Patriots Lead Charge in Jets Demise

Just how bad were the New York Jets on Thursday night in the 49-19 loss to the New England Patriots?

• QB Tom Brady had 323 yards passing it was the most given up by the Jets defense in a game this season.  The most passing yards allowed in over a year when Brady got them for 329 yards last November.

• TD passes by Brady of 56-yards to WR Julian Edelman and 83-yards to RB Shane Vereen were the two longest TD passes the Jets have allowed in 2012.  They were also the two longest passes allowed and the two longest plays from scrimmage allowed this season by Rex Ryan’s vaunted defense.

• Brady had 3 TD passes it was the third time this season the Jets defense has allowed three TD passes in a game.

• Vereen’s 91 receiving yards and WR Wes Welker’s 7 catches (twice before) were the most allowed in those categories this season by New York.

• Edelman’s 32-yard punt return was the longest allowed by the Jets this year.

• The Patriots 2 sacks and 1 INT of Sanchez also matched season highs for New York.

• The Jets 5 turnovers were a season high and the minus 4 turnover ratio for the game tied a season worse that also occurred on September 30 vs. San Francisco.

• The 475 total yards by New England shattered the previous season high allowed of 390 to Buffalo on September 9.

• The 4 fumbles lost set a season high for the Jets.

• The Patriots also have put up the most points in a game (49) against New York in 2012 and scored the most TD’s with 7.

• This season the Jets are 0-2 at night and 0-7 when they are negative in the turnover column.

• S Steve Gregory and Edelman each returned a fumble for a TD the most allowed in one game in Jets history.

• The 475 total yards by New England was the first time the Jets have allowed more than 400 total yards in a game since December 2011 vs. Philadelphia (420).

• The 49 points by New England was the first time the Jets have allowed more than 40 points in a game since December 2011 vs. Philadelphia (48).

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Belichick Gets 200th Win

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reached another milestone on Thanksgiving night when he won his 200th NFL game (regular season and post season combined) in his 18th season as head coach.

After an inauspicious start in Cleveland with the original Browns in which he went 37-45 he has developed into one of the best coaches in NFL History thanks to Patriots owner Robert Kraft felt he was worth a chance and some draft picks prior to the 2000 NFL season.

Kraft’s allegiance to Belichick has paid off handsomely as the coach has gone a remarkable 163-62 run including playoffs as the head honcho in Foxboro.  It also includes the three biggest wins in franchise history that are represented by the three Lombardi Trophies that call Gillette Stadium home.

He is just the 8th coach to achieve 200 wins joining Dan Reeves (201), Marty Schottenheimer (205), Chuck Noll (209), Curly Lambeau (229), Tom Landry (270), George Halas (324) and Don Shula (347). 

For Patriots fans the arrival of Belichick has brought nothing but success.  Coupled with the ownership of the Kraft family the Belichick-era is achieving never before seen heights in New England and there hopefully is no end in sight.

News and Notes

New England DE Jermaine Cunningham was suspended for four games by the NFL on Monday for violating the performing enhancement drug ban per the CBA.  The suspension begins immediately and he will be eligible to return for the seasons final game against Miami on December 30th in Foxboro.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after conference call with the media on Monday.  (patriots.com)

QB Tom Brady had his weekly Patriots Monday call in. (WEEI)

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. New York  (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Jets (ESPN Boston)

Vereen’s 83-yard TD catch started the ball rolling (ESPN Boston)

How the game was won in 52 seconds (ESPN Boston)

It was a happy homecoming for Gregory (Boston Globe)

It’s been a dominant two games from Wilfork (Boston Globe)

Laughable Jets stage performance of unparalleled ineptitude (Boston Herald)

Patriots defense delivers again (Boston Herald)

Best and Worst Patriots vs. Jets (Boston Herald)

The Patriots revel in beating Jets like this (Boston Herald)

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 155-64.

New England now has a 5-game winning streak after starting the season 3-3.

New England is 3-2 on Thanksgiving games.  The lost in Dallas in 1984; lost to Detroit in 2000 and then beat the Lions in 2002 and 2010 before destroying the Jets tonight.

All three road teams (Houston, Washington and New England) won the Thanksgiving games this year.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 70-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 26-14 vs. the Jets.

The Patriots have swept the Jets 15 times in the series including the last two seasons and they’ve done it 6 times in the Belichick era (2003-05, 07, 11-12)

New England is 57-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season. 

The Patriots are now a combined 19-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

Belichick’s 200 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Belichick is 20-10 vs. the Jets in his career.  He is 19-9 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes two playoff games (1-1).

Belichick is 3-1 as a head coach in Thanksgiving games.

Tom Brady is 18-5 vs. the Jets including 1-1 in the playoffs.  Overall including playoffs he is 148-44.

Brady has 324 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 43 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 88-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

Brady has 52 games in his career with 300 or more passing yards he is tied for 5th all-time with Kurt Warner.

He has not thrown an INT since Week 6 in Seattle.

Brady tied his career high with his 3rd rushing TD of the year.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 112 consecutive games including playoffs, 95 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker had 7 catches for 71 yards and 1 TD.

For the second game in a row Julian Edelman scored a special teams TD this one on fumble recovery (1st) off of a kick off return.

For the second game in a row Julian Edelman has two TD’s.

Edelman has 4 TD’s in a span of 5 quarters.  Prior he had 4 TD’s in 3.5 years.

Edelman suffered a concussion in the 3rd quarter when he fumbled (1st) after a catch and did not return to the game.

RB Stevan Ridley (21 carries for 97 yards) and RB Shane Vereen (10 for 42) combined for 139 rushing yards on 31 carries.

Vereen also had 2 catches for 91 yards including an 83-yard reception for a TD.

Both second year backs each had a TD.  It was Ridley’s 8th and Vereen’s 4th (1st receiving).

TE Aaron Hernandez returned and had 2 catches but he played every offensive down except two.  He appears fully healed which is huge with the absence of TE Rob Gronkowski.

For the second consecutive game the Patriots scored a TD on offense, defense and special teams.

The Patriots scored 21 points in just 0:52 seconds off of an 83-yard TD pass, a fumble recovered for a TD by the defense and a fumble recovery on a kick off return by the special teams.

The Patriots scored 35 points in the second quarter tying a franchise record vs. Tennessee, 2009.

LB Jerod Mayo had 11 tackles (8 solo) and continues to lead the team in tackles.  Unofficially he has 136 tackles (78 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.  He is on pace for another 200 tackle season.

In addition Mayo also had a sack, 1 tackle for loss and 1 QB hit.

LB Brandon Spikes also had 11 tackles (7 solo), a pass defensed and a forced fumble.  He is second on the team in tackles behind Mayo with 104 (67 solo).

DE Rob Ninkovich had a fumble recovery on Thursday it was his 4th recovered fumble of the season.  He leads the team in that category. 

There were 3 QB hits by the Patriots 1 each by Mayo (2nd), LB Dont’a Hightower (5th) and DE Justin Francis (2nd).

S Steve Gregory had an INT (2nd) and 2 recovered fumbles (1st and 2nd), one was returned for a 32-yard TD.

DB Kyle Arrington had 2 passes defensed (8th) Thursday night, CB Alfonzo Dennard (6th), Spikes (5th) and Gregory (3rd) each had 1 a piece.

DB Devin McCourty (2nd), Gregory (1st), Dennard (1st) and Spikes (5th) all had a forced fumble on against the Jets.  Spikes is now tied with Ninkovich for the team lead and they share the franchise record with Mike Vrabel.

McCourty (2nd, 3rd), LB Mike Rivera (2nd, 3rd), WR Matthew Slater (12th, 13th) and S Derrick Martin (4th) all had special teams tackles against New York.

The Patriots had five takeaways on Thursday and all five of them led to touchdowns.

The Jets have 22 turnovers on the year and 15 of them belong to Sanchez.

The 108 combined points scored in the last two games against Indianapolis and New York set a new franchise record, the previous mark was 101 points set in 2007 vs. Washington and Miami.

In the last four games the Patriots have score 190 points the second highest four game total in NFL history only to St. Louis’ 208 scored in 2001.

In their five game win streak New England has outscored opponents 219-107 and are averaging 43.8 points per game during the streak, while allowing 21.4.

New England scored 5 TD’s on 12 possessions. They also had 3 punts, a missed FGA, a fumble, safety and the end of half clock expired.  For the second game in a row they had 5 TD’s on offense.  They also scored once on defense and once on special teams.

New York had 13 possessions.  2 TD’s, 1 INT, 4 fumbles, 4 punts, 1 field goal, and end of game clock expired.

The Patriots sacked New York QB Mark Sanchez 2 times, while Brady was not sacked.

New England is PLUS 24 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 14 INTs and 18 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 3 for 3 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 3 TDs.

New England was 11 for 15 (73%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is 3-6 vs. New England in his career including playoffs.  Overall he is 36-28.

Mark Sanchez is 3-6 vs. the Patriots including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Sanchez has fumbled in 5 of his last 7 games.  The 5 fumbles have led to 24 opposition points and the ending of an overtime game in a loss to New England.

The Jets are 1-2 vs. New England at Met Life Stadium, overall they are 27-26 as the home team all-time in the series.

New York is 36-35 vs. the AFC East in the regular season since 2001.

WR Clyde Gates suffered a concussion in the second quarter and did not return.

New York was 3 for 10 (30%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on 4th down attempts.

The Jets were 2 for 4 (50%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TD’s, 1 FG and lost the ball on downs once.

New York is MINUS 3 in turnover differential.  The offense has given up 10 INT and 12 fumbles, while the defense has 8 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.

Next Week

The Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday December 2nd at Sun Life Stadium in Miami FL.  Kick off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Generally when two division rivals hook up in a meaningful football game on National TV it’s usually a knock down, drag out affair.  Such was not the case in the Thanksgiving Night game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ even though the first quarter was scoreless.

In the second quarter New England exploded for a franchise record 35-points (tie, Tennessee 2009) and 21 of the points came in a mind boggling 0:52 seconds on their way to a 49-19 rout.

After QB Tom Brady hit WR Wes Welker with the games first score to give New England a 7-0 lead New York coughed the ball up on the ensuing possession when RB Shonn Greene fumbled the ball on 4th down while trying to reach for the down marker.  The ball ended up being recovered by Patriots S Steve Gregory.  On the very first play Brady threw a pass down the left sideline to RB Shane Vereen who hit top gear and was gone 83-yards for a 14-0 lead.

After the Jets got the ball back Sanchez proceeded to fumble the ball when he ran into his G Brandon Moore who got pushed into him by Patriot DT Vince Wilfork.  The ball popped free, Gregory grabbed it on a bounce and raced 32-yards into the end zone for a 21-0 Patriots lead.

On the ensuing kickoff Jets RB/KR Joe McKnight got popped by Devin McCourty and the ball went straight up in the air into the arms of New England’s Julian Edelman who returned it 22-yards untouched into the end zone and it was 28-0.

