This Week

The New England Patriots host the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on Monday at 8:30 p.m.

The Texans		—-	The Patriots
Overall	11-1		Overall	9-3
Road record	6-0		Home record	4-1
AFC East	3-0		AFC South	2-0
AFC	9-0		AFC	8-1

Terry McAulay is the game referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 3.  The over under is 51.5.  

My prediction is Patriots 31, Texans, 30.  Take the points (Texans) and take the over.  I am 3-9 against the spread and 8 of 12 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 201st 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.

Former T Matt Light will be honored at halftime of the game.  Light, who attended Purdue, played his entire 11-year career with the Patriots.  He was a member of all 3 Super Bowl Championships.

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

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

Tailgating

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

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

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

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

ESPN is televising the game nationally and Mike Tirico will do play by play while Jon Gruden will provide the game analysis.

You can also watch the game on the WatchESPN app.

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

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 5:30 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 226 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Texans Radio Network has Mark Vandermeer calling the game while former Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware provides the game analysis and Rich Lord covers the sideline via their flagship station KILT AM/FM.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 225 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 812.

Dial Global Sports is carrying the game nationally via their affiliate network.  Kevin Harlan, Boomer Esiason and Mark Malone will call the game starting at 8 p.m.

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

Patriots All Access

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

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

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

To continue reading the Houston Texans @ New England Patriots Week 14 preview, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots held off the Dolphins 23-16 in Miami.  The Texans beat the Titans on the road, 24-10.

History

• This is the 4th meeting between the Patriots and the Texans since Houston became a franchise in 2002.
• This is the second meeting between the teams at Gillette Stadium.
• The Patriots lead the overall series 2-1.
• This is the first prime time match up between the teams.
• The Texans won the last meeting Week 17 in 2009 at Houston, 34-27.  It is also known as the game that Wes Welker tore his ACL in.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 423-368-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 23-16 in the post season.

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

The Patriots were 13-3 (2-1 in playoffs) in 2011 and are the defending four-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 10 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

Last week the Patriots clinched their 15th AFC East title breaking a tie for most division crowns with Miami.

This will be the 20th season in franchise history that the team will have a playoff appearance.

This is their 12th consecutive winning season it is the longest current streak in the NFL.  Only Dallas and San Francisco with 16 consecutive winning seasons have ever won more.

New England is 21-22 all-time on Monday Night Football.  They were 2-0 in 2011.

The Patriots are 10-8 at home on MNF.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 156-64.

New England now has a 6-game winning streak after starting the season 3-3.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 71-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 42-5 in December games.

The Patriots have not lost a December home game since December 22, 2002 to the New York Jets, 30-17.

The Patriots have won 12 consecutive December games dating back to 2009.  They are the fourth team to have won at least 12 consecutive December games.  San Diego won 18 (2006-09); Dallas 13 (1968-72) and New England 12 (2006-08).

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, the Patriots are 71-14 at home in the regular season.

New England is 80-47-1 against the teams that make up the AFC South. 

The Patriots are now a combined 20-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

The Patriots have seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2012. The 2010 Patriots and 1961 Patriots teams own the team record with nine non-offensive touchdowns. The NFL record for most non-offensive touchdowns is 13 by Seattle in 1998.

Date             Game                     Touchdown

9/9/12          at Tennessee           Dont’a Hightower 6-yd. Fumble Return

10/21/12       vs. N.Y. Jets            Devin McCourty 104-yd. Kickoff Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Julian Edelman 68-yd. Punt Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Aqib Talib 59-yd. Int. Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Alfonzo Dennard 87-yd. Int. return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Steve Gregory 32-yd. Fumble Return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Julian Edelman 22-yd. Fumble Return

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 35.8.  While they allow 21.7 points per game good for 14th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 26 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 19 times.

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

The Patriots are 83 for 156 (53.2%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 61 for 136 (44.9%) in 3rd down efficiency and 6 for 14 (42.9%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 35 of 52 (67.3%) in the red zone while opponents are 19 for 31 (61.3%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 27 for 32 (84.4%) and opponents are 14 for 18 (77.8%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 202.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 221.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 12.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 14.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

New England set the following team records in 2011:

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

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick is 2-1 vs. the Texans in his career.

Belichick is 15-8 on Monday Night Football, 14-5 as the Patriots head coach.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 184-100 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 148-56 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 201-107.

Belichick’s 201 wins are good for a tie for 7th all-time with former Broncos, Giants and Falcons head coach Dan Reeves.

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

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

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

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

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Solder

LG: Mankins

C: Wendell

RG: Connolly

RT: Vollmer

TE: Hernandez

TE: Fells

WR: Lloyd

WR: Welker

QB: Brady

RB: Ridley

Defense:

DE: Ninkovich

DT: Wilfork

DT: Love

DE: Jones

LB: Mayo

LB: Spikes

LB: Hightower

LCB: Talib

RCB: Arrington

S: McCourty

S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 2-1 against Houston in his career. 

Brady is 12-4 all-time on Monday Night Football.  He has won his last 4 appearances and 9 out of the last 10. 

Overall Brady is 133-38 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 149-44.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

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

Brady has 133 career wins he is 5th all-time.

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

Brady has 325 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 44 consecutive games.

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

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

On the season Brady is 298 of 460 (64.8%) for 3537 yards with 25 TDs and 4 INTs his QB rating is 102.6

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 113 consecutive games including playoffs, 96 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker leads the team with 92 catches for 1064 yards.

Welker has the second most receptions (742) all-time among undrafted receivers. Rod Smith is the NFL’s all-time leader with 849.

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

He leads the team with 10 TDs, RB Stevan Ridley is 2nd with 9 TDs.

Ridley leads the team in rushing with 1010 yards on 225 carries.  He is the 12th Patriot to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and first since BenJarvis Green-Ellis in 2010.

