Patriots:

there remain matchups that can be utilized once again especially in the middle of the field with Rob Gronkowski and James White, in lieu of Lewis.

With a fully loaded receiver core Brady would pick this unit apart, much like he did in October.

Landry is the first Dolphin WR ever to have a 100-catch, 1000-yard season.

The Patriots showed some grit coming back from a 17-3 deficit in the Meadowlands and sending the game into overtime, but the Jets produced in the extra session to easily go down the field and score.

Belichick has never been shy going against conventional “wisdom” and in this case he was right…they didn’t execute. Tip your hat to the Jets offense.

With the Patriots no longer playing a meaningless Week 17 game the Pats began Sunday evening as an eight point favorite, and by the end of the night the line was up to nine points. In the NFC Arizona clinched a bye, but their domination over Green Bay coupled with Seattle’s loss to the Rams caused that line to have a swing of a full six points, from the Cardinals being 2½ point underdogs to Arizona being favored by 3½ points.

In one of only three NFL Week 16 games between two teams with winning records, the 12-2 New England Patriots take on the 9-5 New York Jets in a game with playoff implications for both teams. The Patriots have already won the AFC East title (for the seventh consecutive season) and earned a first round bye. The Pats can clinch the number one seed and home field throughout the conference playoffs with a win over their arch rivals (or with a loss by Cincinnati). The Jets have the same record as Pittsburgh and Kansas City but need help because they would lose tiebreakers to the Steelers or Chiefs. Gang Green will be eliminated from the playoffs with a loss combined with wins by the Broncos, Steelers and Chiefs. The Jets would also be eliminated from the number five seed with either a loss plus a Pittsburgh win, or a loss plus victories by the Broncos and Chiefs.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was particularly proud of the fact that all seven Pro Bowlers were ‘home-grown’ talent that the Patriots developed.

As has been the case nearly all season, this week there is a paucity of games between teams that both have winning records. There are only three games that fit in that category this week (and just two for the entire day Sunday): the Patriots at Jets in an early game, Green Bay at Arizona late, and then Cincinnati at Denver on Monday night.

Brady was vintage; he hit on 14 of 17 for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the comeback win.

All eyes will be on Jackson to see what he has left in the tank and one particular area to focus on will be ball security. For a guy who hasn’t played all season, that will bear watching.

Fitzpatrick is having the best season of his career completing 61 percent of his passes, with 3428 passing yards and 26 TDs and just 12 picks for 89.6 passer rating on the year.

The two defenders in the area are sealed by Kline and Andrews allowing White a clear path between them. The defensive linemen don’t have the speed to catch White as he cuts back to the outside, avoids the tackle by Wesley Woodyard and gets two outstanding downfield blocks from LaFell and Amendola.

For the second week in a row the best teams in each conference will not be televised in the late afternoon slot, but will instead receive primary network distribution among the NFL games kicking off early. CBS will televise the 12-2 New England Patriots at the 9-5 New York Jets in all or parts of 29 states, while FOX will air the 14-0 Carolina Panthers at the 7-7 Atlanta Falcons in all or parts of 40 states. The amount of coverage given divisional rivalries in an early time slot is quite rare; usually the early games are somewhat equally divided with regional coverage.

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.