This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rivals the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.

The Patriots (3-1) are 1-0 at The Razor, 1-1 against the AFC East and 3-1 in the conference.  The Jets (2-2) are 0-2 on the road, 0-0 vs. the AFC East and 1-2 against the conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports have the Patriots minus 9.  The over under is 49 1/2.

My Prediction is Patriots 31, Jets, 21.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 3-1 against the spread and 3 of 4 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 185^th 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 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 714.

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, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak 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.

If you are outside the broadcast are of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass, which allows you to listen to any game live.  You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 226 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 862.

The Jets Radio network has Bob Wischusen calling play by play and former Jet Marty Lyons doing the color via their flagship station WEPN.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 86 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 872.

Sports Radio is also carrying the game to a nation wide audience through their network affiliates.

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 New York Jets @ New England Patriots week 5 preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots beat the Raiders on the road 31-19; while the Jets imploded in their loss to the Ravens, 34-17 in Baltimore.

History

• The Jets lead the all-time series 52-51-1 including playoffs.
• The Patriots are 27-25-1 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.
• Since Gillette opened in 2002 New England is 7-4 (including playoffs) vs. the Jets at home.
• After splitting the series in 2010, the two teams met again in the 2010 NFL Playoffs and the Jets beat the Patriots in Foxboro, 28-21 to advance to the AFC Championship game.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2011 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 404-364-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances.  They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.  They won the AFC Conference championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.

The Patriots are the defending two-time AFC East Champions; they have won the division 8 times since 2000.

The Patriots are dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.

The Patriots will be wearing their 1985-era Pat Patriot throwback uniforms for this game.

New England is 7-3 in throwback uniforms.

The Patriots have not lost a regular season game at Gillette Stadium since the 2008 season having won 18 consecutive regular season home games.

Since 2002 when Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 68-14 at home.

Since 2003 New England is 30-5 in October with a 16-1 mark on The Razor.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 22-14 vs. the Jets.

New England is 49-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

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 13 times in the series the last time was in 2007.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 12 consecutive regular season games.  The NFL record is 14 games.

The Patriots defense has allowed opponents to convert 48% of the time on 3^rd down. While the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 52.4%.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 6 times in 3 games.

The Patriots are tied for 2nd in the NFL in points per game with 33.8.  While they allow 24.5 points per game good for a tie for 20th in the NFL.

New England is now plus 4 in turnover differential, 6th best in the NFL.  The offense has given up 5 INT and 0 fumbles, while the defense has 7 INT and 2 fumble recoveries.

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick is 16-10 vs. the Jets in his career.  He is 15-9 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes two playoff games (1-1).

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 165-95 in 16 NFL seasons.  He is 129-52 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 180-101.

Belichick’s 180 wins are good for 10^th all-time.  Bill Parcells is 9^th with 183 wins.

He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3^rd time in 2010.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Light
• LG: Mankins
• C: Connolly
• RG: Waters
• RT: Solder
• QB: Brady
• RB: Green-Ellis
• TE: Gronkowski
• WR: Welker
• WR: Branch
• WR: Ochocinco

Defense:

• DE: Ellis
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: Carter
• OLB: Guyton
• ILB: Spikes
• OLB: Ninkovich
• LCB: McCourty
• RCB: Arrington
• S: Chung
• S: Barrett

Patriots Players Notes

This Tom Brady’s 12^th NFL season he is 14-4 vs. the Jets including 1-1 in the playoffs.

Overall Brady is 114-33 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 128-38.  Brady is a 6 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.

In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.

He has thrown 2 or more touchdown passes in 13 consecutive games tying the NFL record of Peyton Manning.

Brady has won 29 consecutive regular season games at home, a NFL record.  His last regular season home loss was November 12, 2006 to the New York Jets.

Brady is 63-10 at home in the regular season in his career.

Brady has thrown 13 TD’s and 5 INT’s while being sacked 4 times in four games.

He is on pace for 53 TD passes, he owns the NFL record set in 2007 when he threw 50.

Brady has 274 TD passes in his career he is now 9th all-time.  Former teammate Vinnie Testaverde is 8^th with 275.

He surely doesn’t care what Jets CB Antonio Cromartie says about him.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 86 consecutive games including playoffs, 69 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker is on pace for 160 catches (NFL record: Marvin Harrison 143 set in 2002) and 2464 receiving yards (NFL record: Jerry Rice 1848 set in 1995).

CB Kyle Arrington has a team leading 3 INT’s in 2011.  DT Vince Wilfork is second with 2 INT’s in the last 3 games.  S Sergio Brown and S Patrick Chung have the other INT’s.

Wilfork’s 2 INT’s are the most ever for a Patriots defensive lineman (shared with four others).  He and Anthony Pleasant are the only one’s to have both INT’s in the same season.

TE Rob Gronkowski only had one catch for 15 yards but he paved the way against Oakland.

RB Stevan Ridley scored his first career TD last week at Oakland.

CB Devin McCourty leads the team with 29 tackles.

DE Mark Anderson leads the club with 2 sacks; he also has 3 quarterback hits tied for second with Wilfork and Myron Pryor who is now on the IR but behind LB Dane Fletcher who leads the team with 4.

DE Shaun Ellis knows how the Jets think.

S James Ihedigbo wasn’t saying a word to the media on how the Jets beat the Patriots in the playoffs.

