New England could not have performed much better in a 38-24 season-opening win over Cincinnati, another team like New York that saw the hype machine swirl in its favor during the offseason due to the acquisition of wide receiver Terrell Owens. But the Patriots let their play do the talking and limited Owens to seven catches for 53 yards even though he was targeted 13 times by Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer.
Cincy’s final offensive numbers looked good on paper led by Palmer, who finished with 345 passing yards, most of which came in garbage time after the Bengals trailed 31-3 early in the third quarter. New England’s young defensive backs did a great job on Owens and Chad Ochocinco early on though and will not face a comparable test against the Jets.
To say that New York’s offense was anemic in a 10-9 home loss to Baltimore on Monday night might be an understatement. Jets second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez has taken most of the criticism for not taking enough chances downfield, but his receiving options are limited right now without wide receiver Santonio Holmes in the mix. Holmes will be sitting out the second game of a four-game suspension since coming over in a trade from Pittsburgh, and Sanchez struggled to stretch the field in going 10 of 21 for 74 passing yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
The top rushing offense from a year ago failed to make a big impact against the Ravens as well, totaling 116 yards on 21 carries. LaDainian Tomlinson and Brad Smith combined for 43 yards on two of those runs, making the other 19 attempts worth an average only 3.8 yards. Second-year running back Shonn Greene was expected to explode on the scene as the new starter for the departed Thomas Jones, but he managed to carry the ball just five times for 18 yards.
The Jets played well on defense vs. Baltimore but will be facing a totally different animal here in New England. The Patriots looked great on offense behind quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 25 of 35 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those scoring passes went to wide receiver Wes Welker in his first regular-season game back following knee surgery.
The road team is a remarkable 19-7-1 ATS in the last 27 meetings between these teams, although the home team not only won but also covered in both games last season. The UNDER is also 3-1-1 in the last five meetings, including a 16-9 home win for New York in the first game against New England last year. Maddux Sports has spotted some value on this game, consider our our NFL predictions for Sunday to help you turn a profit against the bookmaker.
