By: Craig Tattan
The Pats have some fearsome offensive weapons which has produced the 3rd ranked passing attack and the 4th ranked rushing attack. In years past it was all passing all the time but with the ascension of Stevan Ridley to starting running back, defenses cannot key exclusively on Tom Brady any longer.The Patriots have now lost all three games by a combined four points. The fans in New England would tell you this team could easily be 6-0 right now but they're not because there is a killer instinct lacking by either the players, the coach or both. Bill Belichick has played it cautiously in the tight games and has fans and pundits alike scratching their collective heads with his defensive play calling that invests far too much trust in a secondary that has continually been exposed this season. Last week he stuck with a base defense instead of bringing in nickel and dime packages at the end of the game to bolster his pass protection. If that wasn't bad enough his defensive linemen were still biting on play-action knowing full well that they had successfully grounded Marshawn Lynch and the running attack with time winding down on the clock.
NFL Free Picks: Play the Patriots -10. ---
The Patriots are staggering back home to Foxboro after being left sleepless in Seattle when a series of miscues led to their 4th quarter collapse while the Jets are soaring from a dominating performance over the Colts.
NFL Picks: New York Jets at New England Patriots
New York Jets -
The Jets are on the road for the first time in four weeks and left the fans in the Meadowlands thoroughly satisfied after giving Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts all they could handle. Though they are is 3-3 this season it has been a contentious autumn with Mark Sanchez feeling the ire of the fan's wrath and the looming presence of Tim Tebow ready to take the starting spot whenever head coach Rex Ryan decides he has seen enough.
New York is a fairly transparent club thus far this season. They are good enough to beat up on the weaker NFL foes like Buffalo, Miami and Indianapolis but fall markedly short against the stronger clubs as evidenced by their losses against Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Houston. The Jets do one thing well and that is stop the pass. They are currently ranked 5th in that category, surrendering less than 210 yards per game.
Their offense harkens back to the old ground-and-pound which bore fruit last week when Shonn Greene chewed up a career high 161 yards on the ground and found the endzone on three occasions. Mark Sanchez was asked to do nothing more than flick a few short passes which accounted for a pair of 5 yard TD passes and a grand total of 82 yards through the air on 11-of-18 passing. But more important than perhaps anything was an error free game for Sanchez which has become the exception rather than the rule this season.
New England Patriots -
Tom Brady had some uncharacteristic brain cramps and the New England defense lapsed into a coma in the 4th quarter when a pedestrian Seattle offense suddenly looked like a West Coast juggernaut as they rallied for two late touchdowns to send the Patriots home with a 3-3 mark.
The Pats have some fearsome offensive weapons which has produced the 3rd ranked passing attack and the 4th ranked rushing attack. In years past it was all passing all the time but with the ascension of Stevan Ridley to starting running back, defenses cannot key exclusively on Tom Brady any longer.The Patriots have now lost all three games by a combined four points. The fans in New England would tell you this team could easily be 6-0 right now but they're not because there is a killer instinct lacking by either the players, the coach or both. Bill Belichick has played it cautiously in the tight games and has fans and pundits alike scratching their collective heads with his defensive play calling that invests far too much trust in a secondary that has continually been exposed this season. Last week he stuck with a base defense instead of bringing in nickel and dime packages at the end of the game to bolster his pass protection. If that wasn't bad enough his defensive linemen were still biting on play-action knowing full well that they had successfully grounded Marshawn Lynch and the running attack with time winding down on the clock.
New England's defensive run stop unit, anchored by Vince Wilfork has been superb, and has successfully shut down the likes of Chris Johnson, Willis McGahee and most recently the aforementioned Marshawn Lynch. However their Achilles heel continues to be a secondary that looks defenseless most of the time. They are ranked 28th against the pass and that is only because they have a few horses on the defensive front to get after the passer and cause errant throws.
The Pats have opened as 12 point odds favorites with most books, but have since been pushed down to 10.
The Pick -
This looks easy but then again, when they look that easy oftentimes that's the red flag that tells you to stay away. However I cannot see how the Jets will stop a passing attack like New England's particularly when their top corner Darrelle Revis will go under the knife to repair a torn ACL and will be a spectator for the rest of the season.
The Patriots may have a lousy secondary but the Jets rank 30th in offense and we know they will not be able to trade points with New England. The Jets will not be able to run on the Patriots despite how prolific Shonn Greene looked last week against the Colts. It will be up to Sanchez to keep New York in this game and that won't be happening anytime soon especially with a Patriots club seething after another game they should have won. Last reason to put the Jets on your NFL Picks; they have failed to cover in 8 of their last 11 games on the highway.
NFL Free Picks: Play the Patriots -10. ---
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