The New England Patriots (3-2) are at home this week against the Tennessee Titans (0-5), and should have no problem against them.    The Patriots have been solid this year, but have not looked like the dominate team of recent years.  Tom Brady is still working his way back to his 2007 form, and this should be a great opportunity for him to have a break out game.  Brady has been decent this year, throwing 1344 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions, but still looks a little rusty after missing all of last season.

The Titans have been awful this year, so the Patriots defense should not have a problem. The Titans have been bad all-around this season, with their running game being the one bright spot.  They average 127 rushing yards a game, but when they are down every game it doesn’t do them much good.  Stopping the run is probably the Patriots weakest aspect, giving up 96.8 rushing yards per game.  They should build an early lead though, so the Titans probably wont run the ball often.  I’m expecting to see a Patriots offense that looks like the 2007 Patriots, so this should be a blowout.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 34, Tennessee Titans 14

The New England Patriots (3-1) are headed to the Rocky Mountains to take on the Denver Broncos (4-0).  The Patriots will be facing one of their former coaches and a Bill Belichick student, Josh McDaniels.  McDaniels has done a great job in his first year as head coach, as the 33-year-old has led his team to an undefeated record so far.  The defense and running game been been the main reasons the Broncos have been successful, so the Patriots will need to bring a solid effort on both sides of the ball.

Tom Brady has looked very rusty throughout the first few games, and the Broncos have been doing a good job shutting down the opposing teams’ passing games and have 15 sacks, so that is an issue of concern for the Patriots.  Fred Taylor has been having a great year for the Patriots’ running game, but he had surgery on his ankle this week and might be done for the year.  That means Laurence Maroney will be getting the bulk of the carries and he has not been anywhere near as good as Taylor this year, as he is only averaging 2.9 yards per carry.  The Patriots will need more production out of Maroney in this game.  The Patriots defense needs to key on the Broncos running attack, with Correll Buckhalter and Knownshown Moreno killing defenses, but Buckhalter is out with an ankle injury so hopefully for the Pats Moreno is not as effective with more carries.  I think this will be a very close game, but I think Tom Brady will finally break out and lead his team to victory over the Broncos.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 27, Denver Broncos 23

The Ravens’ offense faces their toughest test against a Patriots’ D that is only allowing 262.3 yards per game.  This should be very interesting to see if the Ravens come out attacking the Patriots through the air as QBs (98.4 Rating) have had success throwing the ball against the Patriots this season. 7 players have at least six catches on the Ravens as Flacco likes to move the ball around.  That makes it very hard for defenses to double anyone.  The Patriots only allow 88.3 yards rushing per game but 4.0 yards per carry so the Ravens will also pound the middle of the Patriots’ D with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee. 

The Patriots realize that the Ravens’ defensive stats are skewed by the fact that Brady Quinn and Brodie Croyle started two of those games at QB.  In the other game the Chargers showed where the weakness is on the Ravens’ D and it’s at cornerback.  The Ravens like to blitz the QB but Tom Brady has only been sacked 1 time this year.  Randy Moss will likely have a huge game against the Ravens’ secondary which is allowing 231.7 yards passing this year. 

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 17

The Atlanta Falcons are a very balanced team on offense and that could give the defense of the Patriots some trouble.  With the Patriots without Jared Mayo in the middle the Falcons will no doubt give the rock to Michael Turner (170 yards rushing) quite often.  When the Patriots sneak up to stop Turner that’s when Ryan will attack them over the middle with TE Tony Gonzalez and down the field with Roddy White and Michael Jenkins.  Opposing QBs have a 108.0 rating against the Patriots so they must put pressure on Ryan or he could have a field day.

This is the game that the Patriots can actually get a running game started.  The Falcons’ D is allowing 120.0 yards rushing and 5.1 yards per carry so far this season.  Fred Taylor (71 yards rushing) and Laurence Maroney (55 yards rushing) will likely get the bulk of the work in the running game for the Patriots this week.  The Patriots must do a good job blocking DE John Abraham (2 sacks) if  Tom Brady is going to have the time needed to throw the ball.  With Wes Welker back in action this weekend the Patriots will likely be clicking on all cylinders.

PREDICTION:  FALCONS 31, PATRIOTS 30

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