New England Patriots at New York Jets +2.5

Sunday, September 19, 2010

by Aengus Moorehead

New England Patriots at New York Jets +2.5 - Randy Moss

Last week: New England Patriots (-4.5) beats visiting Cincinnati 38-24. New York Jets (-2.5) loses to visiting Baltimore 10-9.

Last week against the Spread: New England covers; NY Jets loses outright.

Analysis:
Can the Jets bounce back despite a short week of preparation? The Jets' offense, which looked inept Monday night, likely will need to score touchdowns to hang around against a New England offense that already appeared to be in mid-season form against Cincinnati.

While the Jets have been Team Distraction throughout the summer, the button-down Patriots have taken the opposite approach, except of course for Randy Moss. He complained about the lack of a new contract after the season opener. Will Patriots be affected by that?

Sure it's early, but most observers picked one of these teams to win the division. If the Patriots win, they already will have opened a two-game lead on the Jets and also will own the tiebreaker.

WR Wes Welker will be key for the Pat’s offense. He was out with a knee injury when the teams met in Week Two last season in New Jersey, and the Pats were held without a touchdown. He had 15 catches for 192 yards in the next meeting, as nobody on the Jets could cover him. And he looked pretty healthy against Cincinnati in Week 1 with two TD catches.

Coach Rex Ryan admitted the Jets need to open up their offense and look for WR Braylon Edwards downfield more often. He had only one catch Monday and was open on other occasions, but QB Mark Sanchez was so afraid to turn over the ball that he was checking down to his backs almost as soon as he made his reads.

In the backfield RB Shonn Greene fumbled twice in the first half against Baltimore, losing one, and was barely seen on the field after that. The Jets cannot write him out of their offense after one week, because LaDainian Tomlinson shouldn't be carrying the ball 20 times a game at this stage of his career.

While the Jets may take more shots downfield after hardly doing that at all in Week 1, they still like to feature the underneath game. It will be up to the sure-tackling LB Jerod Mayo to keep an eye on RB LaDainian Tomlinson, already emerging as a favorite third-down target of Sanchez.

Former Charger Antonio Cromartie showed why San Diego was eager to unload him last March with an undisciplined, penalty-filled performance. He must improve his technique in a hurry because the Jets' blitz-filled system demands that their cornerbacks can handle being on an island.

The Jets again will put CB Darrelle Revis on Randy Moss, as they did twice last season. Yes, that likely will remove Moss from the New England offense for the most part, but the rest of the Jets' secondary has yet to demonstrate it can stand up to being targeted. Welker and/or the New England TEs figure to have big games. Although rookie CB Devin McCourty played well last week, New England’s young secondary can be exploited. But do Sanchez and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer have the confidence at the moment to try such tactics? The Pats' offense looks good as ever and Jets' attack is in no position to trade scores. Take Patriots.

Be a player and bet on New England at NY Jets (-5.5) at Bodog Sportsbook

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antonio cromartie - braylon edwards - darrelle revis - devin mccourty - ladainian tomlinson - mark sanchez - new england patriots - new york jets - randy moss - rex ryan

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