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This Week

Jets @ Patriots - Week 15

The New England Patriots host their AFC East rival New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.  This is the second game of a three game homestand for New England.

The Patriots beat the Jets in Week 1 in the Meadowlands, 38-14 in a game that has become well known because the Jets accused the Patriots of videotaping their coaching signals.  The NFL confiscated the camera and the tape and days later ruled in favor of the Jets allegations.  The Patriots were fined $250,000 and had their 2008 first round draft pick stripped from them.  Head coach Bill Belichick was also fined $500,000 for his part in the camera incident.

The Patriots are 6-0 at the Razor this season, 4-0 against the AFC East and 10-0 in the AFC. The Jets are 1-5 on the road, 2-3 against the AFC East and 3-6 in the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Jets and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -23.  The over/under is 46.

They’re saying we may have some bad weather come Sunday but either way I see this as a blow out. 

My prediction is Patriots 38, Jets, 3 . Give the points and take the under. I am 9-4 against the spread and have called the over/under ten out of thirteen times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots 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 make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette 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 a 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 and the play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look for your local CBS Station.

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, Pete Brock and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.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 radio call is available on Channel 114, the Jets radio call is available on Channel 126.

Belichick and Mangini...you cant even tell who won

Last Week

The Patriots beat the Steelers 34-13 at home to go to 13-0.  The Jets lost at home to the Browns 28-16 to drop to 3-10. 

History

This is the 97th meeting all-time between the two teams with the Jets holding a 48-47-1 advantage over New England including playoff games.  The 47 wins against New York is second most all-time over any single opponent.  The Pats have 55 wins against Buffalo. 

The Jets are the Patriots most frequent opponent.  Buffalo is second with 96 meetings.

The Patriots have won 9 out of the last 10 games vs. the Jets including one playoff game. 

The Patriots are 18-10 vs. the Jets since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994. 

Connections

  • Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the Jets’ assistant head coach/secondary for three seasons (1997-99).
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Patriots tight end Kyle Brady was a first-round draft pick (ninth overall) of the Jets in 1995. In his four seasons (1995- 98) in New York, Brady totaled 93 receptions for 949 yards and 10 touchdowns. 
  • Jets defensive lineman Kareem Brown was drafted by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft and spent the first 11 weeks of the season on the Patriots’ active roster before being released on Nov. 27.
  • Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss paired up with Jets quarterback Chad Pennington to set an NCAA season record for touchdowns (24) at Marshall University in 1997. 
  • Patriots center Dan Koppen and Jets tight end Sean Ryan played together at Boston College from 2000-02.
  • Jets head coach Eric Mangini is from Hartford, Conn., and attended Wesleyan University.
  • Jets offensive quality control coach Brian Smith spent the last seven years coaching at the University of Massachusetts, where he was also a three-year starter during his collegiate career. 
  • 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 Jets head coach Eric Mangini had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.

This is Tom Brady’s 108th consecutive start. It is the third longest streak among NFL quarterbacks behind only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. He is 83-24 in his career during the regular season.

Here is the injury list for the game.

The Patriots are 13-0 for the first time in franchise history. They have won 16 consecutive regular season games dating back to last season.

The 16-game regular season win streak is second only in franchise history to the NFL record streak of 18 consecutive games the club set in 2003 and 2004. That was part of an overall 21 game win streak that set an all-time pro football record.

The Patriots are 42-9 at Gillette Stadium.  In their last 19 games when it’s 34 degrees or colder at kickoff they are 17-2 and 15-1 in their last 16 games when it’s 30 degrees or colder at kickoff.

Everyone in the media loves to analyze Belichick’s post game handshakes looking for hidden meanings, well ESPN’s Mike Philbrick has a funny take on some of the Greatest Moments in Belichick Handshake History.

Tom Brady now has 45 TD passes just 4 from Peyton Manning’s record of 49.

Brady was the AFC Offensive Player of the Week because of his game against Pittsburgh.

Brady is 11-2 vs. the Jets.  It is the second most wins against any opponent (Buffalo -13). 

Brady has thrown 4 TD’s in a game 5 times this season.  That is second only to the NFL record of 6 times in a season set by Dan Marino in 1984 and tied by Peyton Manning in 2004.

Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss has 19 TD’s this year which gives him the single season franchise record.  He is 3 TD’s shy of Jerry Rice’ NFL mark by a wide receiver of 22 in a season.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker became just the fifth New England player to have 90+ catches in a season.  He joins Troy Brown (101 in 2001, 97 in 2002), Ben Coates (96 in 1994) and Terry Glenn (90 in 1996).  Moss may join the club too as he has 82 catches with 3 games to play. 

On Thursday the Patriots placed DL Mike Wright on the IR with a foot injury he is done for the season.  The signed free agent tight end Stephen Spach to replace him.  Spach was a final preseason cut of the Minnesota Vikings this September and played in 2005 with the Philadelphia Eagles.  He was out of football in 2006. 

New England’s +18 in turnovers after 13 games leads the NFL. 

With a win on Sunday the Patriots will have clinched the top seed in the AFC for the second time in franchise history and get home field advantage through out the AFC playoffs.  They already have clinched a first round bye.  The Patriots were the #1 seed in 2003. 

With a win on Sunday the Patriots will be only the second team in the NFL’s 88-year history to start the season 14-0.  They would be the third team, joining the 1972 Dolphins and 2004 Steelers, to win 14 games in a single season.

With a win on Sunday they would tie the franchise record for regular season victories with 14 matching the 2003 and 2004 teams. 

The Patriots need just 5 touchdowns to tie the NFL record for most TD’s in a season with 70.  They need 54 points to set the all-time record for most points in a season. 

Since Belichick became coach in 2000 the Patriots are 25-6 in December. They have won 11 of the last 12 games they have played in December.

The media talks alot about the Boston Red Sox consecutive sell out streak at Fenway Park.  Well the Patriots streak of consecutive sell outs may be more impressive at 146 straight games dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The streak includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.   

News from this weeks opponent:

The Jets are only one of three teams to have won twice at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002 and the only AFC East opponent to have more than one win. 

The Jets have scored 17 points or fewer vs New England in 9 of the last 10 games.

Seven members of the Jets coaching staff are former Patriots coaches, players or staff members – Eric Mangini (head coach), Bryan Cox (asst. defensive line), Brian Daboll (quarterbacks), Andy Dickerson (quality control-defense), Jerome Henderson (asst. secondary), Jimmy Raye (running backs) and Rick Lyle (asst. strength and conditioning).

The Jets are 17-20 all-time in Foxboro vs. the Patriots. 

Head coach Eric Mangini is 1-3 vs. New England in two seasons. 

This is Kellen Clemens first career start vs. New England.  He appeared in the Week 1 loss after Chad Pennington hurt his ankle.  Clemens says:

“It’s a great challenge. They are the New England Patriots and they are Bill Belichick’s defense. Fortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to watch the last four times that we’ve played them, and have been a part of game-planning and trying to learn about the things that they do defensively while Chad was playing. I took those opportunities very seriously.”

Clemens is 2-4 as the Jets starter and has thrown 4 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

If the Jets lose Sunday it will be the fourth time in the last five seasons they have been swept by the Patriots. 

The Jets are – 3 in turnover differential. 

The Jets offensive line has allowed their quarterbacks to be sacked 39 times on the year for -227 yards. 

Next Week

The Patriots host their AFC East rival Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA. The kickoff is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS. You can also follow all the action on the Patriots Rock Radio Network.