The Patriots would tack on another 7 points when Brady hit Edelman on a 54-yard bomb and it was 35-0.

The Jets would get on the board with a Nick Folk field goal prior to the half but this game was for all essential purposes done.

After a stellar four down goaline stop inside the five-yard line New England got called for a safety on a chop block that gave the Jets two points.  The Jets would get a rushing TD from RB Bilal Powell in the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to 35-12. 

The Patriots would add a pair of 4th quarter TD’s on a 1-yard QB sneak by Brady and RB Stevan Ridley would go into the end zone from 9-yards out untouched to make it 49-12.

Jets TE Dustin Keller would grab a meaningless TD pass from Sanchez late in the fourth to complete their scoring.

So one week after hanging 59-points on Indianapolis, the Patriots post 49-points on the Jets while only allowing 24-points and 19-points respectively.

It’s safe to say it’s the second half and yet another Bill Belichick team is hitting it’s stride and it’s down right scary if you’re a team left on their schedule.

Patriots at Jets Gamebook includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Patriots at Jets Game Recap.

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Turning Point of the Game

Three Jets turnovers lead to the Patriots scoring 21 points in a 52-second span in the 2nd quarter to blow open a 7-0 game.

Offensive Players of the Game

QB Tom Brady 18 of 28 for 323 yards 3 TDs and 0 INTs plus 1 rushing TD and WR Julian Edelman who had a 56-yard receiving TD and recovered a fumble for a 22-yard TD on special teams.

Defensive Player of the Game

S Steve Gregory had 5 tackles (5 solo) and had 1 INT and 2 fumble recoveries, 1 returned 32-yards for a TD.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Thomas

C Wendell

RG Connolly

RT Cannon

TE Hernandez

TE Fells

WR Welker

WR Lloyd

QB Brady

RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Love

DE Cunningham

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB McCourty

CB Arrington

S Gregory

S Talib

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip)

2. T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee)

3. SB Marquice Cole

4. DE Jake Bequette

5. DE Chandler Jones (foot)

6. G Markus Zusevics

7. G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf)

Jets

1. QB Greg McElroy

2. RB Kahlil Bell

3. CB Aaron Berry (quad)

4. DL Damon Harrison

5. G Caleb Schlauderaff

6. G Hayworth Hicks

7. TE Hayden Smith

The spread (Patriots MINUS 7) WAS covered.  The over/under (48) WAS COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER.  I am now 3-8 vs. the spread and 8 of 11 calling the under/over.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 155-64.

New England now has a 5-game winning streak after starting the season 3-3.

This is the Patriots 5th Thanksgiving game in franchise history, the first at night.

New England is 3-2 on Thanksgiving games.  The lost in Dallas in 1984; lost to Detroit in 2000 and then beat the Lions in 2002 and 2010 before destroying the Jets tonight.

All three road teams (Houston, Washington and New England) won the Thanksgiving games this year.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 70-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 26-14 vs. the Jets.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.

The Patriots have swept the Jets 15 times in the series including the last two seasons and they’ve done it 6 times in the Belichick era (2003-05, 07, 11-12)

New England is 57-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season. 

The Patriots are now a combined 19-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

Bill Belichick is now 200-107 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick’s 200 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Belichick is 20-10 vs. the ets in his career.  He is 19-9 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes two playoff games (1-1).

Belichick is 3-1 as a head coach in Thanksgiving games.

Tom Brady is 18-5 vs. the Jets including 1-1 in the playoffs.  Overall including playoffs he is 148-44.

Brady has 324 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 43 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 88-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

Brady has 52 games in his career with 300 or more passing yards he is tied for 5th all-time with Kurt Warner.

He had 323 passing yards to move past Dan Fouts (43,040) into 10th place (43,278) all time.

Brady now had 3,299 passing yards for his 10th 3,000-yard season.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 112 consecutive games including playoffs, 95 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

S Steve Gregory had an INT and 2 recovered fumbles, one for a TD.

For the second game in a row Julian Edelman scored a special teams TD this one on fumble recovery off of a kick off return.

For the second game in a row Julian Edelman has two TD’s.

Edelman has 4 TD’s in a span of 5 quarters.  Prior he had 4 TD’s in 3.5 years.

Edelman suffered a concussion in the 3rd quarter and did not return to the game.

For the second consecutive game the Patriots scored a TD on offense, defense and special teams.

The Patriots scored 21 points in just 0:52 seconds off of an 83-yard TD pass, a fumble recovered for a TD by the defense and a fumble recovery on a kick off return by the special teams.

The Patriots scored 35 points in the second quarter tying a franchise record vs. Tennessee, 2009.

Roster moves Saturday:

• Activated G Markus Zusevics from the exempt non-football injury list and placed him on 53-man roster.
• Released WR Greg Salas.

The Patriots sacked New York QB Mark Sanchez 2 times, while Brady was not sacked.

New England is PLUS 24 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 14 INTs and 18 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 3 for 3 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 3 TDs.

New England was 11 for 15 (73%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is 3-6 vs. New England in his career including playoffs.  Overall he is 36-28.

Mark Sanchez is 3-6 vs. the Patriots including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Sanchez has fumbled in 5 of his last 7 games.  The 5 fumbles have led to 24 opposition points and the ending of an overtime game in a loss to New England.

New York has lost 15 of the last 22 meetings with New England including playoffs.

The Jets have lost the last five regular season meetings between the teams.

The Jets have swept the Patriots 14 times in the series the last time was in 2000.

The Jets are 1-2 vs. New England at Met Life Stadium, overall they are 27-26 as the home team all-time in the series.

New York is 36-35 vs. the AFC East in the regular season since 2001.

WR Clyde Gates suffered a concussion in the second quarter and did not return.

New York was 3 for 10 (30%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on 4th down attempts.

The Jets were 2 for 4 (50%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TD’s, 1 FG and lost the ball on downs once.

New York is MINUS 3 in turnover differential.  The offense has given up 10 INT and 12 fumbles, while the defense has 8 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.

Fireman Ed was so embarrassed he left at halftime and deleted his Twitter account @FiremanEd42

Mike Carey was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 46 and clear.

Attendance – 79,088 (96% of capacity) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford NJ.

Post Game Interviews

(links will be posted once they become available) Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conference via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Buffalo is at Indianapolis Sunday at 1 p.m.

Miami hosts Seattle Sunday at 1 p.m.

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   8-3/4-0

Dolphins                  4-6/1-2

Bills                        4-6/1-3

Jets                        4-7/2-3

Next Week

The Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday December 2nd at Sun Life Stadium in Miami FL.  Kick off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: ap photo

This Week

The New England Patriots visit their AFC East Rival New York Jets at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford NJ on Thanksgiving Night at 8:20 p.m.

The Patriots		—-	The Jets
Overall	7-3		Overall	4-6
Road record	3-2		Home record	2-3
AFC East	3-0		AFC East	2-2
AFC	6-1		AFC	3-4

Mike Carey is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at minus 7.  The over under is 48. 

My Prediction is Patriots 31, Jets, 21.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 2-8 against the spread and 7 of 10 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Jets are reporting the game as a sell out.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in the Meadowlands make sure you check out the links.

Lifelong Jets fan Lenny Kravitz will be performing at halftime.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Met Life Stadium.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions and parking information, parking map and a Met Life Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. 

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

NBC in televising the game nationally and Al Michaels will do play by play while Cris Collinsworth will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

The game will also be broadcast in Spanish via Deportes Telemundo.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 225 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Jets Radio Network has Bob Wischusen calling play by play and former Jet Marty Lyons doing the color via their flagship station WEPN-FM, ESPN New York 98.7. 

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 226 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 821.

Dial Global Radio Sports will be broadcasting the game to their national affiliates.  Ian Eagle, Boomer Esiason and Laura Okmin will call the action.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 88, XM Channel 88 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 88.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

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Last Week

Patriots routed the Colts 59-24 at Foxboro.  The Jets whipped the Rams, 27-13 in St. Louis.

History

• This is the 108th meeting between the teams.
• The Patriots lead the all-time series 54-52-1 including playoffs.
• The Jets are 27-25 as the home team in the series.
• The lone tie in the series (24-24) came on October 2, 1966 when both clubs were part of the AFL.
• The home team has won 7 of the last 8 regular season meetings between the teams.
• The two teams last met in Week 7 at Foxboro with the Patriots winning, 29-26 in OT.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 421-368-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are are 23-16 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2011 when they beat Denver home in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 45-10 and defeated Baltimore 23-20 in Foxboro in the AFC Championship Game.  They lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants 21-17. 

The Patriots were 13-3 (2-1 in playoffs) in 2011 and are the defending two-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 8 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

This is the Patriots 5th Thanksgiving game in franchise history, the first at night.

New England is 2-2 on Thanksgiving games.  The lost in Dallas in 1984; lost to Detroit in 2000 and then beat the Lions in 2002 and 2010.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 69-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 25-14 vs. the Jets.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.

The Patriots have swept the Jets 14 times in the series the last time was in 2011.

New England is 56-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season. 

The Patriots have lost 3 games this season by a combined total of 4 points.

New England leads the NFL in points per game, yards per game and turnover differential but is last in 3rd down defense.

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 35.8.  While they allow 22.5 points per game good for a tie for 16th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 21 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 15 times.

New England is PLUS 20 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 13 INTs and 14 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots are 72 for 141 (51.1%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 58 for 126 (46%) in 3rd down efficiency and 5 for 11 (45.5%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 32 of 49 (65.3%) in the red zone while opponents are 17 for 27 (63%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 24 for 29 (82.8%) and opponents are 12 for 15 (80%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 199.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 218.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 11.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 13.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

New England set the following team records in 2011:

• Total yards, 6,848.
• First downs, 399.
• Net passing yards, 5,084.
• 100+ yard receiving games, 18.
• Games with 30+ points, 12 (tied for most in NFL history).

Patriots Staff Notes

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is 19-10 vs. the Jets in his career.  He is 18-9 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes two playoff games (1-1).

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 182-100 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 146-56 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 199-107.

Belichick’s 199 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

With one more win he will become the 8th coach in NFL history with 200 victories.

Belichick is 2-1 as a head coach in Thanksgiving games.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 9 consecutive seasons.

Belichick is the former defensive coordinator for the Jets from 1997-99 under Bill Parcells.  He was head coach for less than 24 hours before resigning to take the Patriots job.

Linebackers coach Pepper Johnson was a Jet in 1997 and 1998.

Safeties coach Brian Flores is a Brooklyn NY native.

Coaching assistant Steven Belichick attended Rutgers where he played lacrosse for four years and was the long snapper on the football team his senior year.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Solder
• LG: D. Thomas
• C: Wendell
• RG: McDonald
• RT: Vollmer
• TE: Shiancoe
• WR: Edelman
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Cunningham
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: Ninkovich
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Spikes
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: Talib
• RCB: Arrington
• S: Gregory
• S: McCourty

Patriots Players Notes

This Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 17-5 vs. the Jets including 1-1 in the playoffs.  Brady made his NFL debut on Thanksgiving in 2000 in a 34-9 loss to Detroit.

