AFC Divisional Playoff: Jets at Patriots

By Chad Finn

January 16, 2011

4 minutes to read

All of the hype and buildup — the blustery coach’s must-watch press conferences, the productive (and re-productive) cornerback’s name-calling, the linebacker’s barely veiled threat of injury, the wide receiver’s subversive references, all of it — is just about done. Thank goodness, it’s time for the main event, time action rather than more talk.

The Patriots and Jets will meet for the third time this season today, and if you’ve used any form of media this past week, you surely do not require a full rehash of this always entertaining rivalry. Few games, if any, in recent Patriots history have been as hyped as this one. Of course, in the teams’ last meeting, Dec. 6 here at Gillette Stadium, the rivalry was not only entertaining, but lopsided — the Patriots routed the Jets, 45-3.

Revenge is a motive for the Jets today, but the question is whether they are capable with erratic Mark Sanchez at quarterback. They will have to run the ball to beat the Patriots. They will have to force Tom Brady and the offense into a rare mistake — the Patriots turned the ball over just 10 times this season, and Brady was intercepted just four times.

Two of those interceptions did come in Week 2 against the Jets, a 28-14 New York victory. But that was a different Patriots team. Danny Woodhead, let go by the Jets, had just been signed. Randy Moss was still around. Deion Branch was still a Seahawk. This is a different Patriots team, as they showed in the rematch.

Now it’s time for the rubber match — and not just for this season. The Patriots and Jets enter with 51-51-1 all-time records against each other. There’s something appropriate about that, wouldn’t you say?

Kickoff: 4:30 p.m.
Regular-season records: Patriots 14-2, AFC East champions, No. 1 seed; Jets 11-5, AFC wild card, No. 6 seed. The Jets beat the Colts, 17-16, at Indianapolis in the wild card round last Saturday
TV/radio: CBS (Channel 4). Jim Nantz is on play-by-play, with Phil Simms handling color. It is the eighth time the network’s No. 1 broadcast team will call a Patriots game. As always, Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti have the call on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Projected starting lineups

Patriots offense:
WR Wes Welker, WR Deion Branch, LT Matt Light, LG Logan Mankins, C Dan Koppen, RG Dan Connolly, RT Sebastian Vollmer, TE Alge Crumpler, RB Danny Woodhead, RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, QB Tom Brady

Jets offense:
WR Jerricho Cotchery, WR Braylon Edwards, LT D’Brickawshaw Ferguson, LG Matt Slauson, C Nick Mangold, RG Brandon Moore, RT Wayne Hunter, TE Dustin Keller, RB Shonn Greene, FB Tony Richardson, QB Mark Sanchez

Patriots defense:
LE Gerard Warren, NT Vince Wilfork, RE Eric Moore, OLB Rob Ninkovich, ILB Jerod Mayo, ILB Brandon Spikes, OLB Jermaine Cunningham, CB Devin McCourty, CB Kyle Arrington, S Brandon Meriweather, S Patrick Chung

Jets defense:
DE Shaun Ellis, NT Sione Pouha, T Mike DeVito, OLB Bryan Thomas, ILB Bart Scott, ILB MIKE David Harris, OLB Calvin Pace, CB Antonio Cromartie, S Eric Smith, S Brodney Pool, CB Darrelle Revis

Inactives DT Myron Pryor, RB Fred Taylor, OL Rich Ohrnberger, OL Mark LeVoir, WR Taylor Price, RB Thomas Clayton, LB Marques Murrell, DB Tony Carter.

All six of the players the Patriots listed as questionable — including WR Deion Branch, TE Aaron Hernandez, and LB Tully Banta-Cain — are active. Losing Pryor hurts their already thin depth on the defensive line, but he was listed as doubtful.

Jets WR/KR Brad Smith, FB John Conner, DE Vernon Gholston, DT Jarron Gilbert, TE Matt Mulligan, TE Jeff Cumberland, DT Marcus Dixon, Kellen Clemens is the third quarterback.

With Smith out, it’s likely that the dangerous Antonio Cromartie returns kicks. He had a pivotal return late in their victory over the Colts last week.

Take it on the run: In the 45-3 loss to the Patriots, the Jets came out in a hurry-up offense, and it proved ineffective. Jets coach Rex Ryan admitted this week that it wasn’t his best coaching decision, and with the erratic Sanchez at quarterback, it makes sense for the Jets to emphasize the run today, even if they fall behind early. Shonn Greene and veteran LaDainian Tomlinson (82 yards versus the Colts in the first round) are a capable tandem, and the Patriots have some issues on their defensive line beyond stellar Vince Wilford and dependable Gerard Warren. Mike Wright and Ron Brace both have been placed on injured reserve in recent weeks, and the Patriots will be depending on the unproven likes of Landon Cohen and Kyle Love to play significant time. One plus for the Patriots: rookie linebacker Brandon Spikes, a terrific tackler, is back from his four-game suspension for violating the league’s banned substances policy.

The last word: Tom Brady says all the right things, but he’s made a bait through the years of gaining his on-field revenge against opponents who bad-mouth the Patriots. (Anyone heard from Anthony Smith lately?) So it will be interesting to see if he targets Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie a time or two or three today. Cromartie said easrly this week that he didn’t like Brady, punctuating his comments with an expletive. The talented but erratic cornerback was a weak link in the Dec. 6 game — he struggles with quick receivers such as Deion Branch, and the Patriots exposed him early. There’s no doubt, after this week’s comments, that they’d love to do it again.