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

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

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

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

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

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

Ninkovich and LB Brandon Spikes lead the team in forced fumbles with 5 each, which ties Mike Vrabel’s franchise record.   

Ninkovich and DT Vince Wilfork lead the team with 4 recovered fumbles each.

Mayo leads the team through 12 weeks with 151 tackles (94 solo).  Spikes is second with 115 tackles (75 solo).

Mayo is on pace to be the third Patriot to record a 200+ tackle season.  LB Clayton Weishuhn had a team high 229 (1983) and LB Steve Nelson had 207 (1984).

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

S Devin McCourty also has team high 11 passes defensed in 2012. CB Kyle Arrington is 2nd with 8 passes defensed.

WR Matthew Slater has a team high 17 tackles on special teams.  Rookie S Nate Ebner is 2nd with 14 tackles on special teams.

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

Roster moves this week:

• RB Brandon Bolden is eligible to rejoin the team after serving a four game NFL suspension for violating the drug policy.
• WR Julian Edelman broke his foot against Miami and has been placed on the season ending IR.
• Signed WR Donte Stallworth.
• Waived G Mitch Petrus.
• Signed OL Tommie Draheim and OL Colin Miller to the practice squad.

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

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

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR). 

They have 11 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); RB James Develin (Brown); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); OL Jeremiah Warren (South Florida – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

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

Texans Team Notes

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

2012 Texans Schedule/Results

Houston’s all-time record is 76-96-0 they are 1-1 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 2011 when they beat the Cincinnati Bengals at home in the AFC Wild Card game and lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Division game on the road.

They have never played in a Super Bowl.

Their first season was in 2002.  They began play on September 8, 2002 with a 19-10 win over Dallas.

Since 2008, the Texans have the 3rd best road offense behind New Orleans and New England.

Houston is 1-2 all-time vs. New England and is 0-1 in Gillette Stadium.

The Texans are 12-10 all-time against the AFC East.

Houston is 2-4 on Monday Night Football.

Texans are 20-25 all-time in December.

Last season was the first time the Texans made the playoffs winning the AFC South.

Houston clinched its second consecutive playoff berth last week when they beat Tennessee.

2011 was the team’s winningest season they finished 10-6.

They now have a franchise high 11 wins in 2012.

They own a franchise record 6-game road win streak.

With a win they will have a 7-game win streak (overall) which would tie a franchise record.

This is the final game of three consecutive road games for the Texans, they have won the previous two.

The Texans have allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL this season, 15 (tied with New York Giants).

Houston is the only NFL team that is undefeated on the road this season.

The Texans have a team song called “It’s Football Time in Houston” written and performed by country star, Clay Walker.  They tried to replace the song in 2003 with one written by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback but a near riot quickly ensued.

The Texans also use “Bulls on Parade” by Rage Against The Machine.  The song has given the defense its nickname, Bulls on Parade.

The Texans mascot is Toro.

The Texans defense has allowed opponents to convert 28.4% (46 for 162) of the time on 3^rd down and they are 33.3% (5 for 15) on 4th down.  The offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 39.5% (68 for 172) and on 4th down has converted 80% (4 for 5) of the time.

The Houston defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 36 times in 12 games. While the Texans QB’s have been sacked 15 times.

The Texans are 2nd in the NFL in points per game with 29.3.  While they allow 18.4 points per game good for 4th in the NFL.

Houston is PLUS 14 in turnover differential, tied for 2nd in the NFL. The offense has given up 10 INT and 2 fumbles, while the defense has 14 INT and 12 fumble recoveries.

Houston is 28 of 46 (60.9%) in the red zone while opponents are 12 for 27 (44.5%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations Houston is 21 for 28 (75%) and opponents are 7 for 12 (58.3%).

Texans Staff Notes

Read what Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Houston head coach Gary Kubiak, is in his 7th season, he is 58-50 and 1-1 in the post season for an overall record of 59-51.

Kubiak is only the second head coach in Texans history he succeed Dom Capers who was 18-46 in the teams first four seasons.

Kubiak is 1-1 vs. New England.

He is 2-3 in Monday Night Football games.

Texans Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison began his coaching career at Suffield Academy in Suffield CT.

Texans Special Teams Coordinator Joe Marciano coached the wide receivers at The University of Rhode Island from 1978-79.

Texans Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Brown

LG: W. Smith

C: Myers

RG: B. Jones

RT: Ry. Harris

TE: Daniels

WR: Johnson

WR: Walter

QB: Schaub

RB: Foster

RB: Casey

Defense:

DE: Watt

NT: Cody

DE: A. Smith

LB: Barwin

LB: Ruud

LB: Sharpton

LB: Mercilus

LCB: Jackson

RCB: McCain

S: Manning

S: Quin

Texans Players Notes

Texans QB Matt Schaub is in his 9th NFL season.  He is 43-33 with Houston and 0-2 with Atlanta for an overall record of 43-35.

Schaub was the 3rd round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft by Atlanta out of the University of Virginia.

He got hurt in Week 10 last season and missed the rest of the season including the franchise’s first two playoff games.

He was ranked in the preseason by ESPN’s Ron Jaworski as the 13th best quarterback in the NFL.

He has the best road winning percentage (.818) among NFL quarterbacks the last two seasons.

Since coming to Houston in 2007 Schaub has led the Texans on 10-game winning drives.

Schaub is 266 of 413 (64.4%) for 3062 yards, 21 TD’s and 9 INT’s and a 94.5 QB rating.

DE J.J. Watt leads the AFC with 15.5 sacks.

He holds the single season franchise sack record.

Watt leads the team with 15 passes defensed and 83 tackles (64 solo).

He is the first player in NFL history to have 15 sacks and 15 passes defensed in the same season.

Watt’s 15 passes defensed are an NFL record for a defensive lineman.

2011 team MVP LB Brian Cushing is on the IR with a torn ACL he suffered in Week 5 against the Jets.

DE Antonio Smith is called “The Ninja”.

CB Kareem Jackson leads the team with 4 INT’s.

S Danieal Manning leads the team with 3 forced fumbles.

LB Tim Dobbins has 3 fumble recoveries to lead Houston.

RB Arian Foster leads the NFL with 15 TD’s.

Foster leads the team in rushing with 1102 yards on 283 carries.

He is just the 3rd undrafted running back to have three consecutive seasons with 1,000 yards rushing.

Since 2010 Foster leads the NFL in rushing yards per game (96.1), scrimmage yards per game (129.3), most 100-yard rushing games (21) and TD's from scrimmage (45).

He has had at least 100 yards rushing in 5 of the 6 games Houston has played on the road.

He has at least 100 rushing yards in 8 of the 9 games he has played on national tv.

WR Andre Johnson has 74 catches for 1114 yards to lead the Texans.

He became the 6th fastest player in NFL history to 10,000 receiving yards.

Johnson has caught at least 1 pass in 94 consecutive games.

He has 15 games in his career with 10 catches and 100 yards that is the second highest total in NFL history behind Wes Welker who has done it 16 times.

Johnson was the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November.

Johnson called this game “the most important game in the (10-year) history of the franchise.”

TE Phillip Supernaw’s (practice squad – IR) father is former country musician Doug Supernaw, who sang the hit songs “I Don’t Call Him Daddy” (#1 in 1993) and “Reno” (#4 in 1993).

Players listed on the injury report on Thursday.  CB Alan Ball (foot) and LB Brooks Reed (groin) did not practice.  G Antonio Caldwell (hamstring); NT Shaun Cody (ribs/back); LB Tim Dobbins (shoulder); TE Garrett Graham (concussion); LBBradie James (hamstring); CB Jonathan Joseph (hamstring/groin); T Derek Newton (knee); DE Antonio Smith (ankle) and G Wade Smith (knee/ribs) had limited participation in practice.  DE Jared Crick (neck); TE Owen Daniels (back); WR Lestar Jean (knee); LB Whitey Mercilus (hip); LB Jesse Nading (foot); WR DeVier Posey (hamstring/knee); RB Ben Tate (hamstring) and QB T.J. Yates (elbow) all had full particpation.

Houston’s captains for 2012 are (offense) C Chris Myers, WR Andre Johnson, QB Matt Schaub, (defense) LB Brian Cushing, DE Antonio Smith, DE J.J. Watt and (special teams) S Shiloh Keo, LB Tim Dobbins.

NT Terrell McClain and K Shayne Graham are former Patriots returning to Foxboro for the game.

There are 2 players on the Texans roster from Big East universities.  They are LB Connor Barwin (Cincinnati) and DT Terrell McClain (South Florida).

The Texans have no retired numbers.

Next Week

The Patriots host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Stallworth Back

With Julian Edelman hurt, the New England Patriots are a little short at the wide receiver position. So they called on an old friend in Donte' Stallworth. He was cut by the team before the 2012 season started. Apparently they also considered Deion Branch but according to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, he's battling a hamstring injury.

Once Again Patriots Depth Helps Team Win

Year after year Patriots head coach Bill Belichick does a solid job in creating a very deep roster by using the cap to his advantage and by refusing to overpay for most of the players on the roster.

Players who come to Foxboro know they will not break the bank but they do know they’ll have a shot at a ring.  Over the years it has brought in many veteran players who weren’t looking for big dollars but a chance at a championship.  It has also given New England a talented roster that goes three and four deep at some spots.

This season is no different.

In the off season the Patriots brought in former Raiders defensive lineman Trevor Scott.  Scott was at one time a solid performer for Oakland but never of the super star variety.  In fact he probably could have gotten more money and more years in other places but the lure of the chance at a Super Bowl championship has brought him much like other veteran’s over the Belichick era.

On Sunday with rookie defensive end Chandler Jones out with an injury and his top backup Jermaine Cunningham suspended by the NFL for violating the drug policy the team turned to DE Brandon Deaderick and Scott.

Deaderick was solid with 3 tackles and a forced fumble but it was Scott who made the most noise.  Scott added 3 tackles of his own, 2 sacks, a QB hit, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in his first extended action of the year.

It really makes you wonder why other teams can’t do this.  Face it the NFL is a copycat league and Belichick has been doing it 13 years now in Foxboro and has built quite the track record but for some reason other clubs fail to manage the cap the way New England does.

Belichick’s vision and his financial philosophy work, all you need to do is look at the trophy case and the stat sheets.  It’s better for us as fans and the Patriots as a team that other teams have failed to mimic it and guys like Trevor Scott are hanging around waiting to play when you need them.

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News and Notes

For the second time in three days the Patriots have lost a practice squad member to another team when the Philadelphia Eagles signed T Matt Kopa to their 53-man roster.

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

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

Patriots and the playoff picture (ESPN Boston)

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

Defensive snaps played vs. Dolphins (ESPN Boston)

Trevor Scott brings next man up attitude (ESPN Boston)

Best and Worst Patriots vs. Dolphins (Boston Herald)

The Patriots can’t hold the Mayo (Boston Herald)

Patriots step back in time with running game (Boston Herald)

Patriots defense right on time (Boston Herald)

Patriots not satisfied with winning division (Boston Globe)

Patriots, Broncos and Falcons all clinch their division (Boston Globe)

With the win at Miami the Patriots clinched their 12th consecutive winning season and their 10th AFC East Championship since 2000 and 4th in a row.

This is the franchise’s 15th AFC East title breaking the tie for most division crowns with Miami.

The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-44. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs (1982, 1985, 1997) with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.

The Patriots all-time in Miami are 15-33.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 156-64.

New England now has a 6-game winning streak after starting the season 3-3.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 71-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 42-5 in December games.

New England is 58-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season. 

The Patriots are now a combined 20-0 in the second half of the season since 2010.  Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.  Their next opponent is that very same Texans squad.

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 16-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 16-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 15-6 vs. the Dolphins. Overall including playoffs he is 149-44.

Brady has 325 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 44 consecutive games.

He is the first starting QB in NFL history to have won 10 division titles breaking his tied with Joe Montana.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 113 consecutive games including playoffs, 96 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season and now has 1,064.

WR Julian Edelman was seen post game with a walking boot on and crutches.

RB Stevan Ridley leads the team in rushing with 1009 yards on 225 carries.  He is the 12th Patriot to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and first since BenJarvis Green-Ellis in 2010.

LB Jerod Mayo (5 solo) and CB Kyle Arrington (6 solo) each had 6 tackles on Sunday in Miami.  

Mayo continues to lead the team in tackles.  Unofficially he has 149 tackles (94 solo).  The team usually adjusts the counts based on coaches film study so in the Friday game preview we will have Mayo’s official total.  He is on pace for another 200 tackle season.

Mayo (4th), DE Trevor Scott (1st) and DL Brandon Deaderick (2nd) all forced fumbles.

Mayo (3rd) and Scott (1st, 2nd) each had sacks Sunday.

Mayo (3rd), Scott (2nd) and Arrington (1st) all had QB hits.

DT Vince Wilfork had a fumble recovery it was his 4th of the season.

LB Brandon Spikes defensed two passes vs. Miami they were his 6th and 7th passes defensed this season.

WR Matthew Slater made 2 special teams tackles He leads the team with 16 special teams tackles this year.

New England scored 2 TD’s on 12 possessions. They also had 3 punts, a missed FGA, 3 FGs, an INT, end of half clock expired and the end of game clock expired.

Miami had 11 possessions.  1 TD’s, 3 field goals, turn over on downs, fumble and 5 punts.

The Patriots sacked Miami QB Ryan Tannehill 3 times, while Brady was sacked 4 times tying a season high.

New England is PLUS 24 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 4 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 14 INTs and 19 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 2 for 4 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TDs and 2 FGs.

New England was 7 for 15 (47%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as an NFL head coach; he is 5-7 since taking over.

He is 0-1 against New England in his career.

Ryan Tannehill is 0-1 vs. the Patriots.

Miami has lost the last 5 meetings between the teams.

The Dolphins are 30-42 vs. the AFC East in the regular season since 2001.

Miami was 3 for 13 (23%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 2 (50%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins were 1 for 2 (50%) in the red zone.  They had 1 TD and 1 FG.

Miami fumbled the ball four times but only lost one (Tannehill).

Miami is MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 10 fumbles, while the defense has 9 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries. 

Next Week

The Patriots host the Houston Texans next Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Here are the highlights from the New England Patriots 23-16 win over the Miami Dolphins at SunLife Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL on Sunday afternoon.

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That headline speaks volumes about the domination the New England Patriots have within their division.  While they have run wild in the AFC East in the Belichick era and have an unbelievable division record of 60-19 in that span sometimes the individual games don’t always come that easy.

And that was the case once again in Miami in December.  They should move Halloween to this month because it certainly is the Patriots personal house of horror when it comes to late season football.

In Brady’s 13 year career he is just 1-3 in December games in Miami.  The lone win was today’s. 

The Miami Dolphins are a different team and look like they are on track for the first time in a long time.  Sure they had that one good year under Tony Sporano but they eventually reverted back.

This time they look for real, at least they did today when it came to facing the division rival New England Patriots in sunny, warm Miami.

It didn’t looks so good for the Fish out of the gate when their first possession ended in a fumbled and botched punt that resulted in the Patriots starting 1st and 10 from Miami’s 12 yard line.  That led to a TD by RB Stevan Ridley and a quick 7-0 lead and it looked like the potential for a high scoring blow out.

But alas that was not to happen.  In fact I can honestly say with a straight face that the Patriots bend but don’t break defense saved the day.  Missing some key defensive lineman with injuries or suspensions the rest of the crew and the no-names stood up especially DE Trevor Scott.

The Oakland Raiders reject had his best game in a Patriots uniform, making his presence felt at every turn.

While it was far from a dominant defensive effort on the part of the Patriots it was good enough to lead them to a win on a day when the offense looked sluggish in the Miami warmth.

QB Tom Brady was the one who struggled greatly but he has always been hit or miss in Sun Life Stadium or what ever it was called at it’s different points.  Brady clearly had a tough day he was just 24 of 40 for 238 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT and got sacked four times tying a season’s high.

That pick by Miami’s Reshad Jones was just first for Brady in his last 202 opportunities, it was the current longest streak in the NFL until that point.  It was his first pick since he threw two in Seattle in Week 6.

Ridley did most of his work on the final drive when he notched 46 yards on 10 carries.  He was nearly the entire 16 play, 77 yard drive that ate up a huge 7:18 in clock time and culminated with a Stephen Gostkowski field goal and a ten point, two possession lead.

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

Patriots at Dolphins Game Recap.

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Turning Point of the Game

The Patriots final drive in which RB Stevan Ridley took over and ran the clock down.  Ridley had 46 rushing yards in the final drive leading to a Stephen Gostkowski field goal that made it a two possession game with 1:15 to play.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

RB Stevan Ridley had 19 carries and gained 71 yards to go over 1,000 yards rushing on the season.  He also scored his 9th rushing TD of the season.