Overall Brady is 131-38 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 147-44.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

He was ranked in the preseason by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski as the 3rd best quarterback in the NFL.

Brady has 321 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has 131 career wins he is 5th all-time.

Brady finished the 2011 season with 5,235 passing yards and joined Drew Brees (5,476 in 2011 and 5,069 in 2008), Dan Marino (5,084 in 1984) and Matthew Stafford (5,038 in 2011) as the only players in NFL history to reach 5,000 passing yards in a single season.

Brady has thrown for at least 1 TD in 42 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 87-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

Brady has 51 games in his career with 300 or more passing yards he is tied for 6th all-time with Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts.  Kurt Warner is in 5th place with 52 games.

He (42,955) needs 85 passing yards to move past Dan Fouts (43,040) into 10th place all time.

Brady (2,976) needs 24 passing yards for his 10th 3,000-yard season.

On the season Brady is 256 of 393 (64.8%) for 2976 yards with 21 TDs and 3 INTs his QB rating is 102.6.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 111 consecutive games including playoffs, 94 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker leads the team with 73 catches for 890 yards.

TE Rob Gronkowski has 37 receiving touchdowns and 38 touchdowns overall (1 rushing) since 2010. The NFL record for most receiving touchdowns in a player’s first three NFL seasons is 43 by Randy Moss and the NFL record for most touchdowns overall by a player in his first three NFL seasons is 47 by Barry Sanders (4 receiving and 43 rushing).

He leads the team with 10 TDs, RB Stevan Ridley is 2nd with 7 TDs.

After having surgery on his broken left forearm on Monday. Gronkowski is expected to miss at least a month.

K Stephen Gostkowski has two field goals of 50 or more yards in 2012.  With one more he will be the first Patriots kicker with three field goals of 50 or more yards in one season.

Gostkowski (7 for 10) needs one more field goal of 50 or more yards to tie Adam Vinatieri (8 for 17) for most in team history.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones and DE Rob Ninkovich lead the team with 6 sacks.

With one more sack Ninkovich will have a new career high for sacks.

Patriots rookie record for sacks is held by Garin Veris who had 10.5 in 1985.

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

Ninkovich leads the team in forced fumbles with 5 while Jones, LB Jerod Mayo and LB Brandon Spikes have 3 forced fumbles each. 

Ninkovich tied Mike Vrabel for the team record of 5 forced fumbles in one season.

Mayo leads the team in tackles through 10 weeks with 126 (70 solo).

He is the first player in franchise history to register 100 tackles in each of his first 5 seasons.  He is the 4th Patriots player to log 5 consecutive seasons with 100 or more tackles.

Rookie S Tavon Wilson leads the team in INTs with 4. He now has more INTs in his rookie NFL season than he did in his college career at Illinois.

McCourty also has team high 10 passes defensed in 2012. Wilson is 2nd with 6 passes defensed.

DT Vince Wilfork has 3 recovered fumbles.

Rookie S Nate Ebner and WR Matthew Slater have a team high 10 tackles on special teams.

RB Danny Woodhead and CB Marquis Cole are former Jets returning to the Meadowlands.

S Steve Gregory was born in Brooklyn NY and played his football on Staten Island at Curtis High School.

CB Kyle Arrington went to Hofstra University.

S Devin McCourty grew up in Montvale NJ and went to Rutgers.

DL Justin Francis attended Rutgers.

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Branch (2) and Vince Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• Signed CB Malcolm Williams to the practice squad.
• Signed WR Kamar Aiken to the practice squad.

On Monday the team submitted following players for the injury list as if they had a practice. TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip); G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf); and DE Chander Jones (ankle) did not practice.  DT Ron Brace (back); S Patrick Chung (shoulder); G Dan Connolly (back); S Steve Gregory (hip); TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle); LB Dont’a Hightower (hamstring); WR Brandon Lloyd (knee); G Nick McDonald (shoulder); DE Trevor Scott (hamstring); LB Brandon Spikes (knee); T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee); LB Tracy White (foot) and WR Wes Welker (ankle) had limited participation.  WR Julian Edelman (hand); DT Kyle Love (knee) and LB Jerod Mayo (elbow) had full participation in practice.

On Tuesday the following players were on the injury list after a walk through.  TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip); G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf); and DE Chander Jones (ankle) did not practice.  DT Ron Brace (back); S Patrick Chung (shoulder); G Dan Connolly (back); S Steve Gregory (hip); TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle); LB Dont’a Hightower (hamstring); WR Brandon Lloyd (knee); G Nick McDonald (shoulder); DE Trevor Scott (hamstring); LB Brandon Spikes (knee); T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee); LB Tracy White (foot) and WR Wes Welker (ankle) had limited participation.  WR Julian Edelman (hand); DT Kyle Love (knee) and LB Jerod Mayo (elbow) had full participation in practice.

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR).  They have 12 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); WR Deion Branch (Louisville); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); OL Jeremiah Warren (South Florida – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Jets Team Notes

Here is the Jets roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Jets Schedule/Results

The Jets all-time record is 363-427-8 and they are 12-13 in the playoffs with their last playoff appearance coming in 2010.  That season the Jets lost on the road to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game, after having beaten Indianapolis and New England on the road to get there. 

The Jets last appeared in a Super Bowl following the 1968 season and defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 to win Super Bowl III. At that time was considered the biggest upset in sports history.  They were the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl.

The Jets also won the 1968 AFL Championship when they beat the Oakland Raiders, 27-23 at Shea Stadium.

New York has lost 14 of the last 21 meetings with New England including playoffs.

The Jets have lost the last four regular season meetings between the teams.

The Jets have swept the Patriots 14 times in the series the last time was in 2000.

The Jets are 1-1 vs. New England at Met Life Stadium, overall they are 27-25 as the home team all-time in the series.

New York is 36-34 vs. the AFC East in the regualr season since 2001.

The New York defense has allowed opponents to convert 42.9% (60 of 140) of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 38.6% (54 of 140).  On 4th down the jets defense has allowed opponents to convert 75% (6 of 8) of the time, while the offense has a 4th down conversion rate of 67% (6 of 9).

The New York defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 17 times, while their quarterbacks have been sacked 25 times in 10 games.

The Jets are 23rd in the NFL in points per game with 20.2.  While they allow 24.1 points per game good for 21st in the NFL.

New York is PLUS 1 in turnover differential, 13th best in the NFL.  The offense has given up 9 INT and 8 fumbles, while the defense has 8 INT and 10 fumble recoveries.

Jets Staff Notes

New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is 32-26 in his fourth season as a head coach.  He is 4-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 36-28.

He is 3-5 vs. New England in his career including playoffs.

Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano is a West Haven CT native.  He played and coached at the University of New Haven.  He also coached at Boston University.

Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Bill Hughan served as an assistant coach at Yale University in New Haven CT.

Offensive Line Coach Dave DeGuglielmo was born in Cambridge MA graduated from Lexington High School in 1986 and played at Boston University.

Defensive Quality Control Coach Brian Smith coached seven seasons at UMass.

Quarterbacks Coach Matt Cavanaugh was a second round draft pick of the Patriots in 1978 and played for New England for five years (1978-82).

General Manager Mike Tannenbaum hails from Needham MA and at­tended the University of Massachusetts.

Assistant General Manager Scott Cohen attended the University of Mas­sachusetts.

Jets Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Ferguson
• LG: Slauson
• C: Mangold
• RG: Moore
• RT: Howard
• TE: Cumberland
• WR: Schilens
• WR: Gates
• QB: Sanchez
• RB: Greene
• RB: Hilliard

Defense:

• DE: Wilkerson
• NT: Pouha
• DE: DeVito
• LB: B. Thomas
• LB: B. Scott
• LB: Harris
• LB: Pace
• LCB: K. Wilson
• RCB: Cromartie
• S: Bell
• S: Landry

Jets Players Notes

Mark Sanchez is 31-26 as a starting QB and is 4-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 35-28.  Sanchez was the Jets 1^st round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Southern California.

He is 3-5 vs. the Patriots including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Sanchez was the 23rd best of the 30 starting quarterbacks rated by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.

Sanchez has fumbled in 4 of his last 6 games.  The 4 fumbles have led to 17 opposition points and the ending of an overtime game in a loss to New England.

On the season Sanchez is 168 of 314 (53.5%) for 2038 yards with 11 TDs and 9 INTs his QB rating is 73.4.

RB Shonn Greene leads the Jets in rushing with 631 yards on 172 carries.

He also has 5 TD’s to lead the team.

WR Jeremy Kerley has 38 catches for 578 yards to lead New York in receiving.

WR Stephen Hill has the most receiving TD’s with 3.

LB David Harris has 75 tackles (49 solo) to lead New York.

S LaRon Landry and DE Muhammad Wilkerson share the team lead with 3 forced fumbles each.

LB Bryan Thomas has 2.5 sacks to lead the Jets.

CB Antonio Cromartie leads the team in INTs with 3 on the season.

DE Mike DeVito is a native of Wellfleet MA.

Practice Squad RB John Griffin is from Westminster MA.

OL Vladimir Ducasse was born in Haiti and moved to Stamford CT in 2002 and played high school football at Stamford High School.

RB Lex Hilliard was with the Patriots earlier this season before being released.

On Monday the following players were on the injury list after the Jets had a walk through.  WR Jason Hill (low back) did not practice.  DB Aaron Berry (quad); DL Kenrick Ellis (knee); WR Jeremy Kerley (heel/hamstring); RB Joe McKight (ankle); DL Sione Pouha (low back) and LB Bart Scott (toe) had limited participation.  TE Jeff Cumberland (wrist); DL Mike DeVito (finger); WR Clyde Gates (shoulder); WR Steven Hill (ankle); DB LaRon Landry (heel); C Nick Mangold (thumb); OL Brandon Moore (hip/foot); LB Calvin Pace (shoulder); RB Bilal Powell (shoulder); QB Mark Sanchez (low back); OL Matt Slauson (knee) and QB Tim Tebow (ribs) had full participation.    

On Tuesday the following players were on the injury list.  WR Jason Hill (low back) did not practice.  DB Aaron Berry (quad); DL Kenrick Ellis (knee); WR Jeremy Kerley (heel/hamstring); RB Joe McKight (ankle); DL Sione Pouha (low back) and LB Bart Scott (toe) had limited participation.  TE Jeff Cumberland (wrist); DL Mike DeVito (finger); WR Clyde Gates (shoulder); WR Steven Hill (ankle); DB LaRon Landry (heel); C Nick Mangold (thumb); OL Brandon Moore (hip/foot); LB Calvin Pace (shoulder); RB Bilal Powell (shoulder); QB Mark Sanchez (low back); OL Matt Slauson (knee) and QB Tim Tebow (ribs) had full participation.

