Keys To Victory - Jets

With the red throwbacks in effect and
Brandon Bolden ruled out with a knee,
Stevan Ridley will be the workhorse.

1. Run More Than Pass - In the 3 games The Patriots have won, they've run the ball more than 50% of their plays. In 3 losses, The Pats got a little pass-happy. Last week, the running game wasn't cutting the mustard, and I think The Patriots went away from it too soon. I don't care how good Brady is, you can't ask him to throw the ball 58 times without making a mistake. Against Seattle, The Patriots chose to take the more favorable match-up, avoiding Seattle's stifling run Defense. The Jets Defense is not nearly as good as Seattle. The Jets have been solid against the pass, but have been suspect vs. the run (allowing 150.5 yards on the ground per game). As a game plan Offense, you'd expect New England to run the ball to exploit The Jets, but if The Jets are able to stop the run early, The Patriots can't give up on it like they did in Seattle. Even without Revis, The Jets pass D has been solid, so our best bet is to get Ridley plenty of touches. This should make Brady more efficient, and help the whole Offense.

2. Be Prepared For Tebow Time - Rex Ryan has said publicly that Jets QB Tim Tebow could be used as a traditional RB. The fact that he said this so point-blank makes me believe that if Tebow does take snaps at RB, it will be in a very insignificant role. It seems counter-intuitive to announce the secret weapon to the world, so maybe Rex just said it so that The Patriots would need to devote time in practice game-planning for it. Overall, The Pats need to expect the unexpected. Tony Sparano won the game against The Patriots where he first unveiled The Wildcat, but I think this is different. Tebow brings a certain skill set to the field, and those skills are a known commodity. Tebow runs and throws the deep pass better than Sanchez, so Belichick needs to prepare for trick plays that force a Defense to account for his legs while staying back on the deep routes. This has been a problem for The Patriots, and Belichick needs to figure out how best to play against Tebow and Sparano.

3. Score In The Red Zone - Last week The Patriots went 1/6 in the Red Zone. Such inefficiency cost them the game, but the only thing they can do now is learn from it. The Jets Defense is not as fearsome as The Seahawks, but many of The Patriots woes were self-inflicted. Brady had 2 terrible picks, and bad clock management cost them another chance. The Jets Offense will not be able to keep up with the scoring pace of the game if The Patriots cash in on their Red Zone opportunities. However, if New York can get a few stops, force a few FGs, and keep it close, then The Patriots could run into some trouble. Still, if The Jets do stop us, we need to settle for the 3 points. We're going to need the points any way we can get them. Empty possessions are just not acceptable on your home field against a division opponent.

4. Don't Surrender A Non-Offensive TD - The Jets have already scored four Non-Offensive TDs this season: one on a Kerley punt return, one on a McKnight kick return, and two from the Defense. The Jets can score in all three phases of the game. With a struggling Offense, success on Special Teams (including Tebow on 4th down) becomes a huge spark for Gang Green. If The Jets are able to keep it close and then get points in a non-traditional way, then it gives The Jets a lot of confidence. The Patriots are going to need to play a clean game where they win the turnover ratio, don't surrender huge return yards, and don't give up points off of turnovers. If The Jets Offense doesn't get any help on the scoreboard, they'll be hard pressed to keep up with Brady and company.

5. Limit Big Plays On D - The Patriots DBs are the achilles heel of the team at the moment, but this is the week that they can silence their critics. With Steve Gregory out again this week, Tavon Wilson will be in the limelight after his infamous misread in The Seahawks game. This team has surrendered game-changing big plays in every game this season, usually due to bad technique played by the DBs. However, football is a team sport, and everyone on the team has a role in helping to fix this issue. The DL and LBs need to get more pressure of the passer, Brady needs to possess the ball for bigger chunks of time to limit the opposition's opportunities, Gostk/Mesko and their coverage teams need to pin them back so they can't try the long ball. Really, the DBs are not going to improve drastically in one week, but the supporting play around them could make a huge difference. I am looking first and foremost at Wilfork, Jones, and the pass rush to get there faster.