Defensive Player of the Game

DE Trevor Scott had 3 tackles (3 solo), 2 sacks, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hit and 1 forced fumble.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Thomas

C Wendell

RG Connolly

RT Vollmer

TE Hernandez

WR Edelman

WR Welker

WR Lloyd

QB Brady

RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Love

DE Deaderick

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB Talib

CB Wilson

S Gregory

S McCourty

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip)

2. S Derrick Martin

3. RB James Develin

4. G Mitch Petrus

5. DE Chandler Jones (foot)

6. TE Visanthe Shiancoe

7. G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf)

Dolphins

1. QB Pat Devlin (hip)

2. S Jonathon Amaya

3. LB Josh Kaddu

4. T Will Yeatman

5. TE Michael Egnew

6. TE Kyle Miller

7. DT Kheeston Randall

The spread (Patriots MINUS 9) WAS NOT covered.  The over/under (51.5) WAS NOT COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER.  I am now 3-9 vs. the spread and 8 of 12 calling the under/over.

The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-44. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs (1982, 1985, 1997) with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.

With the win at Miami the Patriots clinched their 12th consecutive winning season and their 10th AFC East Championship since 2000 and 4th in a row.

This is the franchise’s 15th AFC East title breaking the tie for most division crowns with Miami.

Since 1999 the Patriots have the best record in the NFL at 156-64.

New England now has a 6-game winning streak after starting the season 3-3.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 71-16 in games played on Thanksgiving or later.

Since 2001 New England is 42-5 in December games.

New England is 58-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001 in the regular season. 

The Patriots are now a combined 20-0 in the second half of the season since 2010. 

Their last loss in the second half was in 2009 in the season finale at Houston.

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

The Patriots all-time in Miami are 15-33.

The Patriots have swept the Dolphins 8 times in the series history including 5 times in the Belichick era (2003-04, 07, 10-11).

Bill Belichick is now 201-107 including playoffs in his career.

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 16-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 16-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Tom Brady is 15-6 vs. the Dolphins. Overall including playoffs he is 149-44.

Brady has 325 TD passes in his career he is now 5th all-time.  Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton is 4th with 342.

Brady has thrown at least 1 TD pass in 44 consecutive games.

He is the first starting QB in NFL history to have won 10 division titles breaking his tied with Joe Montana.

He is now 9th all-time for most completions.

Brady’s INT was the first he had thrown in 202 attempts it was the longest current streak in the NFL and it dates back to Week 6 in Seattle.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 113 consecutive games including playoffs, 96 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season and now has 1,064.

WR Julian Edelman was seen post game with a walking boot on and crutches.

RB Stevan Ridley leads the team in rushing with 1009 yards on 225 carries.  He is the 12th Patriot to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and first since BenJarvis Green-Ellis in 2010.

He also scored his 9th rushing TD of the season.

LB Jerod Mayo (4th), DE Trevor Scott (1st) and DL Brandon Deaderick (2nd) all forced fumbles.

Mayo (3rd) and Scott (1st, 2nd) each had sacks Sunday.

Mayo (3rd), Scott (2nd) and DB Kyle Arrington (1st) all had QB hits.

DT Vince Wilfork had a fumble recovery it was his 4th of the season.

LB Brandon Spikes defensed two passes vs. Miami they were his 6th and 7th passes defensed this season.

WR Matthew Slater made 2 special teams tackles He leads the team with 16 special teams tackles this year.

Roster moves this week:

• Signed WR Jeremy Ebert to the practice squad.  Ebert was a 7th round pick of the team that was released after the preseason.
• Promoted RB James Develin to 53-man roster from practice squad.
• NFL suspended DE Jermaine Cunningham on Monday for 4 games for violation of the performance enhancing drug policy.
• Announced that DB Sterling Moore was signed off the practice squad by the Dallas Cowboys.

The Patriots sacked Miami QB Ryan Tannehill 3 times, while Brady was sacked 4 times tying a season high.

New England’s defense held Miami to just 15 first downs (7 rushing, 7 passing, 1 by penalty) and 277 total yards.

New England is PLUS 24 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 4 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 14 INTs and 19 fumble recoveries. 

The Patriots were 2 for 4 (100%) in the red zone.  They had 2 TDs and 2 FGs.

New England was 7 for 15 (47%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as an NFL head coach; he is 5-7 since taking over.

He is 0-1 against New England in his career.

Ryan Tannehill is 0-1 vs. the Patriots.

Miami has lost the last 5 meetings between the teams.

Miami has swept the season series from the Patriots 13 times.  The last time was in 2000.

The Dolphins hold a 33-15 series advantage over the Patriots at home and they have a 15-10 series lead at Sun Life Stadium (formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park/Stadium, Dolphins/Dolphin Stadium and Land Shark Stadium) since it opened in 1987.

Miami was 3 for 13 (23%) on 3rd down conversions and 1 for 2 (50%) on 4th down attempts.

The Dolphins were 1 for 2 (50%) in the red zone.  They had 1 TD and 1 FG.

Miami fumbled the ball four times but only lost one (Tannehill).

Miami is MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 10 fumbles, while the defense has 9 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries. 

Ron Winter was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 77 and cloudy.

Attendance – 72,114 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens FL. 

Post Game Interviews

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

This Week in the AFC East

Buffalo whipped Jacksonville, 34-18

NY Jets edged Arizona, 7-6

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   9-3/5-0

Dolphins                  5-7/1-3

Bills                        5-7/1-3

Jets                        5-7/2-3

Next Week

The Patriots host the Houston Texans next Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

This Week

The New England Patriots visit their AFC East rival Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens FL on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Patriots		—-	The Dolphins
Overall	8-3		Overall	5-6
Road record	4-2		Home record	3-2
AFC East	4-0		AFC East	1-2
AFC	7-1		AFC	3-5

Ron Winter is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 9.  The over/under is 51.5. 

My prediction is Patriots 34, Dolphins, 20. Give the points (Patriots) and take the over. I was 3-8 against the spread and 8 for 11 on calling the over/under in 2012. 

Tickets 

The Dolphins are reporting the game as a sell out.

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

Getting To The Game 

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

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

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

Tailgating 

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

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

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

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

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

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

The DirecTV designation is Channel 711.

