John Morgan's Archive:

Looking at these numbers I was a bit surprised – as I am sure many others will be – at how often the Jets ranked relatively high (top ten in the NFL) in offensive categories. It is also really amazing to see how the New England offense and Jet defense both rank number one, or number one and two in one statistical category after another.

The New England Patriots have opened up as 10½ point favorites in early ‘look-ahead’ advanced lines posted by the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook for NFL week eight. The AFC East rivals will kick off next week’s league action next Thursday in Foxboro. This weekend in early afternoon action the 5-0 Pats host the 4-1 Jets, while 2-3 Miami hosts 2-4 Houston; both of those games start at 1:00 pm eastern time.

Other than the Pats-Fins of course, the best game should be between the undefeated Packers and Broncos on Sunday night; other good matchups include the Bengals at Steelers in an early afternoon game, and Indy at Carolina on Monday night.

Former New England Patriot wide receiver Brandon Lloyd announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday. Lloyd caught 74 passes for 911 yards and four TD with New England in 2012, and was an All-Pro in 2010 with Denver.

NFL week seven gets underway tonight with an all-NFC West game, as the Seattle Seahawks travel to Santa Clara to play the San Francisco 49ers. Game kicks off at 8:25 pm eastern time and is televised on CBS. Seattle is favored by 6½ points.

Even though the Patriots are on CBS, displaced New England fans should be happy to hear that the Pats-Jets game will still receive extensive broadcast distribution throughout the United States. Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts will be the announcers on CBS between these two original AFL rivals, as they meet for the 113ᵗʰ time; the Patriots lead the all-time series 58-54-1.

Aside from the highly anticipated annihilation of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night, there are several quality matchups which should be very competitive during the afternoon preliminaries. In the early afternoon Arizona travels to Pittsburgh looking to avoid a second loss after winning their first four games; that will not be an easy task at Heinz Field against a Steeler offense that boasts of Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. 5-0 Cincinnati at Buffalo is a another compelling early game, and Denver – with their inconsistency on offense – may not have as easy a game as had been previously thought when they travel to Cleveland. There are also two good late afternoon games: San Diego at Green Bay, and Carolina at Seattle.

In the New England area CBS will broadcast the Bengals-Bills game early, followed by the Chargers-Packers at 4:25 pm; Washington at the Jets will be the single game on FOX early.

While all eyes are focusing (and appropriately so) on Sunday night’s game at Indianapolis. advanced lines have already been set for NFL week seven. The New England Patriots have opened as 9½-point favorites over division rival New York Jets in week seven look-ahead lines. That represent the largest early line point spread for the thirteen NFL games being played next week. At this moment in time the Pats-Jets contest is the only week seven game between two teams with winning records. Three thus far undefeated teams – the Packers, Bengals and Broncos – are all off with a bye.

New Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn spent nearly twenty years as a defensive line coach prior to becoming Seattle’s defensive coordinator for two years, when the Seahawks were the NFL’s best defense and won the Super Bowl. While it is still a work in progress, Atlanta’s defense has noticeably improved from the porous sieve that they were the last couple of years. The Falcon offensive line suffered through more than their share of injuries last year; that group being healthy has led to a much improved offense, especially running the ball

Despite an abundance of injuries, NFL week five’s Monday night football game should be a good one. Although the two clubs are just 2-2, the San Diego Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers both have legitimate playoff aspirations for this 2015 season. Pittsburgh is coming off a 23-20 home overtime loss to the Ravens a week ago Thursday, while the Chargers eked out a 30-27 home victory over the Browns last Sunday. Both teams are currently 2-2 and are seeking to keep within two games of undefeated leaders in their respective divisions (the 5-0 Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals).

The highlight of NFL week 6 will be the Sunday night game when the New England Patriots visit the Indianapolis Colts in a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game. Patriot fans are looking forward to some vindication for the sting and botched frame job that led to a litany of lies and the oblivious ignoring of basic science by the NFL in the fiasco of a witch hunt that became known as deflategate in that game. In anticipation of a scorched earth response, the betting line has already moved 2½-points (from 5 to 7½) in the last 48 hours.

As a prelude to the New England Patriots week five game at Dallas, there are a pair of very interesting early NFL games on Sunday. On FOX the Seattle Seahawks travel to Cincinnati to battle the 4-0 Bengals, and on CBS the Green Bay Packers host the St. Louis Rams. After playing in London last week both the Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets are off with a bye. The only other AFC East team playing this weekend is Buffalo; the Bills travel to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans.

In the highly anticipated rematch of last January’s AFC Championship game, the Patriots have opened as 5-point favorites at Indianapolis. The Colts have failed to live up to their off-season hype thus far, while the Patriots appear to gearing up for this game as part of the 2015 Scorched Earth FU tour.

For those New England Patriots fans refusing to fork over their money in a manner that would benefit the NFL, good news: even though you may not have subscribed to the Sunday Ticket, there is a very good chance that you will be able to view next week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys from the comfort of your own living room. Jim Nantz, Phil Simms and Tracy Wolfson will announce the game for CBS

The Detroit Lions travel to Century Link Field to take on the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks on Monday night to wrap up week four NFL action. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 pm eastern time, with the game broadcast on ESPN. Detroit is still looking for their first victory of the season, while Seattle seeks to even their record at 2-2 after losing their first two games.

Line: Seahawks -10 with an over/under of 43; money line is Seahawks -600 and Lions +450.

The vaunted Miami defense has been atrocious so far, allowing 391 yards per game. In an attempt to get to opposing quarterbacks the Fins have ignored the run, allowing an NFL 31st-ranked 145 yards rushing per game. The Jet offense is predicated on establishing the run, as that would put less pressure on journeyman QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to win the game. Miami’s offensive line is no match for a stout New York defensive front seven either; the Jet defense ranks first in efficiency, with opponents averaging 21.8 yards per point. The Dolphins don’t have enough offensive talent to win this game and they have to work too hard to score. The Fins rank 30th in offensive efficiency at 20.3 yards per point, which is a bad omen against a good defense. Expect Revis and Cromartie to pick Tannehill off at least a couple of times to set up a some points.