are also giving up a stunning 468.7 yards of offense per game, which is by far the worst in the NFL.  The Raiders have the same strengths (a good offense) and weaknesses (a bad defense) as the Patriots do.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the ball:  The Patriots are going to do what they do best in this game and that is throw the football.  Tom Brady has only been sacked three times so far this year, but the Raiders are going to be blitzing a lot this weekend as they have 10 sacks already this year.  Look for Brady to cut up the Raiders’ secondary with short passes to Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Deion Branch and Danny Woodhead.  The Patriots will also likely have success on the ground when they decide to run the ball as the Raiders have given up 120.3 yards per game and 5.8 yards per carry so far this year.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Stevan Ridley and Danny Woodhead will all get a few carries in this game.

When the Raiders have the ball:  The Raiders are a running team, so they are going to feed the rock to gamebreaking RB Darren McFadden.  Michael Bush will also get some carries as he is move of a sledgehammer type of RB between the tackles.  QB Jason Campbell has been a game manager for the most part for the Raiders, but he lit up the Bills throwing the ball.  He has the capability of pounding the ball down the field to speedy WRs like rookie Denarius Moore.  He will likely have plenty of time to throw the ball too as he has only been sacked 2 times this year.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 35, RAIDERS 34

25-year old cornerback Kyle Arrington has really gotten off to a good start in 2011 for the Patriots.  He has played in all 3 games so far this year for the Patriots and he has 14 tackles, 5 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  In his first two years with the Patriots, Arrington played in 24 games in which he had 89 tackles, 5 passes defensed and 1 interception (he returned it 36 yards for a TD).  The Patriots need Arrington to keep making big plays as they are giving up a shocking 377 yards passing per game so far this year.

The Patriots’ D and Tom Brady deserve the blame for the loss to the Bills in Buffalo yesterday.  Tom Brady completed 30 of 45 passes for 387 yards with 4 TD passes and 4 INTs (one of his interceptions was returned 27-yards for a TD in the 4th quarter by CB Drayton Florence of the Bills).  Stevan Ridley led the way on the ground for the Patriots yesterday with 44 yards rushing on 7 carries (6.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 8 yards.  Danny Woodhead pitched in with 21 yards rushing on 6 carries (3.5 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 20 yards (6.7 avg) in this game.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a hard time yesterday with 9 carries for only 16 yards (1.8 ypc).  WR Wes Welker had an amazing game as he caught 16 passes for 217 yards (13.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 1 time for 19 yards.  TE Rob Gronkowski also had a solid game with 7 grabs for 109 yards (15.6 avg) with 2 TD catches.  The Patriots finished up with 108 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.2 ypc) and they also completed 30 of 45 passes (66.7%) for 387 yards as they had possession of the ball for 31:15.

The defense was awful once again for the Patriots yesterday.  CBs Devin McCourty (11 tackles, 1 pass defensed), Leigh Bodden (7 tackles, 2 passes defensed) and Kyle Arrington (6 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 2 interceptions) led the way for the Patriots’ D in this game.  The Bills finished up with 79 yards rushing on 20 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 40 passes (67.5%) for 369 yards in this game.  The Patriots are now 2-1 on the year.

The Patriots have released 26-year old TE Dan Gronkowski.  Gronkowski played in 2 games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t catch any passes.  He has now played in 16 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he has caught 9 passes for 69 yards (7.7 avg).  The Patriots hope that Gronkowski’s brother Rob isn’t too upset with this move, as they need his head to stay in the right place.

UPDATE:  (10/10/1011) – The Patriots have re-signed Dan Gronkowski.

UPDATE II:  (11/9/2011) – The Patriots have waived Dan Gronkowski again.  He played in five games for the Patriots this year but he didn’t get a chance to touch the ball.

Starting strong safety Pat Chung is likely out for this Sunday’s game against the Bills due to thumb surgery.  Chung has played in both of the Patriots’ games so far this year and he has 14 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 sack.  This means that Sergio Brown and Josh Barrett will likely be the starting safeties this weekend.  Brown and Barrett have both played in both of the games for the Patriots so far this year.  Brown has 13 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception and Barrett has 8 tackles.  James Ihedibgo will be the only backup on the roster unless the Patriots sign someone in the next couple of days.  He has played in 2 games for the Patriots this year and he has 2 tackles.  This is a big blow to the back end of the Patriots’ D.

The Patriots have waived 24-year old LB A.J. Edds.  Edds played in the both of the Patriots games this year and he had 1 tackle.  Coach Belichick loves to play around with the bottom of his roster in an effort to find a diamond in the rough.  It looks like he didn’t like what he saw of Edds, but at least this gives the kid a chance to hook on with another team this year.

Both of these teams are undefeated and they have done it with offense as the Bills have already scored 79 points this year while the Patriots have scored 73.  This should be a high scoring shootout in New York this weekend.  But, the Patriots have won 15 games in a row against the Bills and they swept them by a combined score of 72-33 last year.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Patriots have the football:  The Patriots rushed for 417 yards (208.5 avg) in the sweep over the Bills last year.  They might come out pounding the ball a little more than usual against a Bills’ D that is giving up 119.0 yards rushing per game this year and 5.0 yards per carry.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead both played well against the Bills last year.  Don’t think for a minute though that Tom Brady and his gang aren’t going to be chucking the ball all over the field too.  The Bills only have two sacks so far this year, so Brady is going to have a lot of time to throw the ball.  Look for Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Rob Gronkowski to all have solid games for the Patriots this Sunday.  This could be the game that the Patriots start throwing the ball to Chad Ocho Cinco due to Aaron Hernandez being out due to injury.

When the Bills have the ball:  The Patriots are going to want to stop Fred Jackson and force Ryan Fitzpatrick to beat them throwing the ball.  That might not make a lot of sense due to how Fitzpatrick has started this year but he only threw 2 TD passes against the Patriots last year to go with his 5 interceptions.  The Patriots have six sacks already this year, so I see them trying to blitz more than often to force Fitzpatrick into making some mistakes.  WRs Stevie Johnson, David Nelson and TE Scott Chandler have been effective this year, so the secondary is going to get challenged this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 37, BILLS 20

The Patriots have signed 25-year old DT Landon Cohen.  Cohen played in 4 games for the Jags & Pats last year and he had 5 tackles.  He has now played in 24 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 30 tackles and 5 tackles for a loss.  The Patriots were lucky to find Cohen still available as he knows the system and should be able to play right away if needed.

UPDATE:  (9/27/2011) – The Patriots have waived Landon Cohen.  Cohen played against the Bills last Sunday and he had 1 tackle.  He has now played in 3 games in parts of two years with the Patriots and he has 4 tackles.

The Patriots have signed 23-year old cornerback Phillip Adams.  Adams played in 15 games as a rookie for the 49ers last year and he had 13 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  The Patriots need help at cornerback and Adams should be able to give them more depth at the position, while also helping out on special teams.

The Patriots have placed 25-year old DT Myron Pryor on the Injured Reserve List due to a severe shoulder injury.  Pryor played in both of the games for the Patriots this year and he had 3 tackles.  He has now played in 24 games in his first three years with the Patriots and he has 35 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 sack and 3 tackles for a loss.  This is going to hurt the Patriots’ depth along the D-Line.