This Week
The New England Patriots visit the New York Jets at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford NJ on Sunday at 4:15 p .m.
The Patriots are 0-0 on the road, 0-0 in the division and 1-0 against the AFC. The Jets are 0-0 at home, 1-0 in the division and 1-0 against the AFC.
Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Jets.
Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots +1.5. The over/under is 37.
My prediction is Jets 24, Patriots, 20. Give the points and take the over. I am 0-1 against the spread and 1-0 on calling the over/under in 2008.
Tickets
The Jets are reporting the game as a sell out.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.
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.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.
Due to construction on a new Meadowlands Stadium, unless you have a PRE-PAID season parking pass there is no parking available at the Meadowlands facilities. You must park in the satellite lots and take the shuttles to the game.
There is NO TAILGATING IN THE SATELLITE LOTS.
Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, and a Giants Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. 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 for good measure here is one of my own.
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 by theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’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 is televising the game regionally and Jim Nantz will do the play-by-play while Phil Simms will handle the game analysis. You can see if you are getting the game and look for your local CBS Station.
Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 714.
For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.
Patriots All-Access airs tonight at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 1 p.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 126, the Jets Radio Network call with Bob Wischusen doing play-by-play and former Jet Marty Lyons with analysis is available on Channel 123.
The game can be heard nationally on Sports Radio USA. Larry Kahn and Tim Pernetti will call the game.
Last Week
The Patriots opened the season at home with a costly 17-10 win over Kansas City. While the Jets went to Miami and beat the new look Dolphins, 20-14.
History
- The Patriots won both meetings in 2007 beating the Jets 38-14 in Week 1 at the Meadowlands setting off the Camera-gate controversy. The game also marked the debut of the record setting Brady to Moss connection. The Patriots also won 20-10 in Week 15 at Gillette Stadium behind the rushing attack of Laurence Maroney .
- This is the 98th meeting between the two teams since the AFL days with the series tied 48-48-1. The 48 wins over the Jets are the second most all-time against one opponent to the 55 wins the team has over Buffalo.
- The Patriots have won 10 of the last 11 meetings including one playoff game.
- New England is 19-10 against New York since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994.
- The two teams first met in 1960 in the inaugural AFL Season. The Patriots beat the then Titans in the second week of the season (September 17) 28-24 at the Polo Grounds in New York.
Connections
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the Jets’ assistant head coach/secondary for three seasons (1997-99). He was also their head coach for 24 hours in 2000 before resigning and going to New England.
- Jets head coach Eric Mangini was a member of the Patriots coaching staff for six seasons from 2000-05, serving as the secondary coach for the first five seasons and as New England’s defensive coordinator in 2005. He left after the 2006 season to take the Jets head coaching job a decision that didn’t sit well with Belichick.
- Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson played for two seasons with the Jets from 1997-98 before retiring in 1999.
- Special teams coach Brad Seely held the same position with the Jets in 1994.
- Patriots Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli was the director of pro personnel for the Jets from 1997-1999.
- Jets assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox was a linebacker on the Patriots’ 2001 world championship team.
- Jets head coach Eric Mangini is from Hartford, CT., and attended Wesleyan University, the same school as Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
- Jets OL Damien Woody and DL Kareen Brown are both former Patriots. Woody , a Patriots first round pick (17th overall) in 1999 was on the 2001 and 2003 Super Bowl teams. Brown was drafted by New England in the 4th round of the 2007 NFL Draft and was waived on November 27, 2007. The Jets claimed him two days later.
- Patriots RB LaMont Jordan started his career with the Jets. He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft (49th overall) by New York and played there from 2001-2004.
- Jets defensive end Mike DeVito is a native of Welfleet, Massachusetts and played at the University of Maine, where he finished his collegiate career with 112 total tackles and 16 sacks.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Jets. You can also see what New York head coach Eric Mangini had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
Here is the injury list for the game.
The game was supposed to pit the two quarterbacks who are #1 (Brett Favre -254 games) and #3 (Tom Brady – 111 games) in consecutive regular season games started among active quarterbacks. But as we in New England are well aware Brady suffered a season ending knee injury last Sunday against Kansas City.
Brady’s consecutive game streak started including the playoffs ends at 128. It is the third longest streak among NFL quarterbacks behind only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
With Brady out for the year Belichick didn’t elaborate on his plans for adding a third quarterback earlier in the week. But on Wednesday they signed QB Matt Gutierrez as well as P Tom Malone and placed them both on the practice squad. They also released S Mark Dillard from the practice squad.
Matt Cassel (pronounced Castle) will be making his first NFL start. It is the first football game he has started since November 24, 1999 his senior season of high school football. It will be his 16th NFL appearance having played last week, twice in 2005 and 6 times each in 2006 and 2007. He has thrown a grand total of 57 NFL passes and has completed 35 with 3 TDs and 2 INTs.
