If you are a true Patriots fan wouldn’t it be great to accompany the team on the road?  Well now you and a guest will have that chance.

The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation is holding the “Ultimate Patriots Road Trip Raffle” with the Grand Prize winner getting to travel to a mutually agreed upon road game.

The prize includes round trip airfare for two on the team plane, one night hotel accommodations, two game tickets, transportation to the game, a pregame field visit, complimentary dinner and a gift bag.

Others can win two tickets with a pregame field pass to a Patriots home game, an autographed jersey or autographed football.

To get in on the action just go here to buy your tickets, they are $25 each or a book of five for $100.

Raffle winners will be drawn on October 17.  Winner must be 18 years of age and they will be contacted.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The thing I enjoy most about Monday’s (or the day after the game) is that I have had a chance to digest what I saw and read.  While watching a game you’re too invested in it, you get so busy looking at some things you miss others.

That’s why Monday is a day of reflection.  And after some reflection on the well balanced effort of the Patriots on Sunday against the Jets it looks even better than I thought it did, especially defensively.

You’ll see a note in here about the New York possessions.  The Jets had the ball 11 times.  They went three and out 7 times.  That’s pretty good for a ragged, much maligned defensive unit.

They once again didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher.  In fact they didn’t even allow the opponent 100 rushing yards total.

Passing wise they were better than they have been.  On the Santonio Holmes TD catch he ran a great route and confused the coverage.  S James Ihedigbo and CB Kyle Arrington ended up looking at each other after the catch trying to figure who should have had him.  Most NFL corners and safeties are going to give that TD up, I can live with that.

Also on the TD pass Mark Sanchez threw to the rookie WR Jeremy Kerley, the pass was thrown down and away from the coverage and there was nothing S Patrick Chung could do except hope that Kerley didn’t get his hands on it.

Funny thing is those were probably the two best thrown balls all day by Sanchez, who to me, hasn’t been worthy of being a first round pick that New York invested in him three years ago.

Offensively, on first inspection I thought they were ok but on reflection you realize they had an entirely different plan than usual.  Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien decided they were going to ground the Jets to a pulp with the running game and with the help of BenJarvus Green-Ellis they did exactly that.

Sometimes with the effectiveness of Tom Brady and his receivers you forget that they still have a running game.

The Patriots still did there fair share of throwing on Sunday and the biggest one was the 74-yard hook up to Wes Welker early in the second half.  The only thing that prevented an 80-yard TD pass was some extreme hustle from Darrelle Revis.

Next week they face the Fighting Jerry Jones’s, the Dallas Cowboys, at The Razor.  Dallas is coming into town off their bye week they are 2-2 and have really struggled at times as a team and as individuals.  The Patriots usually use these teams as a whipping boy and it’d surely be nice for them to head into their bye week with a crushing victory.

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.

The Patriots have not lost a regular season game at Gillette Stadium since the 2008 season having won 19 consecutive regular season home games.  It is the longest current streak in the NFL and 5th longest in NFL history.

Since 2002 when Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 69-14 at home.

New England is 50-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

On Monday morning the team released OL Thomas Welch.  Expect him to end up with the open practice squad spot that occurred when RB Eric Kettani was ordered back to duty by the Navy late last week. The Patriots re-signed tight end Dan Gronkowski to the roster spot vacated with the release of Welch.

The release of Welch bodes well in one area in that it’s more likely that T Sebastian “Sea Bass” Vollmer is ready to return to action after missing four of the first five games with a back injury.

WR Wes Welker has 740 receiving yards this season it is the most ever by a Patriot through the first five games of a season.

QB Tom Brady made his weekly appearance as part of “Patriots Monday” on Boston’s WEEI AM/FM.

Brady’s streak of throwing at least a pair of TD passes ended on Sunday.  He and Peyton Manning hold the NFL record for throwing at least 2 TD passes in 13 consecutive games.

Brady also tied former teammate Vinny Testaverde for 8^th all time on the TD pass list with 275.

Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino thinks his single season total passing yards mark will fall sooner or later.  Five current QB’s, including Brady, are currently on pace to do it this season.

Connecticut native, TE Aaron Hernandez returned to action on Sunday against the Jets and he had 5 catches after missing the last two games with a sprained MCL. He also contributed by drawing two big defensive penalties against New York so I’ll forgive him for boxing that sure TD pass at the end of the 1^st half that lead to the Antonio Cromartie INT.

LB Jerod Mayo missed the game with a sprained MCL and could miss up to 6 weeks, in addition to Mayo players who missed the game Sunday with injuries were Mike Wright, Julian Edelman, Danny Woodhead, Josh Barrett and Sebastian Vollmer. Ryan Mallett was a healthy scratch for the 4^th time in 5 weeks.

We’ll have to see what the week brings and if the players are able to get back on the field for the Dallas game.

Patriot injuries of note from Sunday vs. New York are: WR Matthew Slater (ribs); DT Albert Haynesworth (cramping); TE Rob Gronkowski (illness).

Mass Live’s Nick Underhill writes BenJarvus Green-Ellis is flying high following the win over the New York Jets.

The offensive line had mixed results on Sunday.  While they were good in the ground game they struggled with pass defense.

The offensive line allowed the Jets to get a season high four sacks of Brady while adding an additional 5 hits, which tied the amount that San Diego had in Week 2.

UMass alum and Western Mass native S James Ihedigbo got some redemption against his old team.

ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss has his 3 Up, 3 Down for the Patriots.

It was a frustrating day for the Jets defense.

New York was balanced on offense but it wasn’t enough to beat New England.

The Jets had 11 possessions, 7 times they went 3 and out and of those 7 three and outs, three were on 3^rd and 3 or less and each time the Jets tried to pass.

Haynesworth says the defense “knows we have the talent”.

And before I close I just want to offer my condolences to the Oakland Raiders staff, players and fans for the loss of owner Al Davis.  Like him, love him or hate him he was a maverick and he made a difference.

Davis did some great things in his life.  He helped the leagues merge, he hired the first Black NFL head coach, the first Hispanic NFL head coach and the first woman NFL CEO.  He was ground breaking.

His players past and present loved him.  He touched the lives of so many inside and outside of football and he had a generosity that was hidden from most.

The NFL is richer because of him at the same time it’s poorer because of his death.

New England plays the Dallas Cowboys 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

In what may have been the most complete game of the season the New England Patriots never trailed and were carried by an undrafted running back to a 30-21 win over their division rival New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Sunday afternoon.

The much-maligned defense is still far from great but it did look improved and did enough to hold off a so-so offensive effort by the Jets.  The biggest stat of the day was that the Patriots held New York to 3 for 14 on 3^rd down conversions, one of the sorry spots for the teams defensive unit this season.

New York only had 255 total yards on 97 rushing and 158 passing without turning over the ball once.  It was the first game this year that New England failed to get a takeaway.

New York QB Mark Sanchez was sporadic in his play and largely ineffective against the leagues worst rated pass defense and if you’re a Jets fan you have to start wondering two and half years into the Sanchize-era if it’s truly the correct way to go.

One week after throwing for only 115 yards vs. Baltimore he was 16 of 26 for 166 with 2 TD’s, 0 INTs and 2 sacks against what the rest of the league has made look like a prep school defense.

Rushing wise the Patriots held Jets RB Shonn Green to 83 yards on 21 carries he also added a TD.

Meanwhile the Patriots offense was leaving points on the field.  Three times they had drives stalled and needed a trio of field goals by Stephen Gostkowski.  He connected from 44 yards early in the second quarter, from 24 yards out early in the 4^th and with a minute left he sealed the game with a 28 yarder.

New England QB Tom Brady also got picked in the red zone in the final seconds of the first half as New York CB Antonio Cromartie got his hands on a ball that was boxed by Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez in the end zone.

Brady finished the day 24 of 33 for 321 yards with 1 TD, 1 INT and he was sacked a season high 4 times as most of the sack pressure came from out on the edges by mostly unblocked Jets defensive backs.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis was the offensive star for the Patriots on this day as he had 136 yards on 27 rushes and scored on a pair of 3-yard rushing TD’s.  WR Deion Branch had 7 catches for 74 yards and a TD, while WR Wes Welker and Hernandez each made 5 grabs.

The Patriots entertain the Cowboys next Sunday at Gillette Stadium game time is 4:15 p.m.

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

Jets at Patriots Game Recap via Associated Press.

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

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The game clinching drive that lasted 6:12 seconds and led to the pad points on the Gostkowski 28 yard FG to seal the win with just over a minute left to play.

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a career high 136 yards rushing on 27 carries and scored 2 TD’s.  He also had 1 catch for 13 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game

Patriots DE Mark Anderson had 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits and 1 tackle for loss.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Light
LG Mankins
C Connolly
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Gronkowski
TE Hernandez
WR Welker
WR Branch
WR Ochocinco
QB Brady

On Defense:

DE Ellis
DT Wilfork
DT Love
DE Carter
OLB Guyton
ILB Spikes
OLB Ninkovich
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
S Chung
S Ihedigbo

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. LB Jerod Mayo (MCL)

2. T Sebastian Vollmer (back)

3. RB Danny Woodhead (ankle)

4. WR Julian Edelman (ankle)

5. DE Mike Wright (concussion)

6. S Josh Barrett (hamstring/thumb)

7. QB Ryan Mallett

Jets

1. LB Garrett McIntyre (concussion)

2. WR Logan Payne (wrist)

3. TE Josh Baker

4. C Colin Baxter

5. DT Kenrick Ellis

6. QB Kevin O’Connell

7. RB Bilal Powell

The spread (Patriots minus 9) was a push while the over/under (49 1/2) was covered.  I am now 3-1-1 vs. the spread and 4 of 5 calling the under/over.

The overall series between New York and New England is now tied at 52-52-1 including playoffs.

The Patriots have not lost a regular season game at Gillette Stadium since the 2008 season having won 19 consecutive regular season home games.

Since 2002 when Gillette Stadium opened the Patriots are 69-14 at home.

Since 2003 New England is 31-5 in October with a 17-1 mark on The Razor.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 23-14 vs. the Jets.

New England is 50-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 13 consecutive regular season games.  The NFL record is 14 games.

Bill Belichick now has 181 wins – 10th all-time. Bill Parcells is 9^th with 183 wins.

Tom Brady is now 15-4  vs. Jets

His streak of throwing 2 or more touchdown passes in 13 consecutive games ended today.  He shares the NFL record with Peyton Manning.

Brady has won 30 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 64-10 at home in the regular season in his career.

Brady has thrown 14 TD’s and 6 INT’s while being sacked 8 times in five games

Brady’s 1 TD pass gives him 275 in his career he is now tied for 8th all-time with his former teammate Vinny Testaverde.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 87 consecutive games, 70 as a Patriot including playoffs.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has 18 rushing TD’s in the last two seasons that’s the most in the NFL.

Green-Ellis also had a career high in rushing yards with 136.

It was his 4^th career 100+ yard rushing game.

WR Matthew Slater suffered a rib injury and he did not return.

DT Albert Haynesworth suffered from cramping late in the game he did return.

TE Rob Gronkowski played with an illness that kept him from pregame warmups.

Haynesworth and TE Aaron Hernandez contributed after missing the last two games with injuries.

Jets QB Mark Sanchez found Sunday’s game “just frustrating”.

New York head coach Rex Ryan says the Patriots are just “the better team right now”.

In 7 of the 11 New York possessions they were held to three and out by the New England defense.

40% of Sanchez passing totals came on the final Jets scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 8 times in 5 games.

New England is now plus 4 in turnover differential.

Jerome Boger was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 82, sunny and humid.

Before the game the Boston Bruins brought out the Stanley Cup to show off to the Gillette Stadium crowd.

Game attendance was 68,756.

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

Buffalo beat Philadelphia, 31-24

Miami had a bye week

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   4-1/2-1

Bills                        4-1/1-0

Jets                        2-3/0-1

Dolphins                  0-4/0-1

Next Game

The Patriots host the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on FOX.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo

Released last week before the Oakland game and re-signed to the practice squad midweek, S Ross Ventrone now once again finds himself on the New England Patriots 53-man roster for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.

Ventrone, a Pittsburgh native who played his college ball at Villanova, has bounced back and forth between the practice squad, the regular roster and unemployment the last two seasons for the Patriots.

With the promotion of Ventrone that means CB Phillip Adams was released to make room for him on the roster.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

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

In a huge road test the New England Patriots were able to prevail and beat the Oakland Raiders at Overstock.com Coliseum in Oakland CA on Sunday afternoon, 31-19.

Despite the Patriots defense giving up 5-4 total yards they were able to once again hold the NFL’s leading rusher, Darren McFadden to under 100 yards as he has 75 yards on 14 carries.  Oakland QB Jason Campbell, a Washington Redskins reject, was 25 of 39 for 344 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.  Campbell’s TD pass came in the games final minute to WR Denarius Moore.

On the bright side for New England defensively the held an opponent to fewer than 20 points, despite the yardage allowed.  They also kept Oakland to 8 for 13 on third down and 0 for 1 on 4^th down conversion attempts, after being shredded on third down in the loss to the Buffalo Bills last week.

Oakland shot themselves in the foot early courtesy of former Patriot Richard Seymour who personally kept the Patriots first scoring drive alive by giving them 30 of the 80 yards they needed when he drew two personal foul penalties that resulted in first downs.

The first was a roughing the passer call on Tom Brady after the play was blown dead for delay of game.  Seymour came in and wrapped up Brady who was just standing there and proceeded to throw him to the ground in front of an official who did absolutely nothing to protect the league MVP.  Instead of looking at 3^rd and 25 it was 15 yards the other way and an automatic first down.

The second was for a facemask on RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis later in the drive that once again improved the Patriots field position.  In all Oakland was flagged 9 times for 85 yards as they continue to be the NFL’s most penalized team.

Campbell also killed a pair of drives with INT’s.  The first was as the Raiders were trying to take the lead before the half as Patrick Chung snagged his pass in the end zone to kill that drive.  The Patriots then marched down field and added a Stephen Gostkowski field goal to go up 17-10 at the half and it was a 10-point swing.

The second was by Vince Wilfork, who has suddenly become an interception machine, who lumbered with the ball 19 yards in the fourth quarter and effectively all but ended the game.

Offensively Brady was not nearly as prolific as he had been the first three weeks he was a mere mortal on Sunday as he went 16 of 30 for 226 yards and 2 TD’s, one to Deion Branch and one to Wes Welker.  He was also sacked once.

Rookie Stevan Ridley had 97 yards and a score, while Green-Ellis has a TD and 75 yards on the ground.  Those are the Patriots two largest rushing totals this season.

Receiving Welker had 9 catches for 158 yards and Chad Ochocinco had 2 grabs for 26 yards to lead the club.

Both teams now go into Week 4 at 3-1.

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

Patriots at Raiders Game Recap via Associated Press.

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

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Chung’s pick of Campbell in the end zone before the half.  It turned into a huge 10-point swing and kept the Patriots in front going into half time and allowed them to build a lead early in the third quarter instead of having to come from behind.

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots rookie RB Stevan Ridley who had 96 yards rushing and scored his first NFL TD while toting the rock for 10 carries.

Defensive Players of the Game

Patriots NT Vince Wilfork and S Patrick Chung, both had big INT’s to kill Oakland drives.  Chung also had four tackles while Wilfork added 1.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

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

On Defense:

DE Ellis
DT Wilfork
DT Love
DE Carter
OLB Mayo
ILB Spikes
OLB Ninkovich
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
S Chung
S Barrett

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. DE Mike Wright (concussion)

2. RT Sebastian Vollmer (back)

3. TE Aaron Hernandez (MCL)

4. DT Albert Haynesworth (back)

5. CB Ras-I Dowling (hip)

6. CB Leigh Bodden (groin)

7. QB Ryan Mallett

Raiders

1. CB Chris Johnson (hamstring)

2. WR Louis Murphy (groin)

3. S Michael Huff (concussion)

4. LB Ricky Brown (concussion)

5. FB Marcel Reece (ankle)

6. DE Matt Shaughnessy (shoulder)

7. T Stephon Heyer

Two cool moments occurred prior to the game, 1^st Raiders Black Hole members applauded Patriots owner Robert Kraft when he came on the field during pregame warm ups.   Kraft was seen talking and signing autographs for Black Hole members.

Secondly the Raiders held a moment of silence for Kraft’s late wife, Myra.  Very classy gestures by both the fans and Raiders organization who at times take a lot of heat.

New England and Oakland players wore pink apparel in support of the NFL’s Breast Cancer Awareness initiatives this month.

The spread (Patriots minus 4) was covered; the over/under (55) was not.  I am now 3-1 vs. the spread and 3 of 4 calling the under/over.

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

The Patriots lead the all-time series 17-15-1 including playoffs dating back to 1960 when both clubs were founding members of the AFL.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 4-2 vs. the Raiders.

The Patriots are just 3-6 vs. the Raiders in Oakland including playoffs.

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

Since 2003 New England is 30-5 in October with a 14-4 mark on the road.

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

Bill Belichick now has 180 wins – 10th all-time.

He is 6-1 vs. Oakland in his career.  He is 4-1 against them as the head coach in New England including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Tom Brady is 3-1 vs. the Raiders including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Brady is 51-23 on the road in his career in the regular season.

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

Brady has 274 TD passes in his career he is now 9th all-time.  He passed his idol, Joe Montana who has 273.  Former teammate Vinnie Testaverde is 8^th with 275.

New England is now plus 4 in turnover differential.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 83 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.

Patriot injuries of note are: LB Jerod Mayo (knee), RB Danny Woodhead (ankle), LB Rob Ninkovich (cramping), C Dan Connolly (neck) and DL Kyle Love (ankle).

A source says Mayo has a sprained MCL and could be out 6 weeks.

The Raiders re-sodded the field this week and there was no dirt infield area as the Athletics are done playing for the year.

The Raiders are 10-7 all-time against New England at home including 1-1 in the playoffs.

Oakland is 11-16 vs. the AFC East since 2001 including playoffs.

Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor’s 5 game suspension was upheld by the NFL late last week.

Tony Corrente was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 74 and it was sunny.

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

Cincinnati downed Buffalo, 23-20

San Diego beat Miami, 26-16

NY Jets @ Baltimore 820p

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   3-1/1-1

Bills                        3-1/1-0

Jets                        2-1/0-0

Dolphins                  0-4/0-1

Next Game

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

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.

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