The Patriots might have the guts to let Matt Cassel throw the ball against the Chargers who are allowing 265.6 yards passing per game (103.0 QB Rating).  But, the more likely scenario for the Patriots’ offense will likely be keeping the ball on the ground with Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan, Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk against the Chargers who are allowing 113.4 yards rushing per game (4.4 ypc).  The Chargers have 12 sacks this season and the Patriots’ line hasn’t pass blocked well this year allowing 16 sacks so the Patriots will likely keep the passing game to the short stuff so look for Wes Welker to have a better game than Randy Moss this week.

The Chargers will likely try to punish the Patriots’ defense with the running game as LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles should find a lot of running room as the Patriots are allowing 124.8 yards rushing per game (4.9 ypc) this season.  Antonio Gates should also had a huge game working against the Patriots’ safeties who appear overmatched.  Philip Rivers has been excellent this season so look for him to also test the Patriots deep with Vincent Jackson and 2nd year man Craig Davis who will be starting in injured Chris Chambers (ankle) place.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 27, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 16

The Patriots and 49ers are both coming off losses and need this football game so we will see what happens on Sunday.  The Patriots will likely shift gears on offense and come out running the football against the Niners.  Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan and Laurence Maroney will likely split carries against a Niners’ D that is allowing 124.5 yards rushing per game and 4.0 ypc.  The Patriots must protect Cassel better if he is to have any success throwing the ball against the Niners who have solid corners as Patriots’ QBs have been sacked 10 times in three games this season.  It appears as if Cassel prefers to throw to Wes Welker over Randy Moss.

The Patriots are allowing a stunning 140.7 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry so look for Frank Gore to be the focal point of the offense for the Niners.  Make no mistake though, the Niners will put the ball in the air some with J.T. O’Sullivan spreading the ball around to WRs Arnaz Battle, Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson.  The Niners’ O-Line must protect O’Sullivan better as they have allowed 19 sacks already this season and that has led to big mistakes.

PREDICTION:  SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 21, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 17

The Patriots have won 21 regular season games in a row which is an NFL record, while the Dolphins have lost 17 of their last 18 games.  The Dolphins would love to run the football in this game and control the clock.  But, Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown have only combined for 100 yards rushing this season on 38 carries (2.6 ypc).  If the Dolphins can get the running game going somehow against the Patriots then Chad Pennington can work his play action passing game.  Still, with Chad Pennington’s lack of arm strength the Patriots will likely sneak the defense up towards the line of scrimmage and dare the Fins to throw the football.

The Dolphins have a stingy run defense allowing only 96.5 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry.  That, coupled with injuries to Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan could lead the Fins to finally unleash Matt Cassel in this game.  After all, opposing QBs have a Rating of 147.0 against the Dolphins this season and they are averaging 285.0 yards thru the air per contest.  This could be the game that Randy Moss has his first breakout game of the 2008 season.  Also look for Wes Welker to want to stick it to his old team.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 24, MIAMI DOLPHINS 13

The Patriots swept the season series with the Jets last season by a combined score of 58-24, but, Brett Favre and Matt Cassel are the starting QBs now so things will likely be different this year.  Matt Cassel will be making his first start since 1999 when he was in high school!  Look for the Patriots to keep the offense the same with Cassel at QB as that was what he has been trained to do.  He played well last week for the Patriots leading them to a nice victory over the Chiefs plus the Jets allowed 251 yards passing to the lowly Dolphins last week.  Randy Moss will be looking to duplicate his numbers of last week (6 rec, 116 yards, TD) against the Jets tomorrow.  Look for Wes Welker to also be very busy for the Patriots in the passing game.  The Patriots also might decide to run the ball a little bit more than usual to protect Cassel.  Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris should get their fair share of work against a Jets’ defense that only allowed 49 yards rushing (2.9 ypc) last week against the Dolphins.

The Jets will likely look to stay balanced on offense to keep the Patriots guessing.  RB Thomas Jones has a nice game last week rushing for 101 yards on 22 carries (4.6 ypc) with a TD run.  The Patriots allowed 102 yards rushing last week against the Chiefs so Jones could find some running room.  If Brett Favre gets protection (the Patriots had 4 sacks last week) then he can attack the subpar corners of the Patriots deep with Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 27, NEW YORK JETS 24

The Chiefs couldn’t have picked a worse team to play in the season opener.  The Patriots have a run stuffing defense and that is what you know Herman Edwards will want his team to do.  Larry Johnson will need the offensive line to control the line of scrimmage against the Patriots and I don’t see that happening.  NT Vince Wilfork will clog the middle of the defense and DE Ty Warren is one of the best run defenders at his position.  Rookie inside linebacker Jared Mayo and veteran insider Tedy Bruschi will likely help stuff Larry Johnson in this game.  The Chiefs would be smarter to come out throwing the football as the Patriots secondary is very vulnerable right now.  The Chiefs would have to keep OLBs Mike Vrabel and Adalius Thomas out of the backfield to allow Brodie Croyle time to throw the ball.  Dwyane Bowe and Tony Gonzalez could have big games against the Patriots if Herman Edwards allows them to.

The Patriots will likely be able to do whatever they want on offense in this game.  The Chiefs have a young, but talented secondary but the Patriots receivers know all of the tricks.  Look for Randy Moss to have a huge game but Wes Welker will catch more passes than him.  The Patriots might also run the ball more than usual in this game to protect Tom Brady’s health.  Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan would likely all be effective against the Chiefs’ defense.  That is unless rookie DT Glenn Dorsey is the real deal.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 38, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 10