Former Patriots WR Randy Vataha’s name was invoked by Jets coach Rex Ryan on Wednesday and Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald looked the former Pat up.

The Patriots listed 4 players on the injury list Thursday as not participating in practice They were T Sebastian Vollmer (back); RB Danny Woodhead (ankle); WR Julian Edelman (ankle) and LB Jerod Mayo (MCL) are new to the list.  You can see the full list in the link at the top of Patriots Team Notes section.

On Thursday during a full pads practice TE Aaron Hernandez, DT Albert Haynesworth and DE Mike Wright all were present at practice.  Wright has missed all four games, while the others have been out two weeks.

New England re-signed recently released S Ross Ventrone to the practice squad.  Ventrone has bounced back and fourth between the practice squad and the 53-man roster for parts of the last two seasons.

Also signed to the practice squad was CB Sterling Moore and CB Josh Victorian was let go.

Practice Squad RB Eric Kettani had his extended Naval leave denied and he has been ordered back to service starting Friday morning.

The Patriots have four New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA – PUP).  They have 8 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); C Dan Koppen (Boston College); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati) and DE Ron Brace (Boston College – PUP).

The Patriots have 7 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.

2011 Jets Schedule/Results

The Jets all-time record is 354-416-8 and they are 12-13 in the playoffs with their last playoff appearance coming in 2010.  Last 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 13 of the last 18 meetings with New England including playoffs.

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

The Jets are 4-7 all-time at Gillette Stadium.  Overall as the road team in the series they are 25-27-1.

New York is 31-31 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Jets are 1-4 in their last five regular season road games.

The New York defense has allowed opponents to convert 26% of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 34.5%.

The New York defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 9 times in 4 games.

Through four games New York is averaging 9.5 fewer rushing attempts per game as compared to the same period last year.

The Jets are 11th in the NFL in points per game with 25.0.  While they allow 23.8 points per game good for 15th in the NFL.

New York is EVEN in turnover differential, 17th best in the NFL.  The offense has given up 5 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 6 INT and 4 fumble recoveries.

Jets Staff Notes

Read what New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Ryan is 22-14 in his third season as a head coach.  He is 4-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 26-17.

He is 3-2 vs. New England in his career including playoffs.

Ryan isn’t worried about his defense but he’s mad at his offense.

Jets Players Notes

Mark Sanchez is 20-14 as a starting QB and is 4-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 24-16.  Sanchez was the Jets 1^st round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Southern California.

Sanchez is 3-2 vs. the Patriots including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Sanchez will be wearing a visor, he broke his nose Week 3 in Oakland when Raiders Kamerion Wimbley hit him in the 3^rd quarter.  He is expected to have the visor on his helmet for a few weeks.

Sanchez has only a 37.9% completion rate when under pressure from opponents through 4 games.

Sanchez has thrown 6 TD passes and 5 INT’s while being sacked 11 times in 4 games.

Legendary former Jets QB Joe Namath was critical of WR Plaxico Burress just before the seasons started.  Was it justified?

More Namath on the Jets from the AFC East Blog on ESPN.com

New York WR Plaxico Burress thanks New England for the single coverage in Super Bowl XLII.

Burress, C Nick Mangold and CB Darrelle Revis all talked Patriots on Wednesday.

Mangold who has missed games against Oakland and Baltimore has been limited in practice this week but Ryan expects him to play Sunday.  It may be a risky proposition.

The Jets have already listed WR Logan Payne as out.  They had 1 player as of Thursday listed on the injury report as not practicing.  He was LB Garrett McIntyre (concussion).  They had 2 others listed as having had limited participation.  You can see the complete list by clicking on the injury report link on the top of the Jets Team Notes section.

New York re-signed former Buffalo LB Aaron Maybin looking for help on the pass rush.  Maybin, a former 2009 1^st round pick, was signed by the Jets in August and cut on Sept 4^th after he originally made the 53-man roster.

The Jets placed LB Bryant Thomas on the season ending IR with a torn achilles after their Week 4 game in Baltimore.

New York’s captains for 2011 are Sanchez, WR Santonio Holmes, CB Darrelle Revis, S Eric Smith and DL Sione Pouha.  This is the first time in 3 seasons that Ryan has named permanent captains having done them before on a game by game basis.

The Jets have 7 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: OL Vladimir Ducasse (UMass); CB Darrelle Revis (Pittsburgh); RB Bilal Powell (Louisville); TE Matthew Mulligan (Maine); DE Mike DeVito (Maine); Jamaal Westerman (Rutgers) and 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 host the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots have some changes to their practice squad during Week 5 preparations for the New York Jets.

They re-signed S Ross Ventrone back to the practice squad.  Ventrone has bounced back and fourth between the squad, the 53-man roster and being released/re-signed for parts of two seasons now.

In addition to Ventrone coming back the team announced they signed CB Sterling Moore, an undrafted free agent out of SMU, who spent part of this year on the Oakland Raiders practice squad.

To make room on the practice squad for Moore, the team released CB Josh Victorian.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Well this Sunday was better than last Sunday and it also helped heal up the wounds of Wednesday so all in all it was a good day as the New England Patriots went into Oakland and came out with the win over the Raiders.

Defensively this team is still a sieve just gushing yardage in the opponents passing game.  At least when the other team runs the Patriots seem to hold their ground.  Two weeks in a row they faced the leagues leading rusher and both times they held him to less than 80 yards rushing or roughly 30 yards below their average at the time of the meeting.

