By Odeisel

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk from the Jets and now in the conclusion of the all the hype, Patriots/Jets III figures to put all of the garbage to rest.  Profanity-laced tirades, tongue-in-cheek foot references notwithstanding, the fact of the matter is that both teams took wins at home during the season series, albeit with the Pats laying down a 45-3 beating in the last match.

Rex Ryan has been popping a lot of shit going back to the HBO series Hard Knocks, so to stop now would be a sign of weakness. Either you’re all in or all out, and even with that huge loss, you can’t change a player’s game in the 9^thinning. The Jets will live and die backing up each other and that us against the world mentality may be enough to escape another massacre at Foxboro.

(11-5, 6-2 away) AT (14-2, 8-0 home)

Key Matchups:

Quarterback: Tom Brady is already climbing the list of greatest quarterbacks ever. Lost in how people view the Patriots’ run is the perpetual chip on his shoulder he carries from going 199^thin the draft. If you don’t think he resents having three rings and the best quarterback years of all-time and still hearing sub .500 in the play-offs Peyton manning heralded as the best of his generation, you haven’t been paying attention. Look for Brady to go after Antonio Cromartie in an attempt to shut him up.

While the Jets don’t actually want to have the game hinge on Mark Sanchez, it’s actually not a horrible place to be. He can make the throws, although with his shoulder you don’t want to push it. Look for Sanchez to make well-times passing plays and depend on a strong ground game focused on keeping Brady off the field with clock-eating drives.

Advantage: Patriots

Defense: The Patriots live by the bend and not break principle and they are near the bottom in the league in yards. They fool you into thinking your offense is killing them then line you up for timely interceptions. They will force you into a mistake and the defense, that began the year inexperienced, is beginning to gel at the right time.  Look for packages designed to fool Sanchez into throwing the wrong ball at the wrong time. With Offensive Lineman Damien Woody out, look for zone blitz packages designed to account for the Jet’s backs but put pressure on Sanchez.

The Jet’s secondary is their strength with all-world corner Darrell Revis nursing a bad hamstring. Cromartie who was brought in to deal with the speedy and tall Randy Moss will now be forced to cover short, quick,  precision route runners . Look for him to try and use his size on bump and run coverage and his strength to throw the small Patriot receivers off their routes. Don’t be surprised to see Revis in the slot on Welker at times.

Advantage: Jets

X-Factor: Coaching

The Patriots have had an extra week to prepare for anything the Jets throw at them and to disguise things that the Jets may have planned for in both their victory and subsequent demolition. Look for new wrinkles in the offense and some surprising packages the Jets haven’t seen before. Bill Belichick is every bit of the wizard and bastard they say he is and he will have his team ready.

Rex Ryan, like his father is a very good defensive coach and you won’t see the Jets get beaten the same way they did before. He will put Revis in the slot and he will use his best defensive weapon: Ladanian Tomlinson and a fresh Sean Green in a run-run-run attempt to keep Tom the Terminator off the field.

Advantage: Patriots

X-Factor: The Weather

It will be a cold, windy day in New England with a chance of snow and there is no one better in bad weather than Tom Brady. Warm weather Sanchez hasn’t fared so well in the cold weather nor in Foxboro. Is he up to the challenge this time around?

Advantage: Patriots

When the whistle blows, the time for talk is over and the time to play is here. When that happens, look for Tom Brady to make a statement as to who he is as a man and a quarterback. The Jets will put up a much better fight than everyone believes, but in the end, you just don’t tug on Superman’s cape.

Patriot 33-20  

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