Patriots vs. Jets: AFC East Rivals Featured on Sunday Night Football

New England Patriots at New York Jets
Sunday, 11/13/11, 8:20 PM EST, TV: NBC
Opening Point Spread: New York PK
Current Betting Line: New York -2
Opening Total: 48
Current Total: 47
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker

New England Patriots Football — The New England Patriots will be aiming to sweep the New York Jets in the season series Sunday night

New England is aiming to sweep the season series with the New York Jets and put an end to a two-game losing streak. The Patriots are coming off back-to-back losses for just the third time since the beginning of the 2003 campaign, dropping a 24-20 decision to the New York Giants as nine-point home favorites last week. “I think everybody can do a better job,” commented Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “There’s room for improvement for all of us.” Not many fans of the franchise are anticipating a third-straight loss, as it hasn’t happened since 2002. New England is 5-1 ATS as an underdog the last two-plus seasons and the ‘over’ is 4-2 in those contests.

The Patriots are currently involved in a three-way tie atop the AFC East divisional standings with the Jets and Buffalo Bills, already handing Sunday’s opponent a 30-21 loss as 7.5-point home favorites in the first meeting on Oct. 9. New England has absolutely dominated games within the division, tallying a 50-15 record since the start of the 2001 season, which is the best intra-division record of any NFL team. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 14-4 versus the Jets when playing as a starter.

New York comes in with plenty of confidence in winning three consecutive games and knowing that third-year quarterback Mark Sanchez is 2-0 at home in this rivalry, registering a 114.5 passer rating. He has enjoyed a great run since facing the Patriots, leading the team to a 3-1 record, while throwing for 770 yards and seven touchdowns with just two interceptions. Offensively, the team ranks second in the NFL in scoring touchdowns inside the red zone, doing so 64 percent of the time. New York is 8-3 ATS when revenging a loss against a divisional opponent.

The Jets defense is the key to this particular game in facing Brady, ranking second in the league with 19 takeaways, which includes 13 interceptions. New York did allow 446 total yards in the first matchup this year, but the stop unit has limited opposing signal-callers to a 59.4 passer rating this year. Overall, head coach Rex Ryan has seen his defense limit teams to just 319 yards per game, while allowing 20.4 points a contest.