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Larry Ness' Weekly Wipeout Winner-NFL (98-68 all sports s/Dec 23)-Thursday
My 9* Weekly Wipeout Winner is on the NY Jets at 8:20 ET.
The New England Patriots were just 1-2 after three games this season and when the Jets came to Foxboro in Week 7, both team were just 3-3. The Pats led 23-13 entering the fourth quarter but in what was becoming a habit, the Pats couldn’t hold that 4th quarter lead. New York tied it with 2:06 left and then when New England fumbled the ensuing kickoff, the Pats were in danger of falling to 3-4. The Jets were able to take a 26-23 lead with 1:06 left but as he has so many time, Brady calmly drove the Pats into FG position, sending the game to OT. The Pats won 29-26 and now, here in Week 12, the two teams meet for the second time in 2012 with the Pats at 7-3 and the Jets sitting at just 4-6. New England appears poised to win their ninth division title in 10 years while the Jets are staring at a second straight non-playoff year. The Pat lead the NFL by scoring 35.8 PPG and the team's plus-133 point differential is best in the league, despite a pair of 9-1 teams (Atlanta and Houston) a plus the 8-2 Ravens. Brady’s having another Brady-like season (65.1% / 21 TDs vs 3 INTs / QB rating of 102.6) but it’s been the team's improved running game which has really made the Pats more dangerous offensively. New England enters averaging 142.9 YPG on 4.3 YPC (the team's highest average in three decades), led by Ridley’s 842 yards (4.6 YPC). Bad news comes New England's way in that “Gronk” is expected to miss four to six weeks after having surgery for a broken left forearm, which he appeared to injure while blocking on an extra point late in last Sunday’s win. Here’s a guy who became the first tight end with at least 10 touchdowns in three consecutive seasons, as he caught two before exiting the game. The Patriots have won 15 of the last 19 regular-season meetings with the Jets, including four straight,. That said, the Pats are facing a desperate New York team in this one, coming off a 27-13 win at St Louis. The much-maligned Mark Sanchez completed 15 of 20 passes for 178 yards (one TD / 0 INTs), for a QB rating of 118.3. It marked his best performance since Week 1 (266 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT and a QB rating of 123.4), when the Jets opened the season with a 48-28 win over the Bills. Head coach Rex Ryan is reminding all that the Jets were also 4-6 back in 2009, before winning FIVE of six down the stretch, sneaking into the playoffs, then reaching the AFC championship game. Ryan, ever the optimist, thinks this team is capable of a similar run. New York does have the benefit of a weak remaining schedule after this contest, with games against Arizona, Tennessee, San Diego, and Buffalo (all teams with 4-6 records), as well as a meeting with 1-9 Jacksonville. Sanchez played pretty well, in the Week 7 loss at New England (28-41 for 328 yards with one TD and one INT) and will need to do so again, in this one. One always takes one's life in hand when backing Sanchez but it’s hard to overlook the fact that the Patriots are allowing 289.7 passing yards a game, which ranks 30th (Sanchez had a season-high passing yards in the 1st meeting). The Pats have compensated for their poor pass D by leading the AFC with 27 takeaways, while the team’s plus-20 turnover ratio is tops in the NFL. The Jets win over the Rams last Sunday marked just the team's second turnover-free game of the season, as Sanchez was interception-free for the only the third time this season. A win here and the with New York’s’ remaining schedule, the season may not yet be over. Home dogs have struggled badly the last five weeks (5-16-1 ATS) but I believe this one is capable of ‘barking’ very loudly on Thanksgiving night at Met Life Stadium. I take nothing away from the Pats but without Gronk and that sieve-like pass D, they are ripe for the upset against the desperate Jets.
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