Offensively they did enough to win as Tom Brady was pretty average on Sunday despite climbing another notch on the all-time touchdown pass list.

It was good to see old friend Richard Seymour on Sunday especially when his hyped up play ending up giving New England 30 of the 80 yards they needed to score on their opening drive.  He ended up being flagged at least 3 times on the day and his team had 9 penalties accepted on them.

Next week should be interesting as the New York Jets come to town.  It will be their third consecutive road game and they won’t be happy after losing the previous two games at Oakland and Baltimore.

When the team’s match up on Sunday it will be strength on strength and weakness on weakness or in other words the Patriots offense vs. the Jets defense and the Jets offense vs. the Patriots defense.

It is an all important division game “The Razor” is already sold out and the crowd should be jacked up for Rex Ryan and Gang Green.  I’m sure the Patriots will be.

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

New England head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after media meeting about Sunday’s game.

Patriots WR Deion Branch spoke with the mid day crew Monday for WEEI’s Patriots Monday.

DT Vince Wilfork played 107 NFL games without registering a single interception.  In the last three games he has gotten 2 INT’s.  Once again when he snagged the ball against Oakland he proved hard to take down as he rumbled for a 19-yard return.  Wilfork is now second on the team in INT’s this year behind CB Kyle Arrington who has 3.

WR Wes Welker had another huge game with 9 catches for 158 yards receiving.  He is on pace to shatter Hall of Fame WR Jerry Rice’s single season yardage mark by about 600 yards.

Welker admits this is the best he has ever played in his career.

QB Tom Brady threw a pair of TD passes on Sunday and he tied Peyton Manning for throwing at least 2 TD passes in 13 consecutive games.

Brady also passed his idol, Joe Montana for 9^th on the all-time TD pass list with 274.  He is one away from tying former teammate Vinnie Testaverde for 8^th with 275.

Connecticut native, TE Aaron Hernandez missed his second game Sunday with the sprained MCL he suffered against San Diego.  It was thought he’d be out one to two weeks so if that projection is accurate he should be on the practice field this week and on schedule for a Sunday return against the New York Jets.

In addition to Hernandez players who missed the game Sunday were Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, Ras-I Dowling, Leigh Bodden and Sebastian Vollmer.  This team could really use Dowling and Bodden in the secondary, hopefully they’re healing up and making progress towards playing on Sunday.

S Patrick Chung returned after missing the Buffalo game with a thumb injury and he made an impact in his return.

WR Taylor Price was dressed for the first time this season against Oakland after missing the first three weeks with a hamstring injury.

LB Jerod Mayo reportedly has a sprained MCL and could miss up to 6 weeks, this is going to hurt.  He suffered a similar injury in 2009 and only missed 3 weeks.

Patriot injuries of note from Sunday in Oakland are: Mayo (MCL), RB Danny Woodhead (ankle), LB Rob Ninkovich (cramping), C Dan Connolly (neck) and DL Kyle Love (ankle).  Most, with the exception of Mayo, should be okay for Sunday’s game against the Jets.

Christopher Gasper says there is no evidence that the Patriots are better than last year.

Shalise Manza Young writes that New England successfully contained the NFL’s leading rusher for a second week in a row.

She also asked should the Patriots replace Chad Ochocinco with Randy Moss?

The Globe’s Patriots Notebook

The Patriots were able to keep former mate Richard Seymour from making a difference.

Mass Live’s Nick Underhill writes that the Patriots need to start using rookie RB Stevan Ridley more.  Ridley racked up 96 yards rushing on just 10 carries against the Raiders.

Patriots locker room quick hits from ESPNBoston.com

Oakland QB Jason Campbell sites “bonehead play” as the Raiders undoing on Sunday.

One more time I want to mention the “Black Hole” and the Raiders organization for a couple of cool things.  First off the Raiders held a moment of silence prior to kickoff for Myra Kraft, the late wife of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

The second acknowledgement is for the fans of the “Black Hole” who welcomed Robert Kraft as he went on the field during the pregame warm ups.  They gave him a nice ovation and Kraft went over and talked to the fans and signed some autographs.

For an organization that gets a bad rep about a lot of things these were really classy acts towards an opponent.

New England will be rocking the old school circa 1985 red uniform jerseys and Pat Patriot helmets Sunday for the only time this season.

New England plays their AFC East rival New York Jets Sunday at 4:15 p.m. at the Razor.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on Friday morning.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

On Saturday afternoon the New England Patriots promoted OL Thomas Welch from the practice squad to the 53-man roster for Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders.

Welch was originally a 7^th round pick of New England in 2010 out of Vanderbilt.  He was released by the Pats in the final cutdown last season and went to Minnesota as a practice squad player.  He was elevated to the 53-man roster in December but did not play in any of the remaining games.  He was released by Minnesota at the end of training camp this season.

He was promoted prior to Week 1 against Miami when T Sebastian Vollmer had to miss the game.  After the game he was released again and then later re-signed to the practice squad where he was prior to this weekend’s promotion.

In order to make room for Welch; the Patriots released S Ross Ventrone.  Ventrone, a Villanova grad and Pittsburgh PA native, was promoted from the practice squad last week prior to the Buffalo game as insurance in the secondary.

He spent training camp with the team and was released and then re-signed to the practice squad where he was until last weekend.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the Oakland Raiders at Overstock.com Coliseum on Sunday at 4:15 p.m.