New York does not name team captains.  They are appointed on a weekly basis prior to the game.

The Jets have 8 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are DB Aaron Berry (Pittsburgh); OL Vladimir Ducasse (UMass); CB Darrelle Revis (Pittsburgh – IR); RB Bilal Powell (Louisville); DE Mike DeVito (Maine) DB Donnie Fletcher (Boston College – practice squad); RB John Griffin (UMass – practice squad) and DE Muhammad Wilkerson (Temple).

New York has 3 retired numbers they are: 12 – Joe Namath, 13 – Don Maynard and 73 – Joe Klecko.

Next Week

The Patriots vist the Miami Dolphins on Sunday December 2nd at Sun Life Stadium in Miami FL.  Kick off is at 1 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Gronkowski Out a Month or More

New England Patriots all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski broke his forearm during Sunday’s game blocking on the teams final extra point attempt in a 59-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts.  He reached to try to block former Patriot Sergio Brown and was hit just the right way breaking his left forearm.

Gronkowski, who had two more TD catches against the Colts, now has 37 TD catches in career.  He became the first tight end in NFL history to have three consecutive seasons of 10 or more TD catches when he grabbed a 24-yard pass from Tom Brady as the team capitalized on an Andrew Luck fumble.

He had surgery on his forearm on Monday morning in the Boston area and is expected to miss anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks.

That time timetable would have him returning at the earliest on December 23rd in a game at Jacksonville or as late as the divisional playoff round.

The loss of Gronkowski could be a big blow as he has played 93% of the teams offensive snaps this year.  On the bright side it appears fellow TE Aaron Hernandez who has missed 6 of the last 8 games with an ankle injury appears to be ready to return on Thursday night against the New York Jets. 

Also what’s good is that veteran TE Visanthe Shiancoe has now played a couple of games and is better in the system, TE Daniel Fells has some game action and TE Mike Hoomanawanui is fully invested and can play the system.

Other options for New England are to see who is available on the waiver wire or through free agency.  One of those options could be the return of TE Alex Silvestro who has been with the team a number of times last two seasons bouncing between the regular roster and the practice squad.

Yet another option could have be TE Jake Ballard who they picked up in the off season from the New York Giants.  Ballard you may recall is the player who tore his ACL in the Super Bowl. He is 10 months post-injury, most medical experts consider an ACL a year injury, yet some players have come back sooner. Currently he is on the Patriots PUP list and according to the PUP list rules the time to activate him has passed so he should be ineligible to play for the remainder of this season.

And probably a final option is to use the tight ends currently on the roster to the best of their abilities and feature players like RB Danny Woodhead out of the backfield more, and slot receivers Julian Edelman and Wes Welker more as well.

This offense is designed around multiple weapons and it’s up to Brady and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to find ways to use them.

Whatever happens, life without Gronkowski won’t be fun or easy but above all it is survivable. 

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News and Notes

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after conference call with the media on Monday.  (patriots.com)

QB Tom Brady had his weekly Patriots Monday call in. (WEEI)

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. Indianapolis  (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Colts (ESPN Boston)

Five takeaways from Colts – Patriots (Boston Globe)

Gronk shouldn’t be blocking on extra points (Boston Herald)

Talib shows his stuff (Boston Herald)

Win comes at a cost (Boston Herald)

Patriots show signs of life on defense (Comcast Sports Net New England)

In case anyone hasn’t notice I am having an awful year predicting wins vs. the spread having only gotten two correct so far I sit at 2-8 this year.  Maybe a network TV job is in my future?  I am much better on the under/over calls through 10 games I have gotten 7 out of 10 correct.

Yesterday was the Patriots 200th consecutive sell out dating back to Week 1 in 1994.  It includes preseason and post season games.  The Kraft family saved this franchise and this is a testament to them.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 154-64.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 37-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has a 4-game winning streak and is 6-1 in the last 7 games after starting the season 1-2.

The Patriots lead the overall series 47-29, which includes a 2-1 post season advantage.

New England is 27-12 vs. the Colts at home, 6-2 at Gillette Stadium.

Since the Colts won 5 of the 6 meetings the Patriots have won the last three games.

The Patriots are now a combined 18-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

Belichick’s 199 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Bill Belichick is 13-8 vs. the Colts in his career.

Tom Brady is 10-4 against Indianapolis in his career including the playoffs.  Overall including playoffs he is 147-44.

Brady has 321 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 42 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 87-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 111 consecutive games including playoffs, 94 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

LB Jerod Mayo continues to lead the team in tackles.  Unofficially he has 125 tackles (69 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.  He is on pace for another 200 tackle season.

DE Rob Ninkovich had a strip sack and a fumble recovery on Sunday it was his 5th forced fumble of the season tying a team record held by former LB Mike Vrabel.

There were 6 QB hits by the Patriots; 2 each by Ninkovich and DE Jermaine Cunningham and 1 a piece by LB Brandon Spikes and LB Dont’a Hightower.

CB Aqib Talib, CB Alfonzo Dennard and S Tavon Wilson all had an INT on Sunday.  Talib and Dennard returned their INTs for a TD.  Wilson’s was a team leading 4th on the year.

Talib’s INT return for a TD was the fourth of his career and his first as a Patriot in his first game.  Nice way to make an impression.

Dennard’s INT return for a TD was the first of his career.

WR/PR Julian Edelman had two TD’s Sunday one on a punt return the other catching a pass from Brady.  He nearly had a 3rd and on end around.  He just missed the hat trick of a receiving, rushing and special teams TD in the same game.

The team had three non-offensive TD’s in the game for the third time in franchise history.  They did it in 2001 and again in 2011.

The Patriots tied a franchise record with 59 points in game set in 2009 vs. Tennessee.

The Patriots had four takeaways on Sunday and three of them led to touchdowns.

New England scored 8 TD’s and had a field goal and they only had 9 possessions and that included 2 punts and a missed field goal.  They had 5 TD’s on offense, 2 on defense and 1 on special teams.

Indianapolis had 13 possessions.  3 TD’s, 3 INT’s, 3 punts, 1 field goal, 1 missed field goal, 1 fumble and end of game clock expired.

The Patriots sacked Indianapolis QB Andrew Luck 1 time, while Brady was not sacked.

New England is PLUS 20 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 13 INTs and 14 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 4 for 6 (66.7%) in the red zone.  They had 4 TDs, 1 FG and 1 missed FG.

New England was 8 for 12 (66.7%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is the interim head coach in head coach Chuck Pagano’s absence.  Since taking over Arians is 5-2 is his NFL career.

Luck is 6-4 in his NFL career.

Indianapolis is 2-11 as the road team in the series since 1998.

The Colts are 7-18 in the last 24 games vs. the Patriots dating back to 1996.

Indianapolis was 8 for 14 (57%) on 3rd down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

The Colts were 2 for 2 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TD’s.

Indianapolis is MINUS 13 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense has 4 INTs and 2 fumble recoveries.

Next Week

The Patriots visit the New York Jets on Thanksgiving night at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford NJ.  Kick off is at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

The Indianapolis Colts came into Foxboro on Sunday to face the New England Patriots sporting a 6-3 record and looking very far removed from the disaster of 2011. 

After one quarter they even had a 14-7 lead.  That lead though evaporated in the late New England afternoon air quicker than you could say “Julian Edelman”.

In a blink of an eye, or 1:01 on the game clock, Edelman returned a punt 68-yards for a TD.  Then on the ensuing Indianapolis drive newly acquired CB Aqib Talib picked rookie QB Andrew Luck and returned it 59-yards for a TD and like that it was 21-14 New England and they were on their way to a convincing 59-24 win.

Up 24-17 to start the third quarter New England exploded in the second half putting up 35 points in the final 30 minutes.  Edelman got his second score of the day on a 2-yard pass from QB Tom Brady and TE Rob Gronkowski got his second TD of the day off a 24-yard pass.  He had scored the Patriots first TD in the first quarter off a 4 yard catch.

In the fourth quarter the Patriots put up 21 more points on an 87-yard INT returned for a TD by rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard and rushing TD’s of 3-yards by RB Stevan Ridley and 4-yards by RB Shane Vereen. 

In the second half the only points the New England defense gave up came long after the outcome was decided when Colts rookie WR T.Y. Hilton went 43-yards to the house on a Luck TD pass.  It was Hilton’s second TD catch of the afternoon.

The 59-points tied a franchise record for most points in a game, they put up 59 against Tennessee in 2009 at Foxboro.

It was a remarkable game as the Colts had the ball nearly 6 minutes longer, had more first downs, more total yards, ran more plays and more rushing yards.  It was the Patriots special teams and defense that had four more takeaways that made the difference in the game. 

The Patriots had more return yards, more yards off turnovers, more turnovers and more touchdowns.  And when you have more touchdowns you usually win the game.

Now it’s off to the Thanksgiving Night matchup with AFC East Rival New York Jets, let’s hope New England has another performance like this stuffed into the Thanksgiving turkey.

Comcast Sports Net New England’s Tom E. Curran is reporting post game that TE Rob Gronkowski has suffered a broken forearm.  The team hasn’t confirmed the injury.  The NFL Network is reporting Gronkowski will be out a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks which is the remainder of the regular season.

Colts at Patriots Gamebook includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Colts at Patriots Game Recap.

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Turning Point of the Game

In the matter of 1:01 in the 2nd quarter the Patriots scored 14 points on special teams and defense and took over the game.

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots WR/PR Julian Edelman had 1 carry for 47 yards, 5 catches for 58 yards and 1 TD and 2 punt returns for 117 yards and a TD.

Defensive Player of the Game

Patriots DE Rob Ninkovich had 8 tackles (4 solo); 1 sack; 2 tackles for loss; 2 QB hits; 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Thomas

C Wendell

RG McDonald

RT Vollmer

TE Gronkowski

WR Edelman

WR Welker

WR Lloyd

QB Brady

RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Love

DE Jones

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB Talib

CB Arrington

S Gregory

S McCourty

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle)

2. G Dan Connolly (back)

3. S Patrick Chung (shoulder)

4. DE Jake Bequette

5. DL Justin Francis

6. TE Daniel Fells

7. G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf)

Colts

1. CB Vontae Davis (shoulder)

2. LB Mario Harvey

3. T Bradley Sowell

4. DL Josh Chapman

5. NT Martin Tevaseu

6. T Tony Hills

7. TE Colby Fleener (knee)

The spread (Patriots MINUS 10) WAS covered.  The over/under (53) WAS COVERED.  I TOOK the points (COLTS) and took the OVER.  I am now 2-8 vs. the spread and 7 of 10 calling the under/over.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 154-64.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 37-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has its first 4-game winning streak of the season.

The Patriots lead the overall series 47-29, which includes a 2-1 post season advantage.

New England is 27-12 vs. the Colts at home, 6-2 at Gillette Stadium.

Since the Colts won 5 of the 6 meetings the Patriots have won the last three games.

The Patriots are now a combined 18-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

Bill Belichick is now 199-107 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick’s 199 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Bill Belichick is 13-8 vs. the Colts in his career.  He is 11-6 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes a 2-1 post season record.

Tom Brady is 10-4 against Indianapolis in his career including the playoffs.  Overall including playoffs he is 147-44.

Brady has 321 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 42 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 87-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 111 consecutive games including playoffs, 94 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

DE Rob Ninkovich had a strip sack and a fumble recovery on Sunday it was his 5th forced fumble of the season tying a team record held by former LB Mike Vrabel.

There were 6 QB hits by the Patriots 2 each by Ninkovich and DE Jermaine Cunningham and 1 a piece by LB Brandon Spikes and LB Dont’a Hightower.

CB Aqib Talib, CB Alfonzo Dennard and S Tavon Wilson all had an INT on Sunday.  Talib and Dennard returned their INTs for a TD.  Wilson’s was a team leading 4th on the year.

S Nate Ebner had two special teams tackles on Sunday to lead the team.

LB Jerod Mayo led the team with 10 tackles (1 solo).

Roster moves Saturday:

• CB Aqib Talib was activated and placed on the 53-mam roster.
• WR Deion Branch was released
• CB Malcolm Williams was released
• WR Greg Salas was signed from the practice squad
• WR Jarred Fayson was released from the practice squad

The Patriots sacked Indianapolis QB Andrew Luck 1 time, while Brady was not sacked.

New England is PLUS 20 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 13 INTs and 14 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 4 for 6 (66.7%) in the red zone.  They had 4 TDs, 1 FG and 1 missed FG.

New England was 8 for 12 (66.7%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Indianapolis offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is the interim head coach in head coach Chuck Pagano’s absence.  Since taking over Arians is 5-2 is his NFL career.

Arians is 0-1 vs. New England as a head coach.

Luck is 6-4 in his NFL career.

He is 0-1 vs. the Patriots.

Indianapolis is 2-11 as the road team in the series since 1998.

The Colts are 7-18 in the last 24 games vs. the Patriots dating back to 1996.

Indianapolis was 8 for 14 (57%) on 3rd down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

The Colts were 2 for 2 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TD’s.

Indianapolis is MINUS 13 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense has 4 INTs and 2 fumble recoveries. 

John Parry was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 42 and clear.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conference via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Jets whipped the Rams, 27-13

Bills beat the Dolphins, 19-14 on Thursday night

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   7-3/3-0

Dolphins                  4-6/1-2

Jets                        4-6/2-2

Bills                        4-6/1-3

Next Week

The Patriots visit the New York Jets on Thanksgiving night at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford NJ.  Kick off is at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

The New England Patriots will get some help in the secondary for Sunday's game as they have activated CB Aqib Talib in a series of roster moves that also sees Deion Branch get released for second time this season.

Here's the release from the Patriots:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots activated CB Aqib Talib to the 53-man roster and signed WR Greg Salas to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. The Patriots acquired Talib in a trade with Tampa Bay on Nov. 1, 2012. In addition, the Patriots released WR Deion Branch and DB Malcolm Williams and WR Jarred Fayson from the practice squad.

Talib, 26, is in his fifth NFL season after joining the Buccaneers as a first-round draft pick (20th overall) out of Kansas in 2008. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder has played in 58 NFL games with 45 starts and has accumulated 160 total tackles, 18 interceptions with three returned for touchdowns, 53 passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He played in four games for the Buccaneers in 2012 and has registered 20 tackles, one interception and defensed seven passes.

Salas, 24, was originally acquired by New England in a trade with St. Louis on Sept. 1, 2012 in exchange for an undisclosed future draft choice. He dressed for the 2012 season-opener at Tennessee but did not play and was inactive vs. Arizona in the home-opener. Salas was released on Sept. 19 and signed to the practice squad on Sept. 20. Salas was originally drafted by St. Louis in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Hawaii. The 6-foot-1, 209-pounder played in six games for the Rams last season and finished with 27 receptions for 269 yards. His season was limited to six games due to a leg injury.

Branch, 33, was originally selected by the Patriots in the second round (65th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Louisville. He was traded by the Patriots to the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 11, 2006 and then reacquired through a trade with Seattle on Oct. 12, 2010. Branch was released by the Patriots on Aug. 31 and re-signed on Sept. 19. He played in seven games with three starts and caught nine passes for 80 yards in 2012. Branch, 5-9, 195 pounds, has played in 137 games with 110 starts and accumulated 511 receptions for 6,579 yards and 39 touchdowns. He has played in 15 postseason games with 13 starts and has 62 receptions for 932 yards and four touchdowns. His 24 receptions in three Super Bowls are third all time to the 33 by Jerry Rice (four Super Bowls) and the 27 by Andre Reed (four Super Bowls).

Williams, 24, was signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad on Oct. 27, 2012 and played as a reserve in the win at St. Louis (10/28). He was signed to the New England practice squad on Sept. 1, 2012 after being released following training camp on Aug. 31, 2012. The 5-foot-11, 205-pounder was originally drafted by New England in the seventh round (219th overall) out of Texas Christian in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was released by the Patriots at the end of his first training camp before being signed to the practice squad in November. Williams rotated between the practice squad and 53-man roster after being re-signed and played in two regular season games and all three postseason games, including Super Bowl XLVI, mostly on special teams.

Fayson, 25, originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with the New Orleans Saints in 2011 out of Illinois. The 6-foot, 213-pounder was released by the Saints following training camp and joined the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad on Nov. 22, 2011, where spent the remainder of the season. He was released by Indianapolis on Aug. 28, 2012. Fayson spent his first two seasons in college at Florida before transferring to Illinois. He joined the Patriots practice squad on Nov. 1.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:25 p.m.  The game was flexed by CBS from it’s original 1 p.m. time slot.

The Colts		—-	The Patriots
Overall	6-3		Overall	6-3
Road record	2-2		Home record	3-1
AFC East	1-1		AFC South	1-0
AFC	4-2		AFC	5-1

John Parry is the referee assigned to the game.  Parry also officiated the Patriots Week 4 game in Buffalo.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 10.  The over under is 54.  

My Prediction is Patriots 35, Colts, 27.  Take the points (COLTS) and take the over.  I am 2-7 against the spread and 6 of 9 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 200th consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. 

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game regionally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 711.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do the game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 91, XM Channel 228 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Colts Radio Network has Bob Lamey calling the game while former Colt Will Wolford provides the game analysis via their flagship station WFNI.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 137 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 813.

Dial Global Radio Sports will be broadcasting the game to their national affiliates.  Tom McCarthy and Tony Boselli will call the action.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Indianapolis Colts @ New England Patriots Week 11 preview, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots held off the Bills at home, 37-31.  The Colts beat the Jaguars on the road, 27-10.

History

• This is the 76th meeting between the Patriots and the Colts since the 1970 merger.
• Since 2001, these teams have represented the AFC in 7 Super Bowls winning four.
• The Patriots lead the overall series 46-29, which includes a 2-1 post season advantage.
• The Colts have won 5 of the last 8 meetings but the Patriots have won the last two games.
• The Patriots won the last meeting Week 13 in 2011 at Foxboro, 31-24.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 420-368-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 23-16 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2011 when they beat Denver home in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 45-10 and defeated Baltimore 23-20 in Foxboro in the AFC Championship Game.  They lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants 21-17. 

The Patriots were 13-3 (2-1 in playoffs) in 2011 and are the defending two-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 8 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 153-64.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 36-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has its first 3-game winning streak of the season.

This is the Patriots second consecutive home game.

New England is 26-12 vs. the Colts at home, 5-2 at Gillette Stadium.

This is the third straight meeting at Gillette Stadium after a streak of four in a row in Indianapolis.

The Patriots and the Colts have played each other ten years in a row despite not being in the same division since 2001.

The Patriots are now a combined 17-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

This is the 7th year in a row the Patriots are 6-3 or better after 9 games.

The Patriots have lost 3 games this season by a combined total of 4 points.

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 33.2.  While they allow 22.3 points per game good for a tie for 15th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 20 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 15 times.

New England is PLUS 16 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 10 INTs and 13 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots are 64 for 129 (49.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 50 for 112 (44.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 5 for 11 (45.5%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 28 of 43 (65.1%) in the red zone while opponents are 15 for 25 (60%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 21 for 26 (80.8%) and opponents are 11 for 14 (78.6%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 199.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 218.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 11.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 13.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

New England set the following team records in 2011:

• Total yards, 6,848.
• First downs, 399.
• Net passing yards, 5,084.
• 100+ yard receiving games, 18.
• Games with 30+ points, 12 (tied for most in NFL history).

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Jets.

Bill Belichick is 12-8 vs. the Colts in his career.  He is 10-6 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes a 2-1 post season record.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 181-100 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 145-56 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 198-107.

Belichick’s 198 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 9 consecutive seasons.

Belichick was a special assistant for the Baltimore Colts in 1975.  It was his first NFL job.

Asst. Head Coach/Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was the offensive line coach for the Colts in 1989-90.

Defensive line coach Patrick Graham coached at University of Notre Dame in South Bend IN.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Solder
• LG: D. Thomas
• C: Wendell
• RG: McDonald
• RT: Vollmer
• TE: Gronkowski
• TE: Hoomanawanui
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Ninkovich
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: Jones
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Spikes
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: McCourty
• RCB: Talib
• S: Gregory
• S: Wilson

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 9-4 against Indianapolis in his career including the playoffs.  His very first NFL start came against the Colts on September 30, 2001 at Foxboro Stadium.

Overall Brady is 130-38 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 146-44.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

He was ranked in the preseason by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski as the 3rd best quarterback in the NFL.

Brady has 318 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has 130 career wins he is 5th all-time.

Brady finished the 2011 season with 5,235 passing yards and joined Drew Brees (5,476 in 2011 and 5,069 in 2008), Dan Marino (5,084 in 1984) and Matthew Stafford (5,038 in 2011) as the only players in NFL history to reach 5,000 passing yards in a single season.

Brady has thrown for at least 1 TD in 41 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 86-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

On the season Brady is 232 of 358 (64.8%) for 2645 yards with 18 TDs and 3 INTs his QB rating is 100.1.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 110 consecutive games including playoffs, 93 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker leads the team with 66 catches for 810 yards.

TE Rob Gronkowski has 35 receiving touchdowns and 36 touchdowns overall (1 rushing) since 2010. The NFL record for most receiving touchdowns in a player’s first three NFL seasons is 43 by Randy Moss and the NFL record for most touchdowns overall by a player in his first three NFL seasons is 47 by Barry Sanders (4 receiving and 43 rushing).

He leads the team with 8 TDs, RB Stevan Ridley is 2nd with 6 TDs.

