Patriots Need a Win to Keep Pace in AFC East

Ian Logue

Oct 3, 2010 at 9:55pm ET

For those of you who may have missed it, the New York Jets took care of business in Buffalo on Sunday, beating the Bills 38-14 to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Jets offense rushed for a combined 273 yards on Sunday, with LaDainian Tomlinson leading the way with 133 yards and two touchdowns, while Shonn Greene rushed for 117.

With New England and Miami both currently sitting at 2-1, a win for the Patriots becomes that much more important in keeping pace with the Jets for the AFC East division. It's also important from a conference standpoint, as three other AFC teams (Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Houston Texans) all sit at 3-1 while the Kansas City Chiefs have a bye and are 3-0 on the season.

Expect Monday night's game to be a tough one, with head coach Bill Belichick telling Miami reporters last week that they've been a tough team to prepare for.

"They're a tough team to prepare for because of their scheme," Belichick said during a conference call with the Miami media. "Coach [Dan] Henning and Coach [Tony] Sparano do a real good job of mixing up their personnel groups and formations and plays. They really make you work to get lined up and to figure out your adjustments and so forth.

"And then they have a lot of good players to go with it. So the combination of the scheme and good receivers, good tight end, good backs, good quarterback, big offensive line, they give you a lot of problems. They're definitely a hard team to prepare for."