This week's matchups

[Patjew]

I am trying to make myself feel better about the Brady deal. I'm rationalizing that he was the key guy on one unit of the team, but there are 3 units and if they all perform well enough on any given week, the Pats still have a great chance to win.

I am not even close to an Xs and Ox guy, so I'd love to hear from you football-savy folks out there about this week's game.

As much as I hate (love) to write in cliches, I would say that football more so than any other sport embodies the expression "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". And, football (like every real sport) is a game about matchups. I think those issues are inarguable. Of course there is much more to the game than that, such as coaching, luck, etc, but to dummy things down, I think it's fair to say that the NFL is all about how well each unit of one team is able to execute against the competitive unit of the other team.

Which is all a very long-winded way of asking who will win these matchups:

Pats' O vs Jets' D

Jets' O vs Pats' D

Pats' ST vs Jets' ST

I would have to think that the Pats' D "beats" the Jets' O, but I'm not so sure on the other 2 matchups.

What do you folks think, and feel free to be as detailed as you want.

 

[BradyManny]

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/showthread.php?t=122764

Metaphors has a good start in that thread.

I heard Breer on CST last nite saying how he thinks this is a bad matchup for the Jets. He says BB will "rush the crap" out of Favre up the middle & that Favre isn't elusive anymore.

With that in mind, maybe we'll see some of those ILB rushes from the preseason, Mayo coming up the middle.

One thing I noticed a lot of against the Chiefs is that AD was dropping into coverage for more than not, mostly to cover Gonzalez. I'd love to see them let AD loose on the QB this week a little more, but I guess it depends on how the NYJ use their TEs.

 

[Calciumee]

Jets TEs aren't as dangerous as Gonzalez, so I can see AD having alot more plays rushing the passer!

 

[JSn]

Jets TEs aren't as dangerous as Gonzalez, so I can see AD having alot more plays rushing the passer!

Who ARE the TE's there? I mean I can look up their names, but not reputations. Anyone got the skinny? I think there a couple of relatively objective Jets fans doing intel here D) that might be able to give us some goods too.

 

[LloydBraun]

I predict that Crable will also make his presence felt on the rush.

 

[jmt57]

Jets d-line versus Pats o-line could be critical. Jets held Miami to two first downs rushing, and a total of just 49 yards on 17 rushing attempts. Pennington was able to complete 26 of 43 passes (I'm guessing they started passing a lot due to the inability to do anything running the ball) for 251 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. Of those 26 completions, 20 went to a RB or TE - not sure if that has to do with Pennington's (lack of) arm strength, good coverage by the Jets' DB, or having to get rid of the ball before receivers could get open due to the pressure. Pats o-line is certainly better than Miami's, but they really need to control the line of scrimmage in this game in my opinion.

 

[Patjew]

Jets d-line versus Pats o-line could be critical. Jets held Miami to two first downs rushing, and a total of just 49 yards on 17 rushing attempts. Pennington was able to complete 26 of 43 passes (I'm guessing they started passing a lot due to the inability to do anything running the ball) for 251 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT. Of those 26 completions, 20 went to a RB or TE - not sure if that has to do with Pennington's (lack of) arm strength, good coverage by the Jets' DB, or having to get rid of the ball before receivers could get open due to the pressure. Pats o-line is certainly better than Miami's, but they really need to control the line of scrimmage in this game in my opinion.

Thanks, I'll be sure to focus in on that match up.

What crazy passing stats.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Who ARE the TE's there? I mean I can look up their names, but not reputations. Anyone got the skinny? I think there a couple of relatively objective Jets fans doing intel here D) that might be able to give us some goods too.

Baker is a good TE, he's not a Gonzo, but he can cause trouble. The rookie is a WR in a 240 lb. body, he won't block, but he can run a decent route and catch. Still, this is Lord Favrequad, gunslinger to the stars - he'll be looking deep for Cotchery and Coles first.

 

[SVN]

Baker is a good TE, he's not a Gonzo, but he can cause trouble. The rookie is a WR in a 240 lb. body, he won't block, but he can run a decent route and catch. Still, this is Lord Favrequad, gunslinger to the stars - he'll be looking deep for Cotchery and Coles first.

leon washington always gives me he jitters with the jets, he always seems a little fast for our D.

 

[cstjohn17]

I don't know about their coverage teams but their returners are very good. Don't make me look it up but I think Miller and Washington were among the best KR/PR last year.

Ok.. I looked it up and I was right, they were damn good.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/stats/b...e=NFL&year=season_2007&sort=319&timeframe=All

I give the edge in special teams to the Jets and call both the other match-ups a push.

 

[alvinnf]

The secondary Vs. Jet's wideouts is the matchup that makes me most nervous. They have very good skilled position players, we used to be able to rely on Pennington's inability to get the ball down field to dictate coverage. Now even though Farve "lord Farvequate" isn't what he once was, he still opens up the deep ball, which might stretch our secondary. I don't think our secondary is'nt up to snuff, I just think their starting to gel, this might be the best time to take advantage of them. Then again if the wild dogs up front can't be stopped, you could use me back there, so we'll see.

 

[363839]

I predict that Crable will also make his presence felt on the rush.

If they activate him.

 

[bucky]

I'm interested in the matchup of Woody (playing RT for them) vs. Warren and Vrabel. I gotta believe this is a big advantage for the Pats on all downs. I don't see the Jets being able to run on the Pats.