K Stephen Gostkowski has two field goals of 50 or more yards in 2012.  With one more he will be the first Patriots kicker with three field goals of 50 or more yards in one season.

Gostkowski (7 for 10) needs one more field goal of 50 or more yards to tie Adam Vinatieri (8 for 17) for most in team history.

RB Danny Woodhead had his first two TD game of his NFL career against Buffalo last week.

Newly acquired CB Aqib Talib is eligible for Sunday’s game after serving a league suspension for taking Adderall without a prescription/authorization.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones leads the team with 6 sacks; DE Rob Ninkovich is second with 5 sacks.

Patriots rookie record for sacks is held by Garin Veris who had 10.5 in 1985.

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

Ninkovich leads the team in forced fumbles with 4 while Jones, LB Jerod Mayo and LB Brandon Spikes have 3 forced fumbles each. 

With one more forced fumble Ninkovich will tie Mike Vrabel for the team record of 5 in one season.

Mayo leads the team in tackles through 9 weeks with 116 (69 solo).

Rookie S Tavon Wilson leads the team in INTs with 3. He has as many INT in his rookie NFL season as he did in his college career at Illinois.

McCourty also has team high 9 passes defensed in 2012. Wilson is 2nd with 5 passes defensed.

DT Vince Wilfork has 3 recovered fumbles.

He had a strip sack last Sunday against Buffalo it was the teams 5th strip sack of the season.

WR Matthew Slater has a team high 8 tackles on special teams, rookie S Nate Ebner is 2nd with 7 tackles.

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Branch (2) and Vince Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• Signed LB Jeff Tarpinian to the practice squad
• Signed G Mitch Petrus

On Wednesday the following players were on the injury list. G Dan Connolly (back); G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf); and WR Wes Welker (ankle) did not practice.  DT Ron Brace (back); S Patrick Chung (shoulder); S Steve Gregory (hip); TE Rob Gronkowski (hip); TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle); LB Dont’a Hightower (hamstring); WR Brandon Lloyd (knee); G Nick McDonald (shoulder); DE Trevor Scott (hamstring); LB Brandon Spikes (knee); T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee); LB Tracy White (foot) and CB Malcolm Williams (thigh) had limited participation.  WR Julian Edelman (hand); DT Kyle Love (knee) and LB Jerod Mayo (elbow) had full participation in practice.

On Thursday the following players were on the injury list.  G Dan Connolly (back); G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf); and WR Wes Welker (ankle) did not practice.  DT Ron Brace (back); WR Deion Branch (hamstring); S Patrick Chung (shoulder); S Steve Gregory (hip); TE Rob Gronkowski (hip); TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle); LB Dont’a Hightower (hamstring); WR Brandon Lloyd (knee); G Nick McDonald (shoulder); DE Trevor Scott (hamstring); LB Brandon Spikes (knee); T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee); LB Tracy White (foot) and CB Malcolm Williams (thigh) had limited participation.  WR Julian Edelman (hand); DT Kyle Love (knee) and LB Jerod Mayo (elbow) had full participation in practice.

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR).  They have 12 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); WR Deion Branch (Louisville); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); OL Jeremiah Warren (South Florida – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Colts Team Notes

Here is the Colts roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Colts Schedule/Results

Indianapolis' all-time record is 459-413-7 they are 19-20 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 2010 when they lost to the New York Jets in the AFC Division game. 

They last won the AFC Championship in 2009 by beating Baltimore in the AFC Division Card game and the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game.  They lost to New Orleans in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17.

They have won 2 Super Bowls (V, XLI) in 4 appearances.

The Colts also won three NFL Championships while in Baltimore in 1958, 1959 and 1968.

Indianapolis has a 4 game winning streak and they have won 5 of 6 since their bye in Week 4.

Despite not being in the same division since 2001, the two teams have met at least once in 10 consecutive seasons.

Indianapolis is 2-10 as the road team since 1998.  They are 2-5 in Gillette Stadium.

Overall Indianapolis is 12-26 as the road team in the series.

The Colts are 7-17 in the last 24 games vs. the Patriots dating back to 1996.

The Colts are 22nd in the NFL in points per game with 20.7.  While they allow 22.3 points per game good for a tie for 15th in the NFL.

The Indianapolis defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 21 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 21 times.

Indianapolis is MINUS 9 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 9 INT and 6 fumbles, while the defense has 4 INTs and 2 fumble recoveries. 

The Colts are 58 for 133 (43.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 5 for 6 (83.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 41 for 110 (37.3%) in 3rd down efficiency and 3 for 6 (50%) on 4th down attempts.

Colts Staff Notes

Read what Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Bruce Arians had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Indianapolis head coach Chuck Pagano, is in his 1st season as a NFL head coach, he was 1-2 before taking medical leave due to a cancer diagnosis.

He was previously the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.

Pagano replaced Jim Caldwell who in 3 seasons was 28-24 including the post season and took the team to Super Bowl XLIV.

Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians is the interim head coach in Pagano’s absence.  Since taking over Arians is 5-1. 

Colts Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Castonzo
• LG: Reitz
• C: Shipley
• RG: McGlynn
• RT: Linkenbach
• TE: Saunders
• WR: Hilton
• WR: Wayne
• WR: Avery
• QB:  Luck
• RB: Brown

Defense:

• DE: Redding
• DT: Johnson
• DT: Moala
• DE: Freeney
• LB: Hughes
• LB: Conner
• LB: Freeman
• LCB: Vaughn
• RCB: Butler
• S: Zbikowski
• S: Bethea

Colts Players Notes

Colts QB Andrew Luck is in his first NFL season and he is 6-3.  Luck was the 1st overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Stanford University.

Luck is 208 of 362 for 2,631 yards with 10 TDs and 9 INTs his quarterback rating is 79.1.

RB Donald Brown is the Colts leading rusher he has 361 yards on 88 carries with 1 TD.

WR Reggie Wayne leads Indianapolis in receiving with 69 catches for 931 yards and 3 TDs.  He has caught a pass in 105 consecutive regular season games.

Former Patriots K Adam Vinatieri; S Sergio Brown and CB Darius Butler return to Foxboro as Colts.

LB Dwight Freeney is from Bloomfield CT.

LB Scott Lutrus (IR) is from Brookfield CT.

LB Jerrell Freeman leads the Colts in tackles with 111 (59 solo). 

CB Darius Butler leads the team with 2 INTs.

Butler was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 10.

LB Robert Mathis leads Indianapolis with 6 sacks.

Three players each have one forced fumble on the year.

CB Jerraud Powers has 7 passes defensed the most on the Colts.

Peyton Manning’s Number 18 was retired by the Colts when he was released this past offseason.  He may possibly be the only NFL player to have his number retired while he was still active.

On Wednesday and Thursday the following players were on the injury list.  TE Colby Fleenor (shoulder) and CB Vontae Davis (knee) did not practice.  RB Donald Brown (knee); T Winston Justice (knee); LB Robert Mathis (back) and C Samson Satele (back) had full participation in practice.

Indianapolis does not have regular captains, they are appointed by the staff on a weekly basis.

There are 9 players on the Colts roster from Big East universities and New England based colleges.  They are: RB Donald Brown (UConn); CB Darius Butler (UConn); RB Delone Carter (Syracuse); T Anthony Castonzo (Boston College); DE Dwight Freeney (Syracuse); S Joe Lefeged (Rutgers); T Jeff Linkenbach (Cincinnati); G Mike McGlynn (Pittsburgh) LB Scott Lutrus (UConn – IR) and DT Ricardo Matthews (Cincinnati).

The Colts have retired the following numbers: 18 – Peyton Manning; 19 – Johnny Unitas; 22 – Buddy Young; 24 – Lenny Moore; 70 – Art Donovan; 77 – Jim Parker; 82 – Raymond Berry and 89 – Gino Marchetti.

Next Week

The Patriots visit the New York Jets on Thanksgiving night at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford NJ.  Kick off is at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Something Has to Change

I hate beating a dead horse, playing the same tune and writing the same thing seemingly week after week, but something has to change with the defense on this team.

The acquisition of CB Aqib Talib from Tampa Bay is a start and he will help as soon as he is caught up into the system but it’s totally unfair to pin the hopes of turning the entire secondary around on Talib, especially before he even takes the field.

I am projecting him to start Sunday against Indianapolis and that may bit unfair as well.  I am unsure what his football acumen is and how he will fit in the first week or so but he can’t be any worse than what we’ve been seeing can he?

He has a reputation for being a solid corner not as string on technique as he is on natural ability.  But if he can cut down on the big plays and the awful tackling the trade will be a solid one.

The secondary misses S Patrick Chung.  While he has struggled at times this year I think he plays hurt a lot more than he or the team let on.  If Chung returns healthy you have some options with CB/S Devin McCourty.  You can play McCourty on the corner with Talib or use him as a safety.  My preference is McCourty and Talib on the corners with Steve Gregory and Chung at safety with CB Kyle Arrington playing the nickel slot he played fairly well last season.

There are seven games left this season and the Patriots have a two game division lead over Miami who they will play twice in those seven games.  They also have a division game on Thanksgiving night in New York against the Jets.  That leaves this weekends matchup with the Colts, home games against the Texans and 49ers and a road game against the pitiful Jaguars.

Corrections need to be made in these next seven weeks or this team will not survive the playoffs against better teams and quarterbacks.

News and Notes

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after conference call with the media on Monday.  (patriots.com)

QB Tom Brady had his weekly Patriots Monday call in. (WEEI)

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. Buffalo  (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Bills (ESPN Boston)

Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick on LB Brandon Spikes says “I think he’s a punk, at times.” (ESPN Boston)

Five takeaways from Bills – Patriots (Boston Globe)

Patriots knew it was going to be tough (Boston Globe)

Roster moves:

• Released LB Jeff Tarpinian.
• CB Aqib Talib added to roster after finishing his NFL suspension.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 153-64.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 36-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has its first 3-game winning streak of the season.

The Patriots lead the series 64-41-1.

The 64 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.

New England has won 23 of the last 26 meetings.

The Patriots swept the series for the 10th time in last 13 seasons.

The Patriots are 34-19 as the home team in the series; they are 11-0 at The Razor; 17-14 in Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaefer Stadium and 6-5 in the Boston venues.

New England has won 12 consecutive home games against Buffalo.

New England is 56-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season.  In that time span they are 30-6 in division home games.

New England’s NFL record 17 game streak with at least 350 total yards on offense was snapped Sunday when they only got 347 total yards.

Bill Belichick is now 198-107 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick coached teams are 23-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 19-2 vs. the Bills in his career.  Overall including playoffs he is 146-44.

Brady has 318 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 41 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 86-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 110 consecutive games including playoffs, 93 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

LB Jerod Mayo now has a team high 115 tackles (68 solo) and LB Brandon Spikes is 2nd with 83 tackles (55 solo).