Cassel was a 7th round draft pick by New England in 2005 out of Southern California. In four seasons he backed up two Heisman Trophy winners in Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. He played in 13 NCAA games (0 starts) and completed 20 of 33 passes with 0 TDs and 1 INT. He redshirted his freshman year and also played one season of baseball at USC.
Cassel, is 6’4″ and 230 lbs, is 26 years old and is in his fourth NFL season. Played for the 1994 Northridge CA little league team in the Little League World Series and has two brothers who play professional baseball. His older brother Jack is with the Houston Astros and younger brother Justin is in the Chicago White Sox system. He played at Chatsworth CA HS and in his senior year he 137 of 261 for 2,020 yards with 14 TDs and 5 INTs. He also rushed for 252 yards and 11 TDs.
Last week in relief, Cassel directed two scoring drives of 80 yards or more.
In Forbes they discuss the business of football the Top 5 Most Valuable Teams based on revenue, value of the franchise, debt/value percentage, 1 year value change and operating income are:
- Dallas Cowboys
- Washinton Redskins
- New England Patriots
- New York Giants
- New York Jets
Including playoff games, since December 17, 2006 the Patriots are 24-2, since September 10, 2006 they are 33-6.
The Patriots have won 20 consecutive regular season games in a row. It is the longest reguar season win streak in NFL history eclipsing the Patriots 18 game winning streak set in 2003-2004.
The Patriots overall franchise record is 367-249-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXIII, XXXIX) in 6 appearances.
The Patriots are 12-3 in their last 15 AFC East road games dating back to 2003.
The TD catch by Randy Moss last week was the 125th TD catch of his career (4th all-time) and the 126th TD overall (8th all-time) tying him with Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown. I think it’s safe to say Moss will one day join Brown in Canton.
Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski has hit 51 of 61 FGA’s in his career good for a 83.6% accuracy rate the best in franchise history.
2008 Patriots schedule/results
News from this weeks opponent:
While the Jets made a big splash in the free agent market signing former Steeler OL Alan Faneca and former Patriots OL Damien Woody the biggest pick up by far was the trainign camp trade with Green Bay for QB Brett Favre.
Favre is 3-2 in his career against the Patriots (including Super Bowl XXXI) and 161-93 in his career during the regular season, he is 12-10 in the playoffs for an overall record of 173-103.
All of Favre’s previous five appearances against New England came with Green Bay. The last time he faced them in Week 11 of the 2006 season he was knocked out the game in the first half of a 35-0 Patriots win in Green Bay.
The Jets drafted two players in the first round this year DE Vernon Ghoulston (Ohio State – 6th overall) and TE Dustin Keller (Purdue – 30th overall). In all they had 6 picks over seven rounds.
The Jets have 15 players on their roster with 2 years or less of NFL experience, while Favre has 18 years in the NFL and has won 3 MVP Awards (1995, 1996, 1997) and one Super Bowl (XXXI).
New York has more players from Ohio State (3) than from any other college or university.
No players on the Jets 2007 roster made the Pro Bowl.
The Jets have not beaten the Patriots in the Meadowlands since September 11, 2000 when they won 20-19. New England has won the last 7 games on the road against New York.
The Jets have scored 17 points or fewer vs New England in 10 of the last 11 games.
The Jets are 13-18 against New England all-time in Giants Stadium, 25-23 overall as the home team.
Head coach Eric Mangini is 1-4 vs. New England in two seasons. Overall Mangini is 14-18.
The Jets overall franchise record is 323-394-8 and they have won one Super Bowl (III). They last made the playoffs in 2006 but haven’t played in a Conference Championship game since 1998 when they lost to John Elway and the Denver Broncos, 23-10.
Favre has more playoff wins (12) then the Jets do as a franchise (8).
The Jets orginally started in the AFL as the New York Titans and in the first AFL Draft took Notre Dame QB George Izo with their very first pick. Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh was their first head coach.
After the team changed ownership in March 1963, the new owners changed the franchise name to the Jets and changed the team colors from blue and gold to green and white.
The Jets have called three different stadiums home in their history: The Polo Grounds (1960-63), Shea Stadium (1964-76) and Giants Stadium (1977-present). In 2010 the Jets along with the Giants (althought the Jets make you think it’s there home only) will be moving into a new stadium being constructed next to Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands facility. This still leaves the Buffalo BIlls with the oldest facility (1973) in the division as the Dolphins (1987), Patriots (2002) and Jets (2010) will have moved into new(er) homes in the last 20 years.
Next Week
The New England Patriots host West Haven CT native Tony Sparano and the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA, kickoff is at 1p.m.
