Week 10 NFL Picks: 3 Reasons New England Patriots Will Continue to Slide

The New England Patriots aren’t living up to expectations this year. They are 5-3 and are in a tie for first place in the AFC East.

They have a chance to take the division lead this week, with a matchup against the 5-3 New York Jets on Sunday night.

A win against the Jets would give the Pats a season sweep of their rivals, making a division title likely.

But, with the way the Patriots have been playing lately, that’s probably not going to happen.

Here are three reasons the Patriots’ losing streak will continue this weekend.

Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie

The Patriots don’t have an elite receiving corps. They have Wes Welker, but that’s pretty much it.

In the first matchup between the Jets and Pats this season, Revis followed Welker all over the field and kept him relatively contained, allowing only five catches for 124 yards and no touchdowns.

That’s a lot of yards, but Revis didn’t allow Welker to be the reason the Jets lost 30-21.

And, without a deep-threat receiver, Cromartie could see some action against Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez on Sunday night. If he can keep them mostly contained, it’ll be a long night for the Patriots.

Horrible pass defense

The Patriots have the worst defense in the NFL this year, allowing 416 yards per game to opponents.

This is largely because of an inexperienced secondary that has seen many players come and go already this season.

Mark Sanchez isn’t the best quarterback in the league by any means, but he should have no trouble finding some open receivers.

Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes could each end up with more than 100 receiving yards on Sunday night.

Tom Brady is having a bad year

Brady hasn’t been the same quarterback fans are used to seeing.

He’s already thrown 10 interceptions in just eight games. His career-high interception total is 14.

Teams have figured out that if you put pressure on him, he will make more mistakes than if you drop eight defenders into coverage.

The last four weeks, he’s faced some pretty good pass-rushing teams (Jets, Cowboys, Steelers, Giants) and has thrown seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

The Jets held Brady to one touchdown and one interception in Week 5. Expect similar numbers again on Sunday night.