Foxboro Forum

Brett Favre had a good game last week-although it was against the Miami Dolphins (1-15 last year) - but what can we expect from Favre and the Jets this week?

On the offensive side the Patriots may not have Brady at QB but they still have great offensive weapons.  The added depth this season at running back should be a big help for Cassel to get comfortable and set the pace of the game when the Patriots have the ball.  We’ve seen so little of Cassel in real game situations so I don’t think anyone is sure how he’ll respond when it comes to passing.  He played well overall against the Chiefs ad I think the biggest thing he did was to not turnover the ball.  If he can limit turnovers I think the rest of the team is good enough to make up for any of Cassels weaknesses.

Defensively the Jets have tended to play well against the Pats in the past and I don’t think that will change this weekend.  The defense played well against the Dolphins last week limiting the running game of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown and pressuring Chad Pennington all game who was sacked 4 times.  The big difference with the Patriots is the quality of the offensive line - which the Dolphins are lacking this year.  The Pats offensive line is stacked and while they didn’t play well in pre-season they played well in week 1 and there’s no reason to believe they won’t play with greater intensity and focus this week against the Jets.

Defensively the Patriots are essentially the same team they were last year - missing Asante Samuel the most.  We saw the old bend-dont-break style of play against the Chiefs this past weekend with the stand on the Chiefs final possession.  We will need to see more of that type of play against New York.  With Brett Favre I don’t think you need to worry so much about him executing the standard plays its when he starts slinging it down field trying to make a play you need to worry.  Sometimes those plays will kill you - he tossed a hail-mary TD against the Dolphins that could have just as easily been an interception.  Against a defense like the Patriots those plays will be more difficult to pull off and I’m sure Hobbs and Harrison and ONeal are hoping he tries them more often.

I see the Pats with the advantage in this game (what a surprise) in most areas except for QB.  Otherwise on offense the Patriots have better running backs, wide receivers and offense line - I think these advantages more than outweigh the difference at QB.  And the Pats are better on defense overall.  As long as Cassel doesn’t turn over the ball I think everything else will take of itself.