The Patriots (2-1) are 1-1 on the road, 1-0 against the AFC West and 2-1 in the conference.  The Raiders (2-1) are 1-0 at home, 1-1 vs. the AFC East and 2-1 against the conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports has the Patriots at minus 4.  The over/under is 55.

My Prediction is Patriots 41, Raiders, 30.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 2-1 against the spread and 3 of 3 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Raiders are reporting the game as a sellout.

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 rollin’ to the game with all the gangsta’s in Oakland make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Oakland CA.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and an Overstock.com Coliseum 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 Kevin Harlan will do play by play while Solomon Wilcotts 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 716.

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, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 4 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

If you are outside the broadcast are of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass, which allows you to listen to any game live.  You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 86 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 866.

The Raiders Radio Network has Greg Papa calling play by play and former Raiders head coach Tom Flores doing the color via their flagship station KSFO.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 113, XM Channel 229 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 865.

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 New England Patriots @ Oakland Raiders preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots lost to the Bills on the road 34-31 as Tom Brady threw 4 INT’s; while the Raiders beat the Jets, 34-24 at home.

History

• The Patriots lead the all-time series 16-15-1 including playoffs dating back to 1960 when both clubs were founding members of the AFL.
• New England is 2-1 against Oakland in the playoffs. The Raiders won 24-21 in Oakland in 1976 while the Patriots won 27-20 in Los Angeles in 1985 and 16-13 in the “Tuck Rule Game” the final Foxboro Stadium game in 2001.
• This is just the 5^th regular season meeting between the teams since 1989.
• The two teams last met in 2008 in Oakland with the Patriots winning, 49-26.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2011 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 403-364-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances.  They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.  They won the AFC Conference championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.

The Patriots are the defending two-time AFC East Champions; they have won the division 8 times since 2000.

The Patriots are dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 3-2 vs. the Raiders.

The Patriots are just 2-6 vs. the Raiders in Oakland including playoffs.

Since 2000 the Patriots have the 2^nd best road record in the NFL at 58-32.  Only Indianapolis 59-30 has better road record in the same span.

Since 2003 New England is 29-5 in October with a 13-4 mark on the road.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 11 consecutive regular season games.

New England will be wearing pink apparel in support of the NFL’s Breast Cancer Awareness initiatives this month.

The Patriots defense has allowed opponents to convert 43.2% of the time. While the Patriots offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 54.5%.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 6 times in 3 games.

The Patriots are 2nd in the NFL (tied with New Orleans) in points per game with 34.7.  While they allow 26.3 points per game good for 27th in the NFL.

New England is now plus 2 in turnover differential, 5th best in the NFL (tied with 4 others).  The offense has given up 5 INT and 0 fumbles, while the defense has 5 INT and 2 fumble recoveries.

As of this week the Patriots are 9:2 odds to win the Super Bowl.

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick is 5-1 vs. Oakland in his career.  He is 3-1 against them as the head coach in New England including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 164-95 in 16 NFL seasons.  He is 128-52 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 179-101.

Belichick’s 179 wins are good for 10^th all-time.  Bill Parcells is 9^th with 183 wins.

He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3^rd time in 2010.

Patriots Possible Starters

Defense:

• DE: Ellis
• DT: Wilfork
• DE: Carter
• OLB: Spikes
• ILB: Mayo
• OLB: Ninkovich
• LCB: McCourty
• RCB: Arrington
• DB: Bodden
• S: Brown
• S: Barrett

Offense:

• LT: Light
• LG: Mankins
• C: Connolly
• RG: Waters
• RT: Solder
• QB: Brady
• RB: Woodhead
• TE: R. Gronkowski
• WR: Welker
• WR: Branch
• WR: Ochocinco

Patriots Players Notes

This Tom Brady’s 12^th NFL season he is 2-1 vs. the Raiders including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Overall Brady is 113-33 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 127-38.  Brady is a 6 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.

In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.

Brady is 50-23 on the road in his career in the regular season.

Brady has thrown 11 TD’s and 5 INT’s while being sacked 3 times in three games.

Brady has 272 TD passes in his career he is now 10th all-time.  Joe Montana is 9^th with 273 and Vinnie Testaverde is 8^th with 275.

He has thrown for 1,327 yards in just three games which is a NFL record for most passing yards by any quarterback in any three game stretch of a season.

Last week was Brady’s 6^th career 4 INT game the others were in 2006 vs. Indianapolis; 2005 vs. Kansas City, 2004 in Miami; 2003 in Buffalo and 2001 in Denver.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 82 consecutive games including playoffs, 68 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker set a franchise record with 217 receiving yards on 16 catches last week in Buffalo.  The previous record was 214 yards set by Terry Glenn in 1999.  The 16 catches ties the team mark set by Troy Brown in 2001.

CB Kyle Arrington now has a team leading 3 INT’s in 2011 after grabbing a pair last week in Buffalo.

TE Rob Gronkowski tied a Patriots team record by grabbing a TD pass in his 5^th consecutive game.  He shares the mark with Randy Moss, Daniel Graham, Michael Timpson and Jimmy Colclough.

He also had career high 7 catches vs. the Bills.

LB Jerod Mayo leads the team with 25 tackles.

DE Mark Anderson leads the club with 2 sacks; he also has 2 quarterback hits.

