New York Jets vs. New England Patriots: Weather Report

It’s a quick turnaround for the New York Jets this week as they Kick off Week 2 and it’s against that evil empire in New England — the Patriots in a division rivalry.

Kickoff is 8:25 p.m. up in Foxboro so for those of you who want to venture up to enemy territory; according to the National Weather Service, these are the weather conditions:

“A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Thursday Night Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 2am and 4am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 4am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Chance of precipitation is 60%.”

Aug 17, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets corner back Dee Milliner (27) drops back into coverage against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first quarter of a preseason game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s the question that I ponder to all of you: Who does the weather favor? For a lot of reasons and least of which is the weather, I think the game favors the Pats. In the case of the question I posed, with the weather potentially being really nasty; the weather would favor a strong ground game.

And if you look at the stats from Week 1, that would favor the Patriots. However, according to ESPN Boston, running back Shane Veeren (14 carries, 101 yards) is having surgery on his foot (Vereen surgery) and is most likely out for the game on Thursday.

So Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount will more than likely be the ones to run the rock. But if you think about it, Leon Washington could get some carries too and you know that he’ll want to do something against the Jets.

The defense looked really stout against the run in Week 1 so they will need to do it again. But let’s not forget who the quarterback is for New England. They are going to throw the ball a lot. When Vincent Jackson gets 154 yards on seven catches against you, every team is going to throw it on the Jets. That means that the defense on the usual suspects is going to have strong against the pass… Antonio Cromartie, Dee Milliner.

Now offensively, there were some flashes of good stuff. But Bill Belichick will be out to confuse the hell out of Geno Smith. He’s going to have to show that poise that he showed in the first game. So he’s going to need to have a good game from his offensive targets. But the best way to keep the Patriots off the field is a good running game, ball control, ball control, ball control.