New England Patriots:

With a serviceable Jackson in the lineup, the Patriots can platoon him with the 245-pound Joey Iosefa inside with James White remaining free for obvious passing situations out of the backfield.

On Thursday, prior to the start of any Week 15 games, the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook published early ‘look ahead’ odds for the following week’s NFL action. The line originator installed the New England Patriots as three-point road favorites over the New York Jets in what will be the 114th meeting of these two bitter rivals from the AFL. Since the finish of Sunday’s NFL games 14 other venues have followed suit and list the Pats as three-point favorites, while four are placing New England at minus 3½ points.

Iosefa gained 51 yards on 14 carries and immediately has become a fan favorite. The man from Pago Pago was a great midseason under the radar pickup.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski had an emotional week after losing his good friend and personal trainer Dana Parenteau, and on Sunday he took his emotions out onto the field and left it all out there.

Harmon has transitioned into a fine safety for the Patriots with a distinct role; one that he’s excelled on. Now he’ll have to take over DMac’s role for the time being.

Through the first 10 games Harmon allowed only one completion on four attempts for 9 yards while logging three interceptions and a pass defensed

He really has a three-week audition for the Patriots. If he can produce and become a reliable target during the games against the Titans, Dolphins and Jets, then he can work himself into a nice supporting role for the post-season.

In both conferences the race for the number five seed is nearly as meaningful as getting a first round bye. Both of the number five seeds will most likely be playing against a team with a .500 (or losing record). On the other hand the number six seed will have to go on the road against a ten or eleven-win club.

The X-Factor this week in the passing game is White; he’s been coming into his own in recent weeks in replacing Dion Lewis

Mariota is completing 62.4 percent of his passes and has thrown for 2786 yards with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 91.9 passer rating. All very respectable numbers especially for a rookie

It was a total group effort with the interior players pushing the pocket and the edge rushers bringing pressure outside.

Tennessee just gave up 183 rushing yards (while gaining just 24 yards on the ground themselves), so normally you would think that New England’s game plan would be to just run, run and run some more. Problem for the Patriots is that they are running out of running backs, so that may not be feasible.

So wait, Thursday Night Football will be on Saturday after the season already opened with Sunday Night Football on Thursday?

Both Denver and Cincinnati lost Sunday afternoon and the Patriots’ win vaulted them right back to the top seed in the AFC at 11-2.

There are plenty of pivotal games to the NFL playoff picture this week, starting with New England at Houston on Sunday night. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati should not only be a very entertaining game to watch, it will play a critical role in the Bengals’ quest for a first round bye, and whether or not the Steelers make the playoffs. Other important games include Oakland at Denver, Dallas at Green Bay, Buffalo at Philadelphia, Washington at Chicago and Indianapolis at Jacksonville.