WR Matthew Slater and LB Tracy White, who has made special teams his specialty, lead the in special teams tackles with 3 each.

OL Brian Waters stands guard of Tom Brady.

The Indianapolis Colts signed Patriots practice squad LB A.J. Edds to their 53-man roster on Wednesday. DE Alex Silvestro was signed to take his place on the practice squad.  He was with the team this summer in training camp.

On the injury front looks like DE Mike Wright (concussion) and TE Aaron Hernandez (MCL) will be out come Sunday, neither has practiced at all, although Hernandez was available to reporters near the beginning of the week which is usually a sign the player is okay.

T Sebastian Vollmer (back) and DT Albert Haynesworth (back) both have missed practice all week they’ll probably be doubtful for Sunday.

S Patrick Chung has been limited in practice after missing last week’s game against Buffalo with a thumb injury.  Look for him to listed as questionable for Sunday.  Anyone else with injuries has had full participation in practice this week and should be good to go for the Raiders game.

The Patriots have four New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA – PUP).  They have 8 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); C Dan Koppen (Boston College); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati) and DE Ron Brace (Boston College – PUP).

The Patriots have 7 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Raiders Team Notes

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

2011 Raiders Schedule/Results

The Raiders all-time record is 420-344-11 and they are 25-18 in the playoffs with their last playoff appearance coming in 2002 when they lost Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  They won the AFC Championship that season by beating the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans in the playoffs.  Oakland has won 3 Super Bowls (XI, XV, XVIII) in 5 appearances.

They won the AFL Championship in 1967 and lost to Green Bay in Super Bowl II.

The Raiders have told the league that the playing surface will be re-sodded this week and their will be no dirt infield area as the Athletics are done playing for the year.

The Raiders are 10-6 all-time against New England at home including 1-1 in the playoffs.

Oakland is 11-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 including playoffs.

Overstock.com Coliseum (aka Oakland-Alameda County/Network Associates/McAfee Coliseum) is the 5^th facility the Raiders have called home.  The others include Kezar Stadium (1960), Candlestick Park (1960-61), Frank Youell Field (1962-65) and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1982-94).

Overstock.com Coliseum has been the Raiders home twice from 1966-81 and then from 1995 to the present.

Raiders raise expectations but keep their focus on the next challenge.

The fans of Raider Nation, better known as “The Black Hole”, are back at the Coliseum.

The Oakland defense has allowed opponents to convert 42.1% of the time. While the Oakland offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 38.2%.

The Oakland defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 10 times in 3 games.

The Raiders have the 5th rated scoring offense in the NFL averaging 30.7 points per game.  While they allow 27.3 points per game, good for 28th in the NFL.

Oakland is now plus 3 in turnover differential, 4^th best in the NFL.  The offense has given up 1 INT and 2 fumbles, while the defense has 3 INT and 3 fumble recoveries.

Raiders Staff Notes

See what Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Jackson is in his first year as a head coach and is 2-1.

Jackson replaced the embattled Tom Cable who was fired at the end of the 2010 season and is now on Pete Carroll’s coaching staff in Seattle.

After spending several season’s in the college ranks with Pacific, Cal State-Fullerton, Arizona State, California and USC, Jackson has been a coach in the NFL since 2001 with Washington, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Baltimore and Oakland.

This is his first opportunity to be a head coach in either college or the NFL.

He is the 15^th head coach of the Raiders franchise and the 9^th since 1995.

Amy Trask is the only woman in her role as CEO of a team in the NFL.

Al Davis has been the coach, general manager or an owner of the Raiders since 1963 with the exception of a four-month period in 1966 when he was the AFL Commissioner.  After the merger was announced he purchased 10% ownership of the team in July 1966 and he was placed in charge of football operations.

He has been the principal majority owner of the Raiders since 1972.

In 1992 the Brockton, MA native was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Raiders Players Notes

Jason Campbell is 29-38 as a starting QB.  He is in his second season with Oakland and he is 10-6.  In five seasons he was 19-32 with the Washington Redskins.  Campbell was the Redskins first round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Auburn.

Campbell has thrown 3 TD’s and 1 INT while being sacked twice in three games.

QB Terrelle Pryor who was taken in the third round of the Supplemental Draft in August is appealing his 5-game NFL suspension for his actions in the Ohio State tattoo for memorabilia scandal.  He is in the fourth week of his suspension.

RB Darren McFadden leads the NFL in rushing with 392 yards after he scorched the Jets for 171 yards and 2 TD’s last week in Oakland’s win.

McFadden suffered a groin injury in the 4^th quarter of the New York game but he reported it not to be serious.

And the Raiders offensive line is coming of age and is a big key in the emergence of McFadden.

Former Patriots DE Richard Seymour has his own sack celebration and he wants to show it off to his old team on Sunday.  He wasn’t thrilled with how Belichick handled his departure from Foxboro and you should see a motivated Seymour come Sunday.

Seymour talks about his days in Foxboro and what it will be like playing against the team he grew up with.

Raiders K Sebastian Janikowski is living up to Raider lore after being arrested last year for assaulting a woman.

Oakland’s captains for 2011 are RB Rock Cartwright, P Shane Lechler, Seymour, Campbell and McFadden.

There are 7 players on the Oakland roster from Big East universities and New England based colleges. They are: CB Tyvon Branch (UConn); LB Ricky Brown (Boston College); DT Desmond Bryant (Harvard); RB Michael Bush (Louisville); CB Chris Johnson (Louisville); RB James McCluskey (Boston College – IR) and DB Joe Porter (Rutgers).

