In the Red Zone: New York Jets at New England Patriots Preview Week 7

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rivals the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Thursday at 8:25 p.m.

Patriots Hall of Fame Inductee Ty Law will be honored at halftime. Law is the 22nd player inducted into the Hall at Patriots Place.

The Jets		The Patriots
Overall Record	1-5	Overall Record	4-2
Road Record	0-2	Home Record	2-0
AFC East	0-0	AFC East	1-1
AFC Conf	1-2	AFC Conf	3-2

Bill Leavy is the referee for the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday the line on the game from SportsBetting.ag via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 10. The over/under is 45.

My Prediction is Patriots 33, Jets, 24.

Take the points (Jets) and take the over. I am 3-3 against the spread and 3 of 6 on calling the over/under in 2014.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 221st consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

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

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

Getting to the Game

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

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

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

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 drive sober or get pulled over.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game nationally, Jim Nantz will do play by play, former NFL QB Phil Simms will provide the game analysis and Tracy Wolfson works the sidelines. You can look here for your local affiliate.

There is no DirecTV Sunday Ticket channel designation.

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. Bob Socci 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 5 p.m. on 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 226 and 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 225 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 821.

Westwood One will broadcast the game nationally to all its radio affiliates. Ian Eagle and Boomer Esiason will call the game with Laura Okmin as the sideline reporter.

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

Last Week

The Patriots stopped the Bills for a 37-22 win on the road.

The Jets lost their fifth straight this one to the Broncos at home, 31-17.

History

This is the 111th meeting between the teams.
The Patriots lead the all-time series 56-53-1 including playoffs.
The Patriots are 30-25-1 as the home team in the series.
The lone tie in the series (24-24) came on October 2, 1966 when both clubs were part of the AFL.
Since Gillette opened in 2002 New England is 10-4 (including playoffs) vs. the Jets at home.
The Patriots and Jets split the 2013 season series. Patriots won Week 2 at home, 13-10 while the Jets won at MetLife week 7, 30-27.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2014 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 442-375-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances. Overall they are 25-18 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2013 when they beat Indianapolis in the AFC Divisional Round 43-22 and lost at Denver 26-16 in the AFC Championship Game.

It was the 3rd consecutive AFC Championship game appearance for the franchise and 10th overall. They are 7-3 in those AFC title games.

The Patriots were 12-4 (1-1 in playoffs) in 2013 and are the defending five-time AFC East Champions. They have won the division 11 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

New England is the only NFL team to finish .500 or better in each of the last 13 seasons (2001-2013).

They have 11 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins.

They are the first team in the free agency era (1993) to win more than half their games in a 13-season span.

Since 2001 the Patriots are 64-18 vs. the AFC East.

New England has 32 consecutive regular season wins at home against AFC teams.

Since 2003 the Patriots have the NFL’s best record at 142-40.

Since October 2003 the Patriots are a NFL best 39-9 in October games including a home record of 23-1.

They have won 30 of their last 34 October games.

When playing on Thursday the Patriots are 7-5. They have won their last three Thursday games.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994 the Patriots are 27-15 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 the last time was in 2012.

New England has 54 penalties this season in six weeks and has been penalized 526 yards.

Patriots have had multiple turnovers on both losses this season while having no turnovers in their 4 wins.

New England is PLUS 9 in turnover differential they are tied for 1st in the NFL. They have 7 INT and have recovered 7 fumbles while they have thrown 2 INT’s and lost 3 fumbles.

The Patriots are 11th in points scored averaging 24.6 points per game and are 11th in points allowed with 21.4 points per game.

This is the 21st season of Patriots ownership by the Kraft family. Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
Have the most regular season wins, 221.
Have the most wins including playoffs, 242.
Have the most conference titles, 6.
Have the most division titles, 13.
Have the most playoff wins, 21
Have played the most playoff games, 33.
Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 15.
The fewest head coaches within the division, 3.
Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

From 1960 to 1993 the New England/Boston Patriots won a total of 225 games.

Patriots Staff Notes

Read what head coach Bill Belichick said during conference call to the media on the Jets.

Bill Belichick is 21-11 vs. the Jets in his career. He is 20-10 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes two playoff games (1-1).

Belichick is 7-2 in Thursday games, 6-2 as Patriots coach.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 202-106 in his 20th NFL season as a head coach. He is 166-62 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland. He is 19-9 in the playoffs, 18-8 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season. When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 221-115.

Belichick’s 221 wins are good for 5th all-time. Hall of Fame member Curly Lambeau is 4th with 229 wins.

He has won 5 conference titles; he needs one more to tied Don Shula’s record of 6.

He is the first head coach to have had 4 teams that scored at least 500 points in a season.

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.

No coach either as the head coach or an assistant has appeared in more Super Bowls than Belichick who has been to 8 (five as a head coach).

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 11 consecutive seasons.

He has been NFL Coach of the Year three times he and Chuck Knox are the only three time winners, while Don Shula won four times.

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.

Tight ends coach Brian Daboll spent two years as quarterbacks coach for the Jets from 2007-2008.

Offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was the Jets offensive line coach in 2012.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Solder
LG: Cannon
C: Wendell
RG: Kline
RT: Vollmer
TE: Gronkowski
WR: LaFell
WR: Edelman
QB: Brady
RB: Vereen
RB: Develin

Defense:

DE: Ninkovich
DT: Wilfork
DT: Walker
DE: Cha. Jones
LB: Collins
LB: White
LB: Skinner
LCB: Revis
RCB: Dennard
S: Chung
S: McCourty

Patriots Players Notes

Tom Brady Notes:

This is his 15th NFL season he is 19-6 vs. the Jets in his career including playoffs. He is 85-13 at home in the regular season.

Overall he is 152-45 as a starting QB and is 18-8 in the playoffs for an overall record of 170-53. He is a 9 time Pro Bowl QB; 3 time All-Pro selection; 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.

Had back-to-back multiple TD pass games Week 5 vs. Cincinnati (2) and Week 6 at Buffalo (4).

369 TD passes in his career makes him 5th in NFL history.

152 career wins are 3rd all-time behind only Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

He has thrown for 2 or more TD’s in 117 games; the team’s record is 100-17.

Rob Gronkowski notes:

Has caught a pass in 56 consecutive games it’s the 4th longest streak all-time for a tight end. Heath Miller is 3rd with a catch in 87 consecutive games.

Leads team in TD’s with 4.

Had 7 catches for 94-yards at Buffalo Week 6.

Had 6 catches for 100-yards and 1 TD vs. Cincinnati Week 5.

It was his 13th 100+ receiving yard games in his career.

Is 7th in team history with 46 touchdowns.

He is 4th in team history with 45 TD catches.

Julian Edelman notes:

Had 9 catches for 91 yards, 1 carry for 10 yards and 3 punt returns for 12 yards for 113 total yards Week 6 at Buffalo.

Has 4 career games with 10 or more catches after a 10-catch game Week 3 vs. Oakland.

Leads team in receiving with 40 catches for 409 yards.

Had a 34-yard punt return at Minnesota Week 2 it was the 11th punt return of 30 yards or more in his career. That ranks third in team history.

Opened the season with a 95 receiving yards at Miami and added 81 yards receiving at Minnesota Week 2.

Had 156 total yards Week 2 at Minnesota (81 receiving, 9 rushing and 66 on punt returns).

Tim Wright notes:

Had 1 catch for 1- yards and a TD at Buffalo Week 6.

Has TD catches in back-to-back games Week 5 vs. Cincinnati and Week 6 at Buffalo.

Stevan Ridley notes:

Had his 2nd 100- yard rushing game of the season Week 5 vs. Cincinnati when he ran for 113 yards on 27 carries and had 1 TD. Also had a 100-yard game Week 2 at Minnesota when he ran for 101 yards on 25 carries and had 1 TD.

Leads team in rushing with 340 yards on 94 carries.

Has 7 career 100+ rushing yard games in his career.

Suffered a knee injury week 6 at Buffalo, placed on season ending IR with ACL/MCL tear.

Brandon LaFell notes:

Had 4 catches for 97 yards and 2 TD’s at Buffalo Week 6.

Week 6 at Buffalo was his 2nd two TD game of his career.

Had Patriots longest pass play of the game 56 yards for a 4th quarter TD.

Brian Tyms notes:

Had 3rd NFL catch for 1st NFL TD Week 6 at Buffalo on a 43-yard bomb.

Stephen Gostkowski notes:

Missed his first field goal attempt of 2014 in first quarter, Week 6 at Buffalo.

Had a 19-point game vs. Cincinnati Week 5 with 5 field goals and 4 XPT’s. The five field goals were a new career high.

Has converted 30 consecutive 4th quarter field goals.

Has not missed an extra point since Week 17 2006 at Tennessee in his rookie season. He has made 369 consecutive extra points. He is 411 for 412 in his career.

The 377 XPA converted in a row is fourth longest streak in NFL history.

Lead NFL in scoring in both 2012 and 2013.

Has scored at least 1 point in 113 consecutive games a franchise record.

He is 3rd in team history in points with 1,087 trailing only Gino Cappelletti (1,130) and Adam Vinatieri (1,158).

Has team record of 13 career field goals of 50+ yards.

Vince Wilfork notes:

Was in on 6 tackles (2 solo) Week 6 at Buffalo.

Had his 3rd career INT vs. Oakland Week 3. He is the first Patriots lineman to have 3 career INT’s.

Has an INT against the Raiders in each of the last two games against them.

Has 7 fumbles recoveries since 2010 the second most in the NFL in that span behind teammate Rob Ninkovich.

Darrelle Revis notes:

Has 22 career INT’s and is one of the top shutdown corners in the NFL.

Since 2007 has the most passes defensed in the NFL with 110 including a record 31 in 2009.

Had his first forced fumble of the year Week 5 vs. Cincinnati.

In Patriots debut Week 1 at Miami had 1 tackles, 2 passes defensed and recovered a fumble.

Had his first Patriots INT Week 2 at Minnesota against Matt Cassel. Also had 3 tackles and 1 pass defensed.

Jerod Mayo notes:

Leads team with 52 tackles (40 solo).

Had streak of five consecutive 100+ tackle seasons snapped last year due to injury. He has led the team in tackles in those five seasons (2008-2012).

Shares franchise record for leading team in tackles for 5 seasons with Steve Nelson and Vincent Brown.

Week 1 at Miami he had 12 tackles and the teams only sack.

Suffered season ending knee injury Week 6 at Buffalo.

Rob Ninkovich notes:

In 6 seasons with New England has only missed one game.

Leads team with 4 sacks.

Week 6 at Buffalo had 6 tackles (4 solo) and 3 sacks. It was his first career 3-sack day.

Week 2 at Minnesota had 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and 2 QB hits.

Dont’a Hightower notes:

Didn’t play Week 5 vs. Cincinnati or Week 6 at Buffalo due to a knee injury.

Third on team with 2 sacks.

Along with Chandler Jones he led team with 8 tackles and 2 sacks Week 2 at Minnesota. He also had 2 tackles for loss, 2 QB hits and 1 pass defensed.

Had his first career 2-sack game Week 2 at Minnesota.

Chandler Jones notes:

Second on team with 3.5 sacks.

Scored his 2nd NFL TD Week 2 at Minnesota when he blocked a field goal attempt and returned it 58-yards. His first NFL TD was Week 16, 2013 at Baltimore on a fumble recovery. It was his second blocked field goal attempt (2013 Week 8 vs. Miami).

Had the 5th blocked field goal returned for a TD in Patriots history Week 2 at Minnesota, first since 2010 when Patrick Chung returned one at Miami.

Now has 5 career 2-sack games with a pair at Minnesota in Week 2.

Along with Dont’a Hightower he led team with 8 tackles and 2 sacks Week 2 at Minnesota. He also had 3 tackles for loss, 3 QB hits, the blocked field goal attempt and return for TD.

Jamie Collins notes:

Tied for second on team with 24 tackles (20 solo).

Had 4 tackles (2 solo) and an INT Week 6 at Buffalo. It was his first NFL INT.

Has also forced and recovered a fumble in 2014.

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:

LB Jerod Mayo placed on IR
RB Stevan Ridley placed on IR
OL Chris Martin released from practice squad
OL Caylin Hauptmann signed to practice squad

Patriots team captains for 2014:

QB Tom Brady
G/C Dan Connolly
WR Matthew Slater (special teams)
DT Vince Wilfork
LB Jerod Mayo (IR)

Former Jets on the Patriots:

CB Darrelle Revis

Players with New England roots:

none

Players with New York City metro roots:

S Devin McCourty – Montvale NJ
CB Logan Ryan – Vorhees NJ
TE Tim Wright – Neptune NJ
DE Dominique Easley – Staten Island NY

Players from New England based colleges and universities:

RB James Develin – Brown

Players from New York City metro based colleges and universities:

S Devin McCourty – Rutgers
S Duron Harmon – Rutgers
CB Kyle Arrington – Hofstra
TE Tim Wright – Rutgers

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers:

20 – Gino Cappelletti
40 – Mike Haynes
73 – John Hannah
78 – Bruce Armstrong
79 – Jim Lee Hunt
89 – Bob Dee

Jets Team Notes

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

2014 Jets Schedule/Results

The Jets all-time record is 374-444-8 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 is 40-42 vs. the AFC East in the regular season since 2001.

This is the 3rd year in a row and 4th since 2008 that the Jets have played the Patriots on a Thursday night game and 3rd time at Gillette Stadium.

The Jets are 6-9 in Thursday games.

New York has lost 16 of the last 24 meetings with New England including playoffs.

The Jets have swept the Patriots 15 times in the series the last time was in 2000.

The Jets are 4-10 all-time at Gillette Stadium. Overall as the road team in the series they are 25-30-1.

This is New York’s first division game of the season.

New York has 44 penalties this season in six weeks and has been penalized 400 yards.

New York is MINUS 9 in turnover differential 31st in the NFL. They have 1 INT and have recovered 2 fumbles while they have thrown 7 INT’s and lost 5 fumbles.

The Jets are 30th in points scored averaging 16.0 points per game and are 25th in points allowed with 26.3 points per game.

Jets Staff Notes

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

Ryan is 43-43 in his 6th season as a head coach. He is 4-2 in the playoffs for an overall record of 47-35.

Ryan is 2-3 in Thursday games.

He is 4-7 vs. New England in his career including playoffs. He is 1-5 at Gillette Stadium.

Ryan is the third longest tenured head coach in Jets history behind Weeb Ewbank (11 seasons) and Joe Walton (7).

He is third in wins by a coach in team history behind Ewbank (71) and Walton (53).

General Manager John Idzik graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors from Dartmouth College in Hanover NH in 1982 and played wide receiver for the Big Green for four seasons.

The offensive coordinator is Marty Mornhinweg former head coach of the Detroit Lions. He is in his second season with the Jets.

Dennis Thurmond is the Jets defensive coordinator. He is in his sixth season with the team.

Defensive Backs Coach Brian Smith graduated in 2000 from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where he was a three-year starter at safety and cornerback. Smith went on to coach at UMass.

Jets Possible Starters

Offense: