Patriots vs. Jets: 9 Predictions for Sunday Night Football

The 2011 NFL season has seen a lot of disappointing primetime matchups. Tonight should not be one of them, with the New York Jets taking on the  New England Patriots.

The Patriots and Jets have built one of the more colorful rivalries in the NFL over the last several seasons.  A huge part of that is the clash of egos between the head coaches, Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick.

Beyond those two men, the players on the field provide plenty of excitement in their own right. The Jets defense, as currently conceived, has been built with Tom Brady in mind, emphasizing pass rush and tight coverage in the secondary.  

When these two teams meet, the game is almost always memorable—and if the game isn't memorable enough, the postgame press conference always is. Click through the slide show for nine predictions about tonight's Sunday Night Football match up between the Jets and Patriots.

Tom Brady Will Have at Least 2 Turnovers

Tom Brady has not been himself lately when it comes to taking care of the football. Over the last four games, Brady has thrown five interceptions. For many quarterbacks, that would just be a small bump in the road. For Tom Brady, it's borderline apocalyptic.

The Jets are not a team to be careless with the ball against. They have 13 interceptions this season, which ranks third in the league. The Jets also bring a fairly potent pass rush, opening the do for a strip sack or two.  

BenJarvus Green-Ellis Will Rush for 100 Yards

An interesting wrinkle to this New York Jets defense is that they are actually a poor run defending team, something you wouldn't expect to see from the Jets based on years passed.  The Jets are averaging giving up over 120 yards on the ground per game. With the Jets focusing on stopping Tom Brady first and foremost, there should be ample room for law firm to chew up yards on the ground.

Mark Sanchez Will Hit 250 Yards Passing

It's no secret that the Patriots defense is pitiful against the pass. They are the only defense in the NFL this season that averages giving up 300 yards per game through the air. There have been many stretches in games this season where opponents have sliced the Pats up with the pass seemingly with ease, most recently in later stages of the Giants game last week, where Eli Manning totally dominated them when they needed to most.  

Sanchez is not a great QB, but against the Patriots this year, you don't have to be great to put up hug passing numbers.

Chad Ochocinco Will Finally Make His Presence Felt on the Field

Cha Ochocinco has been a complete no show this season so far. Spending most of his time on the sidelines, he has yet to do much of anything in support of this Patriots team. That ends tonight. With Bill Belichick sending Albert Haynesworth to the unemployment line this week, the message has been sent: Perform or get out.

Ochocinco looked somewhat decent last week, but Tom Brady wasn't quite able to make the throws when he was open. It was one of the first signs of those two finally getting on the same page. Look for them to actually get results tonight, as the Jets will have very little film of Ochocinco to prepare with.

The Game Will Cover the Over

Bodog has the over/under for this game listed at 47.5 points. I think this one will be high scoring and surpass that, with both teams scoring in the high 20's. The Patriots broke 30 points the last time these two team met, and the Jets will have plenty of opportunities to score against this leaky Patriots defense.

Plaxico Burress Will Have a Big Game

With half of the season gone by, Plaxico Burress and Mark Sanchez have begun to establish some chemistry. In particular, Sanchez has found some success throwing the ball up to Burress in the end zone. Against the Patriots woeful secondary, that is a great plan for success. I would predict that Burress gets in the neighborhood of 80-100 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Mark Sanchez Will Be Sacked Once or Less

One of the main things that contributes to the Patriots' inability to defend the pass is the fact the the front seven struggles mightily to put consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback.

The Jets offensive line has also been pretty good in pass protection. Unless Bill Belichick really digs deep into his playbook and dials up some aggressive blitzes, look for Sanchez's jersey to be mostly clean at the end of the game tonight.

The Jets Will Run More Than Pass

Despite the obvious weakness of the Patriots passing defense, the Jets and Rex Ryan will do their best to stick with their bread and butter rushing attack. The Jets running game has been potent in recent weeks, led by Shonn Greene.

While the Jets will certainly try to take advantage of the Patriots secondary, don't expect them to forsake running the ball to do so. 

The Jets Will Win

The Patriots enter this game playing some of their least inspired football of the season. The offense has struggled recently to put up points at the pace that we have become accustomed to seeing.  

Meanwhile, the Jets are rounding into form, having won their last three games since these two teams last met. The Jets should have a rowdy Sunday night crowd behind them, and all the momentum coming into the game. I'm predicting a narrow Jets win, 31-27.