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 (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

This is the matchup of the year, with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (6-2) taking on Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts (8-0).  I think this will be a Brady-Manning shootout and it should be pretty exciting to watch.  Although both defenses are solid, both Manning and Brady are great quarterbacks who perform well on the big stage so it will be hard stopping either one.  Manning has passed for over 300 yards in every game but one this season, so the Patriots secondary better be ready for a long day.  They need to be ready to adjust on the field, as Manning loves to audible at the line scrimmage.  He also has a talented Joseph Addai to hand off to, so the linebackers are going to need to help the front line shut the running game down.

The Patriots offense should be able go keep up with Manning and the Colts.  The Colts are holding teams to under 200 passing yards per game, but they have not had to play Tom Brady, Randy Moss, and Wes Welker yet.  I don’t see how they will keep them under 200 yards with Welker slicing through the middle of the field and Moss a deep threat on every play.  The running game should help do some damage too, as the Colts give up 108 rushing yards per game.  I am really looking forward to this game and I am expecting a high scoring close game.  Peyton Manning has been playing some of his best football all season though, so I am taking them in a very close win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Indianapolis Colts 38, New England Patriots 35

This is a big game for both of these teams in the AFC East.  The Dolphins need this game to get back into the division race as they are 3-4 on the year while the Patriots sit atop the division with a 5-2 record.  The Fins will keep the ball on the ground in this game with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams against a Patriots’ D that is allowing 109.4 yards rushing per game and 4.5 yards per carry.  They will likely use a lot of the Wildcat Formation against the Patriots on Sunday.  The Fins will likely keep passing to the play action variety as Chad Henne has been so-so since taking over as the starting QB.

The Patriots will likely try to jump on the Fins with the passing game.  If Tom Brady has time to throw the ball (which is likely) then he will attack the corners of the Dolphins who are both rookies with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and rookie Brandon Tate.  Ben Watson might also be a factor for the Patriots in this game as he has a huge size advantage over the guys that will be covering him.  Laurence Maroney will probably carry the load in the running game against the Fins but expect the Patriots to concentrate on using their Air Raid on Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PATRIOTS 34, DOLPHINS 27

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (4-2) put on a record breaking show last week, and will be bringing that show to London, England this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-6).  Brady had a record-breaking five touchdowns in one quarter last week when the Patriots crushed the winless Tennessee Titans 59-0.  The Patriots are taking on another winless team in the Buccaneers and I am expecting another big game from Brady and the Patriots’ offense.  The Buccaneers are completely over-matched in this one and they could be embarrassed just like the Titans were last week.

The Bucs have had difficulty getting consistency out of the quarterback position and Josh Johnson is their starter after Byron Leftwich was benched after week three.  The Patriots defense should look to force some turnovers as Johnson has thrown five interceptions in the past three games.  The Bucs running game is pretty effective though, so they need to key in on stopping Cadillac Williams and Josh Johnsons’ scrambling.  They averaged about 100 rushing yards per game and if the Patriots can shut down their run, then the Bucs have no chance. This should be another blowout for the Patriots and the British will be able to see what real football is like.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  New England Patriots 35, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13

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