The Raiders do not retire numbers, although #00, which was worn by Raiders center Jim Otto, is no longer allowed to be issued as part of the league wide number policy.

Next Week

The Patriots host the New York Jets next Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots released recently signed DL Landon Cohen on Tuesday after afternoon.  Cohen was brought back just last week when Myron Pryor was placed on the IR with a season ending injury.

Cohen had spent training camp with the Patriots and was among the last players released.  He was claimed off of waivers by Seattle and released a week later.  He then came back to Foxboro.

To take Cohen’s roster spot, the team has brought back veteran DL Gerard Warren an 11-year vet out of the University of Florida.

He spent the 2010 season with the Patriots and came back to the team at during training camp and was released prior to Week 1.  It was speculated at that time that Warren was a possible candidate to return as he is one of those guys that Bill Belichick loves.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

The day after a loss for the New England Patriots always has kind of a sour taste because there always seems to be something they could have done better to win the game no matter how well the opponent played.

Give credit to Buffalo they came into the game looking to show the football world that they are for real and for the second week in a row they overcame a large early deficit to win a game at home.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills’ Harvard educated quarterback, looks like he is coming into his own as he finally found a team willing to give him a chance to play.  He was 27 of 40 for 369 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s and the Sox & Dawgs Co-Offensive Player of the Game.

The New England defense continues to give up large yardage totals most of it through the air.  This was the third game in a row in which the defense has allowed at least 369 passing yards as Philip Rivers and Chad Henne both had more passing yards in the other two games.

The secondary in this weeks game was decimated missing starting S Patrick Chung and starting CB Ras-I Dowling both who have been playing well. It hurts when you’re missing two of your top pass defenders and it hampers the defense especially in sub packages where you end with personnel playing in places they don’t normally play in.

On the bright side defensively the run defense once again held a very good back in Fred Jackson under 100 rushing yards.  They will be tested again this coming Sunday as for the second week in a row they will face the current rushing yards leader.  This time it’s Oakland’s Darren McFadden who torched the New York Jets for over 200 yards on the ground with a pair of TD’s in the Raiders win.

Offensively the team had a difficult time running the ball against the Bills; they practically shut down BenJarvus Green-Ellis in favor of Steven Ridley who scratched out 44 yards.

Passing wise, Tom Brady had a bad day, he has those but luckily we don’t see those all that often.  As I noted in the game notes of the recap that was his 6^th career 4 INT game and his first since 2006, or before his two NFL MVP awards.

Brady now has thrown 5 INT’s this season to 11 TD’s.  Last year he threw only 4 picks against 36 TD’s.  I have to admit we’re spoiled watching him play.  We expect him week in and week out to be perfect and when he isn’t we wonder what happened.  Well what happened was the Buffalo defense stepped up and made Brady look like some of the other lesser QB’s in the league.  He threw about 7 bad balls the entire game and the Bills got their hands on four of them.  It happens, let’s hope it’s out of his system.

Referee Carl Cheffers and his crew called 17 penalties in the game on Sunday and some felt they were “too involved” in the game.  Interesting note on the Sergio Brown pass interference call in the end zone, how is that a penalty when Fitzpatrick failed to even throw a catchable ball?

As the coach likes to say, it’s on to Oakland.

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

New England head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after media meeting about Sunday’s game.

Patriots QB Tom Brady had his usual Monday morning radio interview for WEEI’s Patriots Monday.

Look for recently released TE Dan Gronkowski to get re-signed to the team.  It was noted today that his locker was still intact.  This usually results in the player returning even after a release.  He was most likely released due to the fact the Patriots knew he was too hurt to play and they needed a roster spot for an additional player in the secondary.

The Patriots defense is on pace to set the NFL record for total yards allowed with 7499, the current record held by 1981 Baltimore Colts who allowed 6793 yards.

They are also on pace to set marks for total 1^st downs allowed with 416 currently those ’81 Colts hold the record with 406.  They also are on pace for setting the record for passing first downs allowed with 293 the current record is 230 set by the 1995 Atlanta Falcons.

Connecticut native, TE Aaron Hernandez missed the game Sunday after he took a helmet to his knee last week.  It’s reported he has a sprained MCL and may miss this weeks game as well.  I figure to see him listed as doubtful or questionable with limited or no practice time this week.

S Patrick Chung missed the Buffalo game with a thumb injury and his status for Oakland is unknown.  All I know is they are a better team with him on the deep cover.  Look for limited practice time for Chung and to have him listed as questionable.

The other players who missed the game Sunday were Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, Ras-I Dowling, Taylor Price and Sebastian Vollmer.  Only the week will tell as we move through it how they project out for Sunday’s game.  If I were to guess I’d say Wright is probably the most like in this group to miss another game with post concussion symptoms.  And it would be nice to Haynesworth, Vollmer and Dowling back on the field as well.  Price is yet to be healthy enough to dress for a game this year.

LB Tracy White has made special teams his specialty.

OL Brian Waters stands guard of Tom Brady.

Brady goes into Sunday’s game one TD pass away from tying his idol, Joe Montana for 9^th on the all-time list.  With the game in the Bay area, not far from where Brady grew up, I wonder if he invites “Joe Cool” as his guest for the game.  To me it’d be a great sight to see Montana hug Brady for tying or passing him.  Expect a lot of Brady family in the seats for the game.

The Patriots and Raiders have some colorful history, especially in the playoffs.  In 1976 a Steve Grogan led New England team lost to the Raiders in the playoffs in a game that saw the mysterious roughing the passer call on Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton.  It took 25 years but the Patriots got even by beating the Raiders in the “Tuck Rule” game.

On a much sadder note it was Raiders famed secondary assassin Jack Tatum who leveled the hit on New England WR Darryl Stingley that left him paralyzed in a 1978 preseason game in Oakland.  Both players have tragically passed on at a young age.

The New England and Oakland franchises have combined to win 6 Super Bowl championships in 11 combined appearances.  The two former AFL franchises have become two of the iconic post merger NFL franchises.

Lost in the loss to Buffalo may have been the fact that WR Wes Welker set a franchise record with 217 receiving yards on 16 catches.  The previous record was 214 yards set by Terry Glenn in 1999.  The 16 catches tied a team record I believe that was held by Troy Brown.

WR Chad Ochocinco still has trouble catching balls thrown his way.

He said what?  Take the quiz on Bill Belichick speak it’s a cool piece that appeared in the Globe after last season.

Why was Logan Mankins so hopping mad that he had to be restrained?

The Patriots players can’t wait to put the pads back on.

Belichick says that McCourty’s late game tackle was the right play.

From Sunday’s game recap, it’s the referee’s statement on the second New England time out and Bill Belichick’s explanation of the situation.

Buffalo CB Aaron Williams who was carted off the field suffered a collar bone injury and is expected to be fine but he will miss a few weeks.

New England plays the Oakland Raiders Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in Oakland’s Black Hole.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on Friday morning.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Sunday’s used to be a great day, a day I looked forward to, especially at this time of the year with the Red Sox setting their rotation for the playoffs and the Patriots blowing teams out.

What the hell happened?

The New England Patriots were winners of 15 consecutive games against the Buffalo Bills heading into Sunday’s match up at the Ralph.  Well after four Tom Brady interceptions, a drive that the Buffalo touchdown should have been credited to the officials, a bizarre second time out called and 10 seconds mysteriously disappearing from the clock that streak no longer exists.

The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s only CFL team, beat the New England Patriots, 34-31 on a weird winning drive and a last second field goal Sunday afternoon.

After jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter on Brady touchdown passes to Wes Welker and two to Rob Gronkowski the game looked like not only was it potentially over but that the Patriots were going to whip the Bills to the Canadian border and back again.

Defensively CB Kyle Arrington had two INT’s that stopped two Buffalo drives and a shorthanded secondary was looking pretty stellar early on.

But something happened on the way to winning the 16^th game in a row over Buffalo.  Someone forgot to tell the Bills to rollover.

Buffalo was able to cut the lead to 21-10 by halftime after a Steven Jackson TD catch and a Ryan Lindell field goal.

Buffalo scored it’s first touchdown near the end of the second quarter as the New England defense gave up 96-yards rather easily that lead to a Ryan Fitzpatrick TD pass to Johnson of 11-yards.

Brady didn’t help matters as he threw a pair of first half picks.  One bounced off of the hands of Danny Woodhead near the Buffalo 10-yard line and was grabbed on the deflection.  This led to the Buffalo field goal and ended up being a 10-point swing as the Patriots were looking to score.

An earlier Brady interception was also the product of a tipped ball in the red zone once again killing a New England Drive.

The second half didn’t play out much better as the defense was constantly challenged and the offense kept shooting itself in the foot courtesy of the league’s MVP.

The third INT of Brady’s day was intended for a very well covered Chad Ochocinco that was an exceptionally poor read by Brady, who tried to force the ball to Ochocinco and Leodis McKelvin undercut the route and ended up with the ball.

Buffalo cut the Patriots lead to 21-17 when a wide open Scott Chandler caught a 4-yard TD pass from Fitzpatrick in the 3^rd quarter.  The Patriots extended their lead to a touchdown when they answered with a Stephen Gostkowski 23-yard field goal.

Buffalo totally was back into the game and actually claimed the lead 31-24 after scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns within 14 seconds.  They scored on offense when Fred Jackson was able to get in from the 1-yard line and after the ensuing kickoff Drayton Florence had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown and the Bills fans were bringing down the house on a lovely fall Canadian day.

You can credit the Jackson run to the officials though, who called 48 yards in penalties on that drive.  One was a phantom roughing the passer call, the second was a phantom illegal contact call and the third was a very subjective pass interference call in the end zone.  That put the ball on the one-yard line and set the stage for Jackson’s game tying TD run.

After a shaky drive got the Patriots into the red zone, Brady was able to find Welker for his second TD catch of the day with a 4^th down pass of 6 yards and once again we were tied.

But not for long.

Buffalo once again responded with some quick hits against an apparently gassed New England secondary.  A bizarre series happened when the Bills had apparently scored but the play was over turned after review.

First an additional 10 seconds ran off the clock after the player should have been marked down, then Bill Belichick took a second timeout so he could argue with officials over the time not being put back on the clock as part of the review.  And then Buffalo basically ran out the clock allowing Lindell to kick a game winning 18-yard field goal as time expired to snap the NFL’s longest current losing streak to one team.

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

Patriots at Bills Game Recap via Associated Press.

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

Turning Point of the Game

Brady’s fourth INT that was returned by Leodis McKelvin for a TD and gave Buffalo the lead at 31-24 just 14 seconds after having tied the game.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

Shared by Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick who was 27 of 40 for 369 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s and Patriots WR Wes Welker who had 16 catches for a team record 217 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game

Patriots CB Kyle Arrington has 6 tackles (3 solo) and 2 INT’s that were returned for a total of 37 yards.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Light
LG Mankins
C Connolly
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Gronkowski
WR Welker
WR Branch
WR Ochocinco
QB Brady
RB Green-Ellis

On Defense:

DE Ellis
DT Wilfork
DE Carter
OLB Ninkovich
ILB Mayo
OLB Spikes
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
DB Bodden
S Brown
S Barrett

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. T Sebastian Vollmer (back)

2. TE Aaron Hernandez (knee)

3. DE Mike Wright (concussion)

4. S Patrick Chung (thumb)

5. DT Albert Haynesworth (back)

6. WR Taylor Price (hamstring)

7. CB Ras-I Dowling (thigh)

Bills

1. LB Kirk Morrison (hamstring)

2. CB Terrence McGee (hamstring)

3. G Kraig Urbik (knee)

4. DB Justin Rogers

5. RT Sam Young

6. TE Lee Smith

7. NT Torell Troup

The spread (Patriots minus 9) was not covered.  But the over/under (53 1/2) was.  I am now 2-1 vs. the spread and 3 of 3 calling the under/over.

The Patriots lead the series 61-41-1

New England had won 15 straight games in the series; it was there first loss to the Bills since Opening Day 2003 when Buffalo dismantled New England 38-0 at home.

The 15 game win streak against one team was the third longest in NFL history.  San Francisco had a 17 game win streak over the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990-98 and Miami had a 20 game win streak over Buffalo from 1970-79.

New England is 49-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.  Buffalo will have that chance in Week 17 at Gillette Stadium.

Bill Belichick coached teams are 20-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Bill Belichick has 179 wins – 10th all-time.

Tom Brady is now 17-2 vs. Buffalo.

Brady was 30 of 45 for 387 yards; 4 TD’s and 4 INT’s.

He is the first QB in NFL history to throw from 1200 plus yards in the seasons first three games.

This was Brady’s 6^th career 4 INT game the others were in 2006 vs. Indianapolis; 2005 vs. Kansas City, 2004 in Miami; 2003 in Buffalo and 2001 in Denver.

Brady is 50-23 on the road in his career in the regular season.

Brady’s 4 TD passes give him 272 in his career he is now 10th all-time.  Joe Montana is 9^th with 273.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 82 consecutive games including playoffs, 68 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker set a franchise record with 217 receiving yards on 16 catches.  The previous record was 214 yards set by Terry Glenn in 1999.

The Patriots released TE Dan Gronkowski, a Buffalo-area native, on Friday.  Practice squad S Ross Ventrone took his roster spot.  LB A.J. Edds was re-signed by the team to the practice squad.

Since 2000 the Patriots have the 2^nd best road record in the NFL at 58-32.  Only Indianapolis 59-30 has better road record in the same span.

Since 2001, the Patriots are 23-11 in September that’s the second best record among all NFL teams behind only Indianapolis who is 26-8.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 11 consecutive regular season games.

New England is now plus 2 in turnover differential.

The Bills are 22-29-1 as the home team in the series.

Buffalo is 21-42 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

Bills head coach Chan Gailey is now 1-3 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-2 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-3 vs. New England and 15-24-1 in his NFL career with Buffalo, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

RB Fred Jackson had back-to-back 100 yard rushing games in the first two games of the season but New England held him to 74 yards on 12 carries with 1 TD.

Bills CB Aaron Williams was carted off the field but was moving his extremities and waving to fans as he was wheeled off.

Carl Cheffers was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 78 and sunny.

Referee’s report on the second New England time out and Bill Belichick’s explanation of the situation.

Post Game Interviews

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

This Week in the AFC East

Cleveland beat Miami, 17-16

Oakland downed the NY Jets, 34-24

AFC East Standings

Bills                        3-0/1-0

Patriots                   2-1/1-1

Jets                        2-1/0-0

Dolphins                  0-3/0-1

Next Game

The Patriots visit the Oakland Raiders at Overstock.com Stadium on Sunday in Oakland CA.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.

Photo credit: AP Photo

On Friday afternoon the New England Patriots released TE Dan Gronkowski, brother of another Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski.

Dan Gronkowski was only with the team a few weeks after signing with New England after being released by Denver at the end of training camp.  He appeared in two games with the Patriots.

In addition to Denver and New England, Gronkowski spent 2009 with Detroit prior to being traded to the Broncos prior to the start of the 2010 season.

The move is curious seeing as the team only had three tight ends on the roster, this move makes that two and of the two, Aaron Hernandez has been declared out of the Buffalo game on Sunday with a sprained MCL.

The team is already short offensive lineman as Sebastian Vollmer is also out and now it looks like they’ll need to find a tight end as well.  Look for at least one practice squad promotion on Saturday to fill the Gronkowski roster spot.

9/24 Update: The corresponding roster move for the Patriots is the promotion of S Ross Ventrone from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Ventrone, who played his college ball at Villanova, has been with the team sice 2010. His brother Ray Ventrone played for Patriots in 2009.

This move most likely signals that S Patrick Chung will miss the game with a thumb injury.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo