New England Patriots to Steamroll the New York Jets This Afternoon, 34 to 16

The New York Jets, who, as a franchise, has had very little success as a franchise and yet who are rapidly becoming the team that the nation loves to hate, take on the New England Patriots, who have enjoyed a dynastic type run for the past ten seasons and yet somehow inspire relatively little bile, play each other this afternoon.

While it doesn't quite rival the Yankees and Red Sox, the Patriots and Jets have established a regional rivalry that is among the best in the National Football League.

The game is more important, in many ways, for the New York Jets.

The Jets are already 0 and 1 this season, having lost in embarrassing fashion Monday night at home against the Baltimore Ravens. As they open the season with two home games, their Super Bowl hopes, which they talked about extensively during the pre-season, are based to a large degree on what happens during this Week Two matchup.

In some ways, the Jets do not have that much to gain today, as going 1 and 1 to open the season at home is nothing particularly remarkable. But if they begin the season 0 and 2, with two home losses, the Jets' season could rapidly unravel.

While the Jets have a great run defense and they have a quarterback who most still believe has some great long term potential, I give them very little chance to win today. In fact, I think the Patriots will likely rip apart the Jets quite easily. The matchups do not favor the Jets and the weakness that the Patriots do have, their secondary defense, will likely be negated by the Jets' quarterback March Sanchez's inability to throw down the field.

While Sanchez shows potential (his footwork is excellent), his arm is probably just adequate and his judgment is a work in progress. Sanchez, after all, started a grand total of sixteen games in college and even eternal optimist Pete Carroll, Sanchez's college coach, said he needed much more seasoning before going to the NFL.

The other problem facing the Jets is that their biggest strength, cornerback Darrelle Revis likely will be negated. The Patriots have Wes Walker and Randy Moss, two of the best receiving threats in the league. Reevis cannot cover both, and he is said to be dealing with a hamstring issue as well.

This will be a long afternoon for the New York Jets. Expect the Patriots to win. Ron Hart's prediction: New England Patriots 34, New York Jets 16.

Source: Manish Mehta, "The Jets Stream", nydailynews.com