Spikes forced a fumble and is tied with DE Rob Ninkovich for the team lead with 4 forced fumbles.  DT Vince Wilfork and S Devin McCourty also had forced fumbles on Sunday.

Ninkovich, Wilfork and DE Jermaine Cunningham each had a sack against the Bills.  Ninkovich is now tied for the team lead in sacks with rookie DE Chandler Jones they each have 6.

McCourty also had the lone INT he is now tied with rookie S Tavon Wilson with 3 INTs each.

TE Visanthe Shiancoe made his New England debut on Sunday and was on the field for just 8 plays and was not targeted for a pass.

The Patriots sacked Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick 3 times, while Brady was sacked once.

Overall as the road team in the series the Bills are 19-32.

The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.

Buffalo set a team record with 35 first downs on Sunday.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey is 1-6 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-5 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Fitzpatrick is 1-5 vs. the Patriots.

Fitzpatrick had the second 300-yard game of his season on Sunday; both have been against New England.  Against the other opponents the most yardage he has thrown for is 238.

New England is PLUS 16 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 10 INTs and 13 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots are 64 for 129 (49.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 50 for 112 (44.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 5 for 11 (45.5%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 28 of 43 (65.1%) in the red zone while opponents are 15 for 25 (60%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 21 for 29 (72.4%) and opponents are 11 for 14 (78.6%).

Next Week

The Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:25 p.m. on CBS.  The game was flexed from it’s original 1 p.m. time slot.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

The Buffalo Bills came to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots and while the team had been reeling a bit dropping four of their previous five games they did come to play. And if it wasn’t for New England S Devin McCourty being in the right place at the right time the Bills may have had their second win over the Patriots in the last two seasons.  Instead they lost 37-31 at Gillette Stadium.

For the Bills the loss to the Patriots is nothing new having never won on the road in the 11 seasons of Gillette Stadium existence.  In fact the Patriots have swept the season series from the Bills for the 10th time in the last 13 seasons and have won 23 of the last 26 meetings between the original AFL teams.

Buffalo set a team record for first downs with 35, getting 4 by penalty, 11 in the air and 20 on the ground as Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had his 2nd 300 yard game of the year, both against the New England defense.

The Patriots defense was pathetic today.  Usually we just have to complain about the pass defense and the big plays but today you can add the run defense to the list this week, as they were awful.  They allowed 162 rushing yards on 28 carries, 150 of those yards came from RB Fred Jackson (80 yards) and RB C.J. Spiller (70 yards).  Spiller added 61 more yards receiving and Jackson tacked on another 35 as the duo had quite a day.

The tackling in both aspects of the defensive game is just awful.  I have seen high school teams that can pursue, contain and tackle better than this team.

Offensively the Patriots were led by RB Stevan Ridley who had 98 rushing yards and a TD, RB Danny Woodhead who had 61 combined yards as well as a TD rushing and another receiving and WR Wes Welker who had 6 grabs for 74 yards.

Patriots QB Tom Brady was 23 of 38 for 237 yards 2 TDs, 0 INTs and he was sacked one time by Buffalo. 

A win is a win and with this win the Patriots are now 6-3 and have a two game division lead with Indianapolis and rookie QB Andrew Luck at home next Sunday.

Bills at Patriots Gamebook includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Bills at Patriots Game Recap.

To continue reading, hit the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Turning Point of the Game

Patriots CB Devin McCourty’s INT in the end zone in the games final minute sealed the Patriots six point win.

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots RB Stevan Ridley had 98 yards on 22 carries and 1 TD.

Defensive Player of the Game

Patriots CB Devin McCourty had 8 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass defensed, 1 INT and 1 forced fumble.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Mankins

C Wendell

RG Connolly

RT Vollmer

TE Gronkowski

TE Hoomanawanui

WR Welker

WR Lloyd

QB Brady

RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Love

DE Jones

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB Dennard

CB Arrington

S Gregory

S McCourty

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle)

2. CB Malcolm Williams

3. S Patrick Chung (shoulder)

4. DE Jake Bequette

5. DE Ron Brace (back)

6. LB Tracy White (foot)

7. DE Trevor Scott (hamstring)

Bills

1. QB Tarvaris Jackson
2. CB Aaron Williams (knee)
3. LB Mana Silva
4. LB Keith Morrison
5. OL Tom Welch
6. DE Chris Kelsay (neck)
7. DE Mark Anderson (knee)

The spread (Patriots MINUS 12 1/2) WAS NOT covered.  The over/under (52) WAS COVERED.  I GAVE the points (PATRIOTS) and took the OVER.  I am now 2-7 vs. the spread and 6 of 9 calling the under/over.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 153-64.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 36-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has its first 3-game winning streak of the season.

The Patriots lead the series 64-41-1.

The 64 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.

New England has won 23 of the last 26 meetings.

The Patriots swept the series for the 10th time in last 13 seasons.

The Patriots are 34-19 as the home team in the series; they are 11-0 at The Razor; 17-14 in Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaefer Stadium and 6-5 in the Boston venues.

New England has won 12 consecutive home games against Buffalo.

New England is 56-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season.  In that time span they are 30-6 in division home games.

New England’s NFL record 17 game streak with at least 350 total yards on offense was snapped Sunday when they only got 347 total yards.

Bill Belichick is now 198-107 including playoffs in his career.

Belichick’s 198 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Belichick coached teams are 23-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 19-2 vs. the Bills in his career.  Overall including playoffs he is 146-44.

Brady has 318 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 41 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 86-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 110 consecutive games including playoffs, 93 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

CB Devin McCourty, LB Brandon Spikes and DT Vince Wilfork all forced a fumble on Sunday against Buffalo.  Wilfork leads the squad with 4 forced fumbles on the year.

McCourty also had the game saving INT in the end zone, it was his 3rd of the season he along with rookie S Tavon Wilson lead the team.

Wilfork, DE Rob Ninkovich and DE Jermaine Cunningham each had a sack vs. the Bills.  Ninkovich is tied for the team lead with rookie DE Chandler Jones, each has 6 sacks on the season.

LB Jerod Mayo led the team with 12 tackles (4 solo).

Spikes, McCourty and CB Kyle Arrington each defensed a pass on Sunday.

Roster moves this week:

• Saturday the Patriots placed activated TE Visanthe Shiancoe from the IR.

The Patriots sacked Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick 3 times, while Brady was sacked 1 time.

New England is PLUS 16 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 10 INTs and 13 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 4 for 5 (80%) in the red zone.  They had 4 TDs and 1 FG.

New England was 7 for 12 (58%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey in his 5th NFL season as a head coach he is 31-44 including playoffs.

Gailey is 1-6 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-5 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Fitzpatrick is 21-40-1 in his NFL career.

He is 1-5 vs. the Patriots.

Overall as the road team in the series the Bills are 19-32.

The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.

Buffalo had a team record 35 first downs.

The Bills are 21-49 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

Buffalo was 7 for 11 (64%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 1 (100%) on 4th down attempts.

The Bills were 4 for 7 (57%) in the red zone.  They had 4 TD’s, 1 FG and 2 turnovers.

Buffalo is MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 11 INT and 10 fumbles, while the defense has 6 INTs and 5 fumble recoveries. 

Bill Leavy was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 56 and sunny.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conference via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Tennessee crushed Miami, 37-3

Seattle spanked the Jets 28-7

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   6-3/3-0

Dolphins                  4-5/1-1

Jets                        3-5/2-2

Bills                        3-6/0-3

Next Week

The Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:25 p.m. on CBS.  The game was flexed from it’s original 1 p.m. time slot.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rival Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Bills		—-	The Patriots
Overall	3-5		Overall	5-3
Road record	2-3		Home record	2-1
AFC East	0-2		AFC East	2-0
AFC	2-4		AFC	4-1

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 12.5.  The OVER/UNDER is 52.

My Prediction is Patriots 38, Bills, 21.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 2-6 against the spread and 5 of 8 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 199th consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. 

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game regionally and Ian Eagle will do play by play while Dan Fouts will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 710.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 91, XM Channel 228 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Bills Radio Network has John Murphy calling the game while former Bills DB Mark Kelso provide the game analysis via their flagship station, WGR-AM.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 106 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 803.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots Week 10 preview, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots were off on their bye week.  The Bills lost to the Texans in Houston 21-9.

History

• This is the 106th meeting between the Patriots and the Bills since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1960.
• The Patriots lead the series 63-41-1.
• The 63 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.
• New England has won 22 of the last 25 meetings.
• The Patriots beat the Bills in Week 4 at Buffalo, 52-28.  Trailing 21-7 in the 3rd quarter the Patriots scored 45 second half points on their last 7 possesions.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 419-368-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are are 23-16 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2011 when they beat Denver home in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 45-10 and defeated Baltimore 23-20 in Foxboro in the AFC Championship Game.  They lost Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants 21-17. 

The Patriots were 13-3 (2-1 in playoffs) in 2011 and are the defending two-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 8 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

The Patriots will be honoring recently retired RB Kevin Faulk at halftime on Sunday.  Faulk, drafted by the Patriots in the 2nd round out of LSU in 1999, played 13 seasons with New England.  He was a mmeber of all three Patriots Super Bowl Championship teams and is the franchise leader in all-purpose yards, kickoff return yardage and receptions by a running back.  

New England has its second 2-game winning streak of the season.

The Patriots have lost three games in 2012 by two points or fewer. They are the first team to lose three games by two points or less in the first six games since the 1960 Dallas Texans.

New England has the same record after 8 games that they had in 2011, 5-3.

In the last ten seasons the Patriots are 35-8 in games played November 1 or later.

New England has a 17 game streak with at least 350 total yards on offense.  It is an NFL record.

The Patriots are 33-19 as the home team in the series, they are 10-0 at The Razor; 17-14 in Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaefer Stadium and 6-5 in the Boston venues.

New England has won 11 consecutive home games against Buffalo.

New England is 55-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season.  In that time span they are 29-6 in division home games.

New England’s largest margin of victory in the series is 46 points set in 2007.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 32.8.  While they allow 21.3 points per game good for 12th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 17 times this seaso while their quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times.

New England is PLUS 13 in turnover differential 3rd in the NFL. The offense has given up 3 INT and 4 fumbles, while the defense has 9 INTs and 11 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots are 57 for 117 (48.7%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 43 for 101 (42.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 4 for 10 (40%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 24 of 38 (63.2%) in the red zone while opponents are 11 for 18 (61.1%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 19 for 23 (82.6%) and opponents are 8 for 11 (72.7%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 197.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 216.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 11.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 13.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

New England set the following team records in 2011:

• Total yards, 6,848.
• First downs, 399.
• Net passing yards, 5,084.
• 100+ yard receiving games, 18.
• Games with 30+ points, 12 (tied for most in NFL history).

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Bills.

Bill Belichick coached teams are 22-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 180-100 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 144-56 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 197-107.

