Jets Look to Keep it Going vs. Matt Cassel and the Pats

Jets seek 2-0 start hosting the rival Patriots

This weekend’s Jets-Patriots matchup will be a lot different than when these two teams met Week 1 last year at the Meadowlands. Yep, Fireman Eddie Anzalone is back. Oh, and Tom Brady is out for the year.

Last year’s Jets crowds were dysfunctional and scandalous to say the least. We needed the Fireman and now he is back. Oh, and Tom Brady is still out for the year.

It’s Week 2 and the Jets find themselves in an unfamiliar role that they have not been in since the days of Parcells. Division favorites? I guess. That’s what Brett Favre does, other than throw 40 yard ducks that get caught by Chansi Stuckey for a touchdown. That’s what you get with Favre. You have to take the good with the bad. His risky nature will lead to Jets scores, but he is prone to turn the ball over as well.

Too many people are jumping on the Jets bandwagon. It’s bothering me. Seriously Chris Mortensen, why don’t you pick the Bills to win the division, or stick with Matt Cassel and the Pats, even though Bill Simmons doesn’t know how to pronounce his name? The Jets are in an unwanted role as the team to beat now, but will they be able to live up to this new found hype?

This week the Jets play the Patriots in what may be a defining moment for the Brett Favre era. These teams already hated each other, but now with the added element of Favre being able to actually throw the ball unlike the quarterback who will rename nameless, if you don’t think the Patriots will come out firing, even without Brady, then you are crazy.

I’ll be the first one to tell you that in his limited NFL action, Matt Cassel has looked worse than Browning Nagle, but I am still scared to death of this team. I wouldn’t recommend NFL teams employing quarterbacks that did not even start in college, but Tom Brady wasn’t a full-time starter and he only became one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

The way the Jets played last week worries me. The fact that they are favored in this game against a team that went 18-1 last year worries me as well. These are not the same Patriots that skewered the Jets twice last year though. They are relying on a guy that made it awfully tough to watch that game in Kansas City last week.

All that being said; the Jets must step up their game in order to win this week. I can’t say I disagree with anyone picking the Pats this week (Peter King), but I have seen Matt Cassel play in the NFL and it hasn’t been pretty.

This week the Jets will have to get after Cassel which will cause them to completely alter the game plan they had last week when they failed to get after the quarterback who shall rename nameless for most of the game.

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You know what though; I can see the Jets winning on Sunday just as easily as I can see Matt Cassel doing his best Tom Brady impersonation to carve up the Jets. But I’m excited. Is it Sunday yet?

For the first time in a long time, the Jets have the opportunity to hit the Patriots right in the mouth. Let’s just hope they bring their A game on Sunday.

The Prediction: Pats 23 - Jets 17

Let’s pray I am wrong.

> Also see our Patriots Correspondent's preview of this game!

By Dan Rein
ProFootball-fans.com New York Jets Correspondent