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

Radio

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

The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 92 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Dolphins Radio Network has former Dolphins WR Jimmy Cefalo calling play-by-play and former Dolphins TE Joe Rose and Hall of Famer Bob Griese providing the color with Keith Sims on the sidelines via their flagship stations WINZ and WBGG-FM.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 113, XM Channel 232 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 816.

Compass Media Network is broadcasting the game nationally with Chris Carrino and Brian Baldinger calling the game.

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.  The program is 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 WAN 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 team website in the media section.

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Last Week

The Patriots made Fireman Ed quit and go home as they destroyed the Jets, 49-19 on the road.  The Dolphins survived the sprinklers and the Seahawks winning on the final play at home 24-21.

History

• This is the 94th meeting between the Patriots and the Dolphins since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1966 when Miami became a franchise.
• The Dolphins lead the all-time series 50-43. This includes 3 meetings in the playoffs (1982, 1985, 1997) with the Patriots holding a 2-1 post season edge.
• The Patriots swept the season series in 2011 they won in Week 1 in Miami, 38-24 when Tom Brady threw for 517 yards a team record and 5th highest total in NFL history and again Week 16 with a 27-24 win at Gillette.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 422-368-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are are 23-16 in the post season.

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

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

With a win at Miami on Sunday the Patriots will secure their 12th consecutive winning season and their 10th AFC East Championship since 2000 and 3rd in a row.

It would be the franchise’s 15th AFC East title breaking the tie for most division crowns with Miami.

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

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

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

Since 2001 New England is 41-5 in December games.

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

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

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

The Patriots all-time in Miami are 14-33.

The Patriots have swept the Dolphins 8 times in the series history including 5 times in the Belichick era (2003-04, 07, 10-11).

The Patriots have seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2012. The 2010 Patriots and 1961 Patriots teams own the team record with nine non-offensive touchdowns. The NFL record for most non-offensive touchdowns is 13 by Seattle in 1998.

Date             Game                     Touchdown

9/9/12          at Tennessee           Dont’a Hightower 6-yd. Fumble Return

10/21/12       vs. N.Y. Jets            Devin McCourty 104-yd. Kickoff Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Julian Edelman 68-yd. Punt Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Aqib Talib 59-yd. Int. Return

11/18/12       vs. Indianapolis        Alfonzo Dennard 87-yd. Int. return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Steve Gregory 32-yd. Fumble Return

11/22/12       at N.Y. Jets             Julian Edelman 22-yd. Fumble Return

The Patriots are 1st in the NFL in points per game with 37.0.  While they allow 22.2 points per game good for 13th in the NFL.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 23 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 15 times.

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

The Patriots are 83 for 156 (53.2%) in 3rd down efficiency and 1 for 3 (33.3%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 61 for 136 (44.9%) in 3rd down efficiency and 6 for 14 (42.9%) on 4th down attempts.

New England is 35 of 52 (67.3%) in the red zone while opponents are 19 for 31 (61.3%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England is 27 for 32 (84.4%) and opponents are 14 for 18 (77.8%).

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 201.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 220.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 11.
• Have the most playoff wins, 19
• Have played the most playoff games, 29.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 13.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

New England set the following team records in 2011:

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

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 15-11 vs. Miami. Belichick is 15-9 as Patriots head coach and he was 0-2 as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 183-100 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 147-56 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 17-7 in the playoffs, 16-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 200-107.

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

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

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

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

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

Special Teams coach Scott O’Brien was a member of Nick Saban’s staff in Miami in 2005-06.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Solder

LG: Do. Thomas

C: Wendell

RG: Connolly

RT: Cannon

TE: Hernandez

TE: Fells

WR: Lloyd

WR: Welker

QB: Brady

RB: Ridley

Defense:

DE: Ninkovich

DT: Wilfork

DT: Love

DE: Scott

LB: Mayo

LB: Spikes

LB: Hightower

LCB: Talib

RCB: Arrington

S: McCourty

S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 14-6 vs. the Dolphins. Of the 6 losses 5 have occurred in Miami.

Overall Brady is 132-38 as a starting QB and is 16-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 148-44.  Brady is a 7 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

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

Brady has 132 career wins he is 5th all-time.

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

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

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

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

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

On the season Brady is 274 of 421 (65.1%) for 3299 yards with 24 TDs and 3 INTs his QB rating is 105.0.

With 16 completions Brady will move into 9th place on the all-time list.

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

Welker leads the team with 80 catches for 961 yards.

Welker has the second most receptions (730) all-time among undrafted receivers. Rod Smith is the NFl’s all-time leader with 849.

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

He leads the team with 10 TDs, RB Stevan Ridley is 2nd with 8 TDs.

Ridley leads the team in rushing with 939 yards on 206 carries.  If he gets 61 more rushing yards he will be the 12th Patriot to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and first since BenJarvis Green-Ellis in 2010.

T Marcus Cannon made his first NFL start on Thursday against the Jets.

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

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

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

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

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

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

Ninkovich and LB Brandon Spikes lead the team in forced fumbles with 5 each which ties Mike Vrabel’s franchise record.   

Ninkovich leads the team with 4 recovered fumbles.

Mayo leads the team in tackles through 11 weeks with 143 (89 solo).

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

McCourty also has team high 11 passes defensed in 2012. CB Kyle Arrington is 2nd with 8 passes defensed.

WR Matthew Slater has a team high 14 special teams tackles.  Rookie S Nate Ebner is 2nd with 13 special teams tackles.

Former Dolphins now with the Patriots are WR Wes Welker, T Donald Thomas, DE Rob Ninkovich, LB Mike Rivera and CB Will Allen (IR).

DT Vince Wilfork  is a native of Boynton Beach FL.

DE Justin Francis is a native of Opa-Locka FL.

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

Roster moves this week:

• Signed WR Jeremy Ebert to the practice squad.  Ebert was a 7th round pick of the team that was released after the preseason.
• Promoted RB James Develin to 53-man roster from practice squad.
• NFL suspended DE Jermaine Cunningham on Monday for 4 games for violation of the performance enhanching drug policy.

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

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

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

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR).  They have 11 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); RB James Develin (Brown); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); OL Jeremiah Warren (South Florida – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

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

Dolphins Team Notes

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

2012 Dolphins Schedule/Results

Miami's all-time record is 405-306-4 they are 20-20 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 2008 when they lost to Baltimore in the AFC Wild Card game, 27-9.

They last played for a conference championship in 1992 when they lost to San Diego in the AFC Title game, 29-10.

They have won two Super Bowl titles (VII, VIII) in five appearances.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 1984 losing to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX, 38-16.  The Dolphins franchise started in 1966 in the AFL.

This is the 40th anniversary year of the 1972 Dolphins undefeated season in which they finished 17-0 and won Super Bowl VII beating Washington 14-7.

The Dolphins hold a 33-14 series advantage over the Patriots at home and they have a 15-10 series lead at Sun Life Stadium (formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park/Stadium, Dolphins/Dolphin Stadium and Land Shark Stadium) since it opened in 1987.

Miami has swept the season series from the Patriots 13 times.  The last time was in 2000.

Dolphins largest margin of victory in the series is 52 points.  Their largest margin of loss is 34 points.

Miami has lost the last 4 meetings between the teams.

Dolphins longest series win streak is 9 games from 1989-93.

Miami has two shut outs in the series, while they have been shut out three times.

The Dolphins are 26th in the NFL in points per game with 19.2.  While they allow 20.5 points per game good for a tie for 9th in the NFL.

The Miami defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 22 times this season while their quarterbacks have been sacked 29 times.

Miami is MINUS 10 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 9 fumbles, while the defense has 8 INTs and 3 fumble recoveries. 

The Dolphins are 52 for 143 (35.4%) in 3rd down efficiency and 3 for 8 (37.5%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 58 for 168 (34.5%) in 3rd down efficiency and 9 for 10 (90%) on 4th down attempts.

Dolphins Staff Notes

Hear what Miami Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Miami head coach Joe Philbin in his 1st season as an NFL head coach; he is 5-6 since taking over.

He has never coached against New England in his career.

Philbin, a Springfield MA native, is a former high school player and coach at Longmeadow (MA) High School.  He also coached at Northeastern and Harvard as the offensive coordinator. 

Prior to coming to Miami he was the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers since 2007.

He is the 10th head coach in Miami franchise history.

Philbin lost his 21-year old son Michael this past January in a tragic water accident in Wisconsin.  He and his wife also have five other children.

Defensive Coordinator Kevin Coyle played DB at UMass from 1975-77.  He coached at College of the Holy Cross from 1982-1990.

Assistant special teams coach Dave Fipp coached at the College of the Holy Cross from 1998-99. 

Offensive assistant Ben Johnson was a coach at Boston College in 2010 and 2011.

Assistant wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan was born in Springfield MA and was a WR at the University of Maine from 1998-2000.

Assistant offensive line coach Chris Mosley coached at Boston College in 2007 and St. Anselm College in 2011.

Wide Receivers coach Ken O’Keefe was born in Milford CT.  He coached at the University of New Haven in 1976-77.

Assistant strength and conditioning coach Dave Puloka was born in Arlington MA and was a linebacker at the College of the Holy Cross from 1997-2000.

Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi was a tight end at the URI from 1988-91 and was a coach for the Rams in 1992. He returned as head coach of URI in 2008. He has also coached at the University of New Haven (1993-97 and was head coach 1999-2001) and Northeastern in 1998.

Offensive Coordinator Mike Sherman was born in Norwood MA and was a college lineman at Central Connecticut State College in 1974-77.  He coached at College of the Holy Cross from 1985-88.

Offensive line coach Jim Turner was born in Boston MA and coached at Northeastern 1994-98 and Harvard 2000-02.

Director of College Scouting Chris Grier is a UMass graduate and former Patriots intern.

Dolphins Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Long

LG: Incognito

C: Pouncey

RG: Jerry

RT: Martin

TE: Fasano

WR: Bess

WR: Hartline

QB: Tannehill

RB: Bush

RB: Clay

Defense:

DE: Starks

DT: Soliai

DT: Wake

DE: Wilson

LB:  Misi

LB: Dansby

LB: Burnett

LCB: Carroll

RCB: Smith

S: R. Jones

S: Clemons

Dolphins Players Notes

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill is in his first season in the NFL and he is 5-6.  He was Miami’s first round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.

He has never faced New England in his career.

He set the Miami rookie record for passing yards (2,373) last Sunday when he passed Dan Marino (2,210).

Tannehill was the first rookie QB to start a season opener in Dolphins history.

Tannehill is 197 of 334 (59%) for 2373 yards, 7 TDs and 12 INTs for a QB rating of 72.9.

WR/PR Davone Bess (1,196) needs just 36 yards to tie former Dolphin WR Wes Welker (1,232) for 2nd all-time on the Dolphins career punt return yards list.  Former S Jake Scott is the all-time franchise leader with 1,330 yards.

K Dan Carpenter has the 5th most points in franchise history with 508.  He trails Uwe von Schamann (540), Pete Stoyanovich (774), Garo Yepremian (830) and Olindo Mare (1,048).

His field goal percentage of 81% is the highest in team history.

LB Karlos Dansby leads Miami with 83 tackles (62 solo).

WR Brian Hartline has 24 catches in his career for 25 yards or more, 6th most in Dolphins history.

Hartline leads the team with 807 receiving yards on 55 catches.  Bess also has 55 catches for 715 yards.

CB Sean Smith, S Chris Clemons and S Reshad Jones lead the team in INTs with 2 each.

