NFL Bargain Bets for Week 2
September 18th 2010 - Old Man Winner             

New England Patriots -1.5 @ New York Jets

Last week, while watching the Pats completely undress the Bengals defense, I felt an eery sensation. It was the ghost of Christmas past - or, in this case, the Pats of 2007. And, it actually makes a lot of sense. Brady needed a year to sand off all the rust of a season on the bench. Moss is back to having a reason to prove himself (lack of a contract extension). Welker looks 100% healthy. The Pats have two good tight ends with great hands. They have a nice young, up and coming receiver in Brandon Tate. And, they have upgraded their RB situation by firmly handing Fred Taylor the starting gig and trading Laurence Maroney. Their offensive line may not be everything it was a couple of years ago, but with all the other skill positions primed, I believe this could be another record year for this offense.

With respect to this game, I think the Jets are spent from a very physical Monday night game against Baltimore. Revis is not 100%, and with Kris Jenkins out for the year, the Pats should be able to abuse the offside Jet defensive backs, much like the Ravens did last week. On the other side of the ball the Jets proved that they aren't where they were at the end of last year. I believe they took a step backward when they jettisoned Thomas Jones and, simply stated, Mark Sanchez is not even a top 25 QB in this league. The Pats defense is not great, but it is young and quick and should be able to scheme effectively against a very vanilla offense.

I think the Pats win this one pretty easily.
Pats 28 Jets 17