Belichick’s 197 wins are good for 8th all-time.  Former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves is 7th with 201 wins.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are former Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 9 consecutive seasons.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Vollmer
• LG: Mankins
• C: Wendell
• RG: Waters
• RT: Solder
• TE: Gronkowski
• TE: Hernandez
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Ninkovich
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: Jones
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Spikes
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: McCourty
• RCB: Dennard
• S: Wilson
• S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 19-2 vs. the Bills in his career.

Overall Brady is 129-38 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 145-44.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

He was ranked in the preseason by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski as the 3rd best quarterback in the NFL.

Brady has 316 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has 129 career wins he is 5th all-time.

Brady finished the 2011 season with 5,235 passing yards and joined Drew Brees (5,476 in 2011 and 5,069 in 2008), Dan Marino (5,084 in 1984) and Matthew Stafford (5,038 in 2011) as the only players in NFL history to reach 5,000 passing yards in a single season.

Brady has thrown for at least 1 TD in 40 consecutive games.

The Patriots are 85-16 when Brady throws at least 2 TD passes in a game.

On the season Brady is 209 of 320 (65.3%) for 2408 yards with 16 TDs and 3 INTs his QB rating is 100.6.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 109 consecutive games including playoffs, 92 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker leads the team with 60 catches for 736 yards.

TE Rob Gronkowski has 34 receiving touchdowns and 35 touchdowns overall (34 receiving and 1 rushing) since 2010. The NFL record for most receiving touchdowns in a player’s first three NFL seasons is 43 by Randy Moss and the NFL record for most touchdowns overall by a player in his first three NFL seasons is 47 by Barry Sanders (4 receiving and 43 rushing).

He leads the team with 7 TDs, RB Stevan Ridley is 2nd with 5 TDs.

Gronkowski grew up in Williamsville NY 14 miles outside of Buffalo.

TE Aaron Hernandez celebrated his 23rd birthday on Election Day, November 6th, with the birth of his daughter, Avielle Janelle Hernandez.

DE Trevor Scott played football at the University of Buffalo from 2003-07 and grew up in Potsdam, N.Y.

K Stephen Gostkowski has two field goals of 50 or more yards in 2012.  With one more he will be the first Patriots kicker with three field goals of 50 or more yards in one season.

Gostkowski (7 for 10) needs one more field goal of 50 or more yards to tie Adam Vinatieri (8 for 17) for most in team history.

Newly acquired CB Aqib Talib is ineligible for Sunday’s game.  He is serving the fourth and final game of a league suspension for taking adderall without a prescription/authorization.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones leads the team with 6 sacks; the other DE Rob Ninkovich is second with 5 sacks.

Patriots rookie record for sacks is held by Garin Veris whio had 10.5 in 1985.

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

Ninkovich leads the team in forced fumbles with 4 while Jones, LB Jerod Mayo and LB Brandon Spikes have 3 forced fumbles each.

Mayo leads the team in tackles through 9 weeks with 103 (64 solo).

Rookie S Tavon Wilson leads the team in INTs with 3. He has as many INT in his rookie NFL season as he did in his college career at Illinois.

McCourty also has team high 9 passes defensed in 2012. Wilson is 2nd with 5 passes defensed.

DT Vince Wilfork has 3 recovered fumbles.

WR Matthew Slater has a team high 8 tackles on special teams, rookie S Nate Ebner is 2nd with 7 tackles.

LS Danny Aiken is a former Bill.

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Branch (2) and Vince Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• LB Jerelle Harris was signed to the practice squad.
• Acquired CB Aqib Talib and 7th round pick in 2013 from Tampa Bay for a 4th round selection in 2013.

On Wednesday and Thursday the following players were on the injury list.  RB Brandon Bolden (knee); DE Trevor Scott (hamstring) and LB Tracy White (foot) did not practice.  CB Kyle Arrington (concussion); DE Ron Brace (back); S Patrick Chung (shoulder); S Steve Gregory (hip); TE Rob Gronkowski (hip); TE Aaron Hernandez (ankle); LB Dont’a Hightower (hamstring); WR Brandon Lloyd (knee); G Logan Mankins (calf/hip); C/G Nick McDonald (shoulder); T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee) and WR Wes Welker (ankle) were limited in practice.  WR Julian Edelman (hand) and DT Kyle Love (knee) had full participation in practice.

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR).  They have 14 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); WR Deion Branch (Louisville); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); OL Matt Tennant (Boston College); TE Alex Silvestro (Rutgers – Practice Squad); OL Jeremiah Warren (South Florida – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Bills Team Notes

Here is the Bills roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Bills Schedule/Results

Buffalo's all-time record is 367-421-8 they are 14-15 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 1999 when they lost to Tennessee in the AFC Wild Card game in the “Music City Miracle”.

They last played for a conference championship in 1993 when they beat Kansas City in the AFC Title game, 30-13. They then went on to lose to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVIII. They have never won a Super Bowl title in four appearances.

The Bills franchise started in 1960 in the AFL and they won two AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965.

The Bills are 0-10 all-time at Gillette Stadium.  Overall as the road team in the series they are 19-32.

The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.

The Bills have lost the season series to the Patriots 9 times in the last 12 seasons.

The largest margin of victory for the Bills in the series is 35 points set in 1970.

The Bills are 21-49 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Bills are 18th in the NFL in points per game with 22.5.  While they allow 31.0 points per game good for 31st in the NFL.

The Buffalo defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 19 times this season, while their quarterbacks have been sacked 11 times.

Buffalo is MINUS 7 in turnover differential 27th in the NFL. The offense has given up 10 INT and 8 fumbles, while the defense has 6 INTs and 5 fumble recoveries. 

The Bills are 38 for 96 (39.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 2 for 3 (66.7%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 47 for 102 (46.1%) in 3rd down efficiency and 4 for 6 (66.7%) on 4th down attempts.

Buffalo is 11 for 21 (52.4%) in the red zone in 2012.  Opponents are 21 of 28 (75%) in the red zone.

The Bills are 8 for 10 (80%) in goal to go situations, while opponents are 12 for 13 (92.3%) in goal to go situations in 2012.

Bills Staff Notes

Hear what Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey in his 3rd season with the team is 13-27 since taking over.  He was previously the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons and had an 18-14 record and is 0-2 in the playoffs. His overall NFL record is 31-43 including playoffs.

Gailey is 1-5 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-4 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Wide Receivers Coach Bob Bicknell is a native of Holliston MA and played tight end at Boston College.  Following his graduation in 1992, Bicknell took his first coaching job at Boston University.

Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Eric Ciano graduated from Springfield College in 1997 and played football for the Pride.

Assistant Offensive Line Coach Andrew Dees served as the Recruiting Coordinator and Running Backs coach at UMass in 2011.

Assistant defensive Backs coach Adrian White was a CB for the Patriots in 1993.

Bills Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Glenn
• LG: Levitre
• C: Wood
• RG: Urbik
• RT: Hairston
• TE: Chandler
• WR: Jones
• WR: Steve Johnson
• WR: Graham
• QB: Fitzpatrick
• RB: Spiller

Defense:

• DE: M. Williams
• DT: Dareus
• DT: K. Williams
• DE: Kelsey
• LB: Bradham
• LB: Sheppard
• LB: Barnett
• LCB: Rogers
• RCB: Gilmore
• S: Wilson
• S: Byrd

Bills Players Notes

Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-5 vs. New England and 21-39-1 in his NFL career with St. Louis, Cincinnati and Buffalo.

He was a 7^th round choice of St. Louis in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Harvard.  He was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2004.

Fitzpatrick was the 24th best of the 30 starting quarterbacks rated by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski.

RB C.J. Spiller leads the Bills with 5 TDs, 4 rushing and 1 receiving.

Spiller leads the team in rushing on 78 carries he has 562 yards for a 7.2 YPC average.  He leads the NFL in average yards per carry.

TE Scott Chandler and WR Stevie Johnson lead the team with 4 receiving TDs. 

Johnson leads the team in receiving he has 35 catches for 416 yards.

LB Nick Barnett leads Buffalo with 65 tackles (41 solo).

DT Kyle Williams and DE Mario Williams each have 4.5 sacks a piece to lead the Bills.

S Jairus Bird leads Buffalo is INTs (3) and forced fumbles (3).

CB Stephon Gilmore leads Buffalo with 11 passes defensed.

LB Bryan Scott has two fumble recoveries to lead the Bills.

LB Nigel Bradham and LB Chris White lead Buffalo with 6 special teams tackles each.

DT Alex Carrington has two blocked field goals in 2012.  The most by a Bill since DE Bruce Smith blocked 3 in 1996.

CB Leodis McKelvin leads the NFL in punt return average (19.5 yards per return).

Buffalo has three former Patriots on their roster DE Mark Anderson, TE Dorin Dickerson and TE Lee Smith.

WR Marcus Easley is from Stratford CT.

On Wednesday the following players were on the injury list.  DE Mark Anderson (knee); WR Steve Johnson (thigh); CB Terrance McGee (knee); T Erik Pears (hip); CB Aaron Williams (knee) and DT Kyle Williams (ankle) did not practice.  DT Spencer Johnson (ankle) and G Kraig Urbik (foot) were limited in practice.  TE Scott Chandler (groin); DT Marcell Dareus (shoulder); QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (chest); CB Stephon Gilmore (shoulder); T Chris Hairston (knee); G Andy Levitre (knee); CB Leodis McKelvin (groin); CB Justin Rogers (thigh); RB C.J. Spiller (shoulder); LB Chris White (back); DE Mario Williams (wrist/knee) and C Eric Wood (knee) all had full participation. 

On Thursday the following players were on the injury list. DE Mark Anderson (knee); CB Terrance McGee (knee); T Erik Pears (hip) and CB Aaron Williams (knee) did not practice. WR Steve Johnson (thigh); DT Spencer Johnson (ankle); DE Chris Kelsey (neck); LB Shawne Merriman (chest); G Kraig Urbik (foot) and DT Kyle Williams (ankle) were limited in practice.  DT Marcell Dareus (shoulder); CB Stephon Gilmore (shoulder); T Chris Hairston (knee); G Andy Levitre (knee); CB Leodis McKelvin (groin); CB Justin Rogers (thigh); RB C.J. Spiller (shoulder); DE Mario Williams (wrist/knee) and C Eric Wood (knee) all had full participation. 

Buffalo’s captains for 2012 are QB Ryan Fitzpatrick; RB Fred Jackson; DT Kyle Williams; S George Wilson and RB Corey McIntyre (Special Teams).

There are 4 players on the Bills roster from Big East Universities and New England based colleges.  They are TE Dorin Dickerson (Pittsburgh); QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard), WR Marcus Easley (UConn) and C Eric Wood (Louisville).

The Bills have one retired number: 12 – Jim Kelley.

Next Week

The Patriots host the Indianapolis Colts next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:25 p.m. on CBS.  The game was flexed from it’s original 1 p.m. time slot.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII