Christopher Price lists Ten things worth keeping an eye on in Sunday's game. Here are a few:
How quickly Tom Brady can get rid of the ball. The Patriots will take every opportunity to get the ball out as soon as possible to try and avoid the Jets’ pass rush. Look for Brady to spend a lot of time in the shotgun, or utilizing quick three-step drops and focusing on short routes to targets like Welker, Julian Edelman (if either are healthy enough to play), as well as tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. (In that same vein, New York will take every opportunity to hit Brady — the more quarterback hits they put on Brady, the better they’ll feel about their chances.)
Brady said the Patriots didn’t execute as well as it should have the first time the teams met in 2009, but the rematch was another story, a 31-14 win for New England.
"What we showed in the second game was we were better prepared for what they were doing," Brady said. "[In] the first game we played, we didn’t do a very good job of picking up their pressures. They’re a blitzing team. If you don’t pick up a blitzing team’s blitzes, they’re going to stay at it. They really got after us and forced a lot of drives [where] we ended up killing ourselves."
Kevin Faulk. Faulk is important in this one for two reasons: First, he’s one of the best running backs in the league at blitz pickup, and the Jets are one of the most blitz-happy teams in the league. Second, the presence of Faulk as a pass-catcher out of the backfield (whether it’s on screens or swing passes) will help take some of the pressure off Brady. If the quarterback can find the usually sure-handed Faulk quickly out of the backfield (or even if he’s split wide, as he was several times last week against the Bengals), it would certainly cause the Jets to think twice about adjusting their pressure packages.
Wes Welker. By his own admission, the slot receiver is not at 100 percent, but if he’s hobbled, he’s still a mighty weapon against the Jets. Last season against New York, his missed the opener, but he more than made up for it the second time around, hauling in a career-high 15 catches for 192 yards in the victory over the Jets. Expect New York to be physical with Welker — Ryan said Thursday the Jets are going to "hit him."
"If he’s going to catch that many passes, we’ve got to hit him. We’ve got to get our hands on him and not give him free releases," said the Jets coach. "All those kind of things, we’re going to try to do, but he and Brady are a tough combination. He’s going to get his catches, but we’ve just got to limit the run after the catch."
TEAM TALK
- Patriots-Jets Thursday Injury Report.
- Erik Scalavino reports Julian Edelman seems ready to return.
- Erik Scalavino offers his practice reports for Wednesday and Thursday.
- John Cockrell's Friday Out-Takes: Men behaving badly in the NFL media.
- Patriots Today - Moss vs. Revis. (2.02 min. video)
- Patriots Today - An intriguing matchup across the board. (3.31 min. video)
- Locker Room Uncut - Thursday thoughts from the locker room. (3.37 min. video)
- Patriots Today - All Access Preview (1.06 min. video)
- Steven Horn recaps the Matt Light Foundation's 6th Annual Celebrity Shoot-out.
LOCAL LINKS
- Chris Gasper provides his three keys to Patriots victory over the Jets Sunday.
- Mike Reiss gives his three keys for the Patriots vs. the Jets.
- Albert Breer says Rex's troops sound decidedly different than last year prior to Week 2.
- Christopher Price looks at the strong start for Patriots' special teams, which Pat Chung calls "a legalized, 40-yard fistfight."
- Albert Breer recaps Randy Moss getting beat by Revis last year and says the Jets CB is the undisputed champion at his position. Thanks Bert.
- Ron Borges notes Damien Woody refutes Tedy Bruschi's criticism of Jets QB Mark Sanchez, saying he's not a "front runner" he's a competitor.
- Ian Rapoport notes RB Fred Taylor is aiming to show people he can still play ball.
- Steve Buckley focuses on Fred Taylor and his proven staying power. As a rookie, Taylor only planned to play 3 years in the NFL.
- Mike Reiss says Wes Welker is the X-Factor against the Jets.
- Ian Rapoport reports the Jets haven't yet figured out how to stop Wes Welker, and this year the Pats have even more receiving weapons for them to deal with.
- Mark Farinella offers the transcript of Wes Welker's media session Thursday..
- Mike Petraglia says Wes Welker would love to get rid of the brace, but knows that's just wishful thinking for now.
- Monique Walker remembers WR Julian Edelman made his debut against the Jets last season, breaking out for 98 yards on 8 catches.
- Ian Rapoport says BenJarvus Green-Ellis doesn't see his role changing with Maroney gone.
- Mike Rodak reports the Patriots CBs are showing respect to the Jets offense.
- Jerry Spar highlights Jerod Mayo's appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show this morning.
- Rodney Harrison appeared on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan Thursday. Good stuff. Pats will win.
- Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Defensive rookies McCourty, Cunningham and Spikes all made a good first impression Week 1; Edelman returned to practice but won't tell if he's playing Sunday;
- Mike Reiss offers the transcript of his weekly online chat.
- Mike Reiss takes a look at the Patriots 2011 draft picks.
- Mike Reiss offers some quick-hit thoughts for fantasy football owners who might have Patriots or Jets players.
- Kirk Minihane presents his Week 2 NFL picks.
- Jessica Heslam reports former WEEI host Pete Sheppard will have a new show on the Patriots team website from 4 pm to 6 pm every Tuesday on Patriots.com.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Simms advises Jets to turn Sanchez loose.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Will Brady and Moss invade Revis Island?
- Steve Wyche (NFL.com) Boastful Jets staring distractions, possible 0-2 start in face.
- Tim Graham (ESPN) Bruschi: Sanchez a tanking front-runner.
- Darren Woodson (ESPN) Randy Moss will find his way off Revis Island on Sunday at the New Meadowlands. (40 second video)
- Jenny Dell (ESPN) Patriots-Jets AccuScore report. (41second video)
- Peter King (SI) Weekend Pickoff: Week 2. Jets over Pats 16-13.
- Nate Davis (USA Today) Receiving power ranks: Who are the NFL's best wideouts?
- Mike Klis (Denver Post) Maroney trade puts backfield in motion.
- Jack Bechta (Nat'l Football Post) What is a real NFL insider?
- Jason Whitlock (Fox Sports) NFL Truths: Portis, Sainz and more.
- Michael Rosenberg (SI) How violent is too violent: Mixed feelings on hard-hitting topic.
- Pardon The Interruption hosts give their opinion on when Tom Brady will cut his hair. (47 second video)
VIEW FROM NEW YORK
- Mark Hale (NY Post) Revis' hamstring pain more holdout fallout for Jets.
- Gary Myers (NY Daily News) Hamstring injury backs Darrelle Revis, Woody Johnson, Rex Ryan and NY Jets into a corner.
- Justin Terranova (NY Post) Herm: To beat Patriots, Jets must take reins off Sanchez.
- Mark Hale (NY Post) Jets coach says Bruschi's off the Mark.
- Dennis Waszak Jr. (NY Post) Rex penalizes Jets at practice.
- Manish Mehta (NY Daily News) Rex Ryan offers some 'tough love' for undisciplined defense in practice before meeting Patriots.
- Nick Gallo (newyorkjets.com) Schotty: 'We expect much higher from ourselves.'
- NewYorkJets.com Rex's Thursday News Conference. Transcript.