Smith is the team leader with 11 passes defensed.

Jones and Smith lead the Dolphins with 2 forced fumbles each.

LB Jason Trusnik leads Miami with 10 special teams tackles (8 solo).

RB Reggie Bush leads the team with 150 carries for 662 yards.

DE Cameron Wake is 10th in team history in sacks with 37.5. He leads the Dolphins this year with 9.5 sacks.

TE Jason Mastrud was a member of the Patriots practice squad in 2010.  T Will Yeatman was in camp with the Patriots as a TE in 2011 but was waived. 

G Ryan Durand is the only Dolphin player from New England he is from Walpole NH.

The following players were listed on the injury report on Wednesday.  RB Jorvorskie Lane (knee) did not practice.  TE Anthony Fasano (hip) and LB Austin Spitler (ankle) were limited in practice.  WR Davone Bess (wrist); CB Nolan Carroll (neck); LB Karlos Dansby (biceps); QB Pat Devlin (hip); S Reshad Jones (thumb) and RB Daniel Thomas (knee/ankle) had full participation.

The following players were listed on the injury report on Thursday. RB Jorvorskie Lane (knee); TE Anthony Fasano (hip) and LB Austin Spitler (ankle) were limited in practice.  WR Davone Bess (wrist); CB Nolan Carroll (neck); LB Karlos Dansby (biceps); QB Pat Devlin (hip); S Reshad Jones (thumb) and RB Daniel Thomas (knee/ankle) had full participation.

Miami’s captains for 2012 are appointed weekly.

There are 4 players on the Dolphins roster from Big East universities and New England based colleges.  They are LB Jonathan Freeney (Rutgers); G Josh Samuda (UMass); G Ryan Durand (Syracuse) and DT Chas Alecxih (Pittsburgh).

The Dolphins have three retired numbers: 12 – Bob Griese, 13 – Dan Marino and 39 – Larry Csonka.

Next Week

The Patriots host the Houston Texans next Monday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA.  Kick off is at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Patriots Lead Charge in Jets Demise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Belichick Gets 200th Win

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

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

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

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

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

News and Notes

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

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

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

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

Defensive snaps played vs. Jets (ESPN Boston)

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

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

It was a happy homecoming for Gregory (Boston Globe)

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

Laughable Jets stage performance of unparalleled ineptitude (Boston Herald)

Patriots defense delivers again (Boston Herald)

Best and Worst Patriots vs. Jets (Boston Herald)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welker had 7 catches for 71 yards and 1 TD.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next Week

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

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

The NFL announced on Monday that New England Patriots DE Jermaine Cunningham has been suspended by the league for a violation of the drug policy.

Here's the release from the NFL:

Jermaine Cunningham of the New England Patriots has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances.

Cunningham’s suspension begins immediately. He will be eligible to return to the Patriots' active roster on Monday, December 24 following the team’s December 23 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: getty images

Here are the highlights from the New England Patriots 49-19 thrashing of the New York Jets on Thanksgiving night at MetLife Stadium.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patriots at Jets Game Recap.

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Turning Point of the Game

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

Offensive Players of the Game

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

Defensive Player of the Game

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

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Solder

LG Thomas

C Wendell

RG Connolly

RT Cannon

TE Hernandez

TE Fells

WR Welker

WR Lloyd

QB Brady

RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ninkovich

DT Wilfork

DT Love

DE Cunningham

LB Mayo

LB Spikes

LB Hightower

CB McCourty

CB Arrington

S Gregory

S Talib

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. TE Rob Gronkowski (forearm/hip)

2. T Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee)

3. SB Marquice Cole

4. DE Jake Bequette

5. DE Chandler Jones (foot)

6. G Markus Zusevics

7. G Logan Mankins (ankle/calf)

Jets

1. QB Greg McElroy

2. RB Kahlil Bell

3. CB Aaron Berry (quad)

4. DL Damon Harrison

5. G Caleb Schlauderaff

6. G Hayworth Hicks

7. TE Hayden Smith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roster moves Saturday:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Post Game Interviews

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

This Week in the AFC East

Buffalo is at Indianapolis Sunday at 1 p.m.

Miami hosts Seattle Sunday at 1 p.m.

AFC East Standings

Patriots                   8-3/4-0

Dolphins                  4-6/1-2

Bills                        4-6/1-3

Jets                        4-7/2-3

Next Week

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

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: ap photo

This Week

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

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

Mike Carey is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

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

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

Tickets

The Jets are reporting the game as a sell out.

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

Getting to the Game

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

Lifelong Jets fan Lenny Kravitz will be performing at halftime.

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

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

Tailgating

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

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

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

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

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

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

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

Radio

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patriots All Access

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

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

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

To continue reading the New England Patriots @ New York Jets Week 12 Preview, please click on the continue reading button blow if you're on the home page.

Last Week

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

History

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

Patriots Team Notes

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

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

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

New England set the following team records in 2011:

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

Patriots Staff Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Safeties coach Brian Flores is a Brooklyn NY native.

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

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

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

Defense:

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

Patriots Players Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welker leads the team with 73 catches for 890 yards.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jones also leads the team with 11 QB hits.

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

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

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

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

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

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

DT Vince Wilfork has 3 recovered fumbles.

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

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

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

CB Kyle Arrington went to Hofstra University.

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

DL Justin Francis attended Rutgers.

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

Roster moves this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jets Team Notes

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

2012 Jets Schedule/Results

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jets Staff Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Assistant General Manager Scott Cohen attended the University of Mas­sachusetts.

Jets Possible Starters

Offense:

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

Defense:

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

Jets Players Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

He also has 5 TD’s to lead the team.

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

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

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

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

LB Bryan Thomas has 2.5 sacks to lead the Jets.

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

DE Mike DeVito is a native of Wellfleet MA.

Practice Squad RB John Griffin is from Westminster MA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next Week

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

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII