Bad time to be playing Patriots

There’s never really a good time for the New York Jets to face the Patriots. Since Bill Belichick became New England’s coach in 2000, the Jets are 7-13 against their rivals from Foxborough.

Many of the games have been contentious—remember Spygate and the Eric Mangini-Belichick non-handshakes—and Belichick and current Jets coach Rex Ryan aren’t exactly buddies. It won’t help Bill B’s mood, either, that New York won 16-9 in Week 2.

Not that Belichick’s dour demeanor has been anything close to cheery since last Sunday’s late-game gamble backfired in Indianapolis, and the Patriots fell 35-34 to Peyton Manning(notes) and the Colts.

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So laying it on the Jets (4-5) even harder than usual might be on the mind of Belichick and the Patriots (6-3), if not to just about salt away the AFC East then to ease the memories from Indy.

“I’m worried about the Jets,” Tom Brady(notes) said. “I think I’d talked a lot about the Colts game and I think we’ve all got to move forward and understand that we’re playing a great opponent, one that really gave our offense a lot of problems the last time we played them and that has a lot of good players.”

The Jets also have problems on both sides of the line. Their running game is strong, but rookie Mark Sanchez(notes) is going through the expected struggles of a first-year quarterback. Their aggressive defense was rolled over by Jacksonville for a winning drive last weekend.

And now they have some ticked off Patriots to contend with.

Also Sunday, it’s San Diego at Denver, Indianapolis at Baltimore, New Orleans at Tampa Bay, Cincinnati at Oakland, Seattle at Minnesota, Pittsburgh at Kansas City, Washington at Dallas, Arizona at St. Louis, Atlanta at N.Y. Giants, Philadelphia at Chicago, San Francisco at Green Bay, Buffalo at Jacksonville and Cleveland at Detroit.

Tennessee is at Houston on Monday night.

The weekend began with Miami winning 24-17 at Carolina on Thursday night.

San Diego (6-3) at Denver (6-3)

This all seems so familiar.

The Broncos take a big lead in the AFC West, then squander it as the Chargers stop underachieving and begin playing up to their talent level. Then they meet with first place at stake.

It happened that way in 2008, and the Chargers won the finale to steal the division. San Diego has won four in a row, while Denver has dropped three straight heading into a Mile High faceoff.

Denver has scored only 16 points more than it has allowed, while the Chargers have a 35-point edge. The Broncos could be without quarterback Kyle Orton(notes), and backup Chris Simms(notes) was very rusty at Washington.

The Chargers got their running game in gear against Philadelphia, and their passing game hasn’t missed a beat. Perhaps most significantly, they’re making some key plays on defense again.

Indianapolis (9-0) at Baltimore (5-4)

If the Ravens play anything like they did in Cleveland, particularly in the first half, they won’t stop the Colts’ express. Peyton Manning is one of the few quarterbacks who tends to do well against the Baltimore defense, which will be without key linebacker/DE Terrell Suggs(notes) (right knee).

Following that gritty, if somewhat fortuitous, comeback against New England, the Colts should be feeling rather spry. They are 9-0 for the third time in five years, and have a franchise-record 18 consecutive regular-season victories. A win here gives them the second-longest streak behind New England’s 21 that included the 16-0 mark in 2007.

“We can’t be in any better spot, that’s a given,” said Jim Caldwell, the most successful rookie coach in the modern era. “But the fact of the matter is there’s still a lot of work to be done. If you take a peek in the rearview mirror, there are some teams behind us, but not very far behind us, in our division even.”

New Orleans (9-0) at Tampa Bay (1-8)

Suddenly, the “perfect season” talk in Nawlins has quieted down as the Saints have struggled the past month—and not against the toughest opponents. Of course, for these Saints struggling means that they haven’t clinched games by the end of the third quarter.

Reggie Bush(notes) stayed home to rest a knee injury and won’t get to test the Buccaneers’ suspect run defense. The Saints have also been vulnerable to the run without defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis(notes) (knee), who is missing his fourth straight game. No matter. As long as QB Drew Brees’(notes) shoulder is OK the Saints should be fine.

Cincinnati (7-2) at Oakland (2-7)

The old Bungles, uh, Bengals, would be expected to flop here and begin a downward trend back toward oblivion. These most decidedly are not those Bengals, and Cincinnati has a fast track to a division title and perhaps home-field advantage for at least one playoff round.

Cincy needs to keep on task, even if the opponent is Oakland, which has no offense and can’t stop the run. If Bengals newcomer Larry Johnson(notes) suits up, he could terrorize the team he excelled against while with the Chiefs.

Seattle (3-6) at Minnesota (8-1)

This one could get ugly, considering the problems Seattle has on the offensive line and the way the Vikings get after quarterbacks. Matt Hasselbeck(notes), a disciple of and good friend to Brett Favre(notes), might get very familiar with Jared Allen(notes), Kevin Williams(notes) and Ray Edwards(notes).

Minnesota seems to be in high gear offensively every week, with the Favre-Sidney Rice(notes) combination reminding folks of Favre-Sharpe and Favre-Driver.

Pittsburgh (6-3) at Kansas City (2-7)

Even though their chances to win the AFC North are wobbly after being swept by Cincinnati, the defending champions remain a logical choice for a playoff berth. But they don’t play very well without brilliant safety Troy Polamalu(notes), and he has knee issues again. Plus, their running game regressed last week after looking dynamic behind Rashard Mendenhall(notes).

Kansas City has victories over Washington and Oakland, not exactly opponents in the Steelers’ neighborhood. The Chiefs do protect the ball better than Pittsburgh (plus-1 turnover margin to minus 3) and might have found a runner to replace Larry Johnson in Jamaal Charles(notes), whose 44-yard TD rush was the first of his career.

Washington (3-6) at Dallas (6-3)

The renewal of one of the NFL’s most intense rivalries, with Washington fresh from its best game of the season and Dallas coming off perhaps its worst.

Washington has a solid defense, but struggles with the ball and might not have RB Clinton Portis(notes) (concussion). The Skins beat Denver last week without him, with Ladell Betts(notes) rushing for 114 yards and a score.

The Cowboys appeared to have a stranglehold on the NFC East, then stunk out Lambeau Field. Center Andre Gurode(notes) faces DT Albert Haynesworth(notes) for first time since Haynesworth stomped on his head in 2006 game.

Arizona (6-3) at St. Louis (1-8)

Many, if not most, of the fans in the stands will be there to see Kurt Warner’s(notes) return to where he guided the Greatest Show on Turf to two NFC crowns and one Super Bowl victory. Warner is doing quite nicely in the desert now, and the Cardinals are 4-0 on the road.

St. Louis is getting better, with a victory and a close loss to the perfect Saints in the last two games. The Rams’ best chance is to let Steven Jackson run wild, as he has for much of the year.

Atlanta (5-4) at N.Y. Giants (5-4)

Michael Turner’s(notes) sprained right ankle could derail Atlanta’s playoff chances, although backup Jason Snelling(notes) has performed well. If it’s windy in the Meadowlands, Matt Ryan(notes) might not be able to carry the offense, though the Giants can be vulnerable against tight ends and the Falcons have one of the all-time greats in Tony Gonzalez(notes).

New York’s four-game slide came after the level of competition was ratcheted up. The tough schedule continues almost until January, too, so the Giants need to come off their bye inspired and efficient.

Tennessee (3-6) at Houston (5-4), Monday night

For once, the Texans can actually think about a playoff chase. Coming off their bye, it begins this week against the revitalized Titans and Houston product Vince Young(notes), once the pride of Nashville while winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors—and perhaps headed that way again. Young is 3-0 since replacing Kerry Collins(notes) as Tennessee’s starting quarterback, mainly because RB Chris Johnson has been unstoppable.

For Houston to be taken seriously, it must win here and not be caught looking to next Sunday’s matchup with the division-leading Colts.

Philadelphia (5-4) at Chicago (4-5)

A second straight prime-time game for the Bears, who hardly deserve one after their performance in Candlestick Park. The Eagles are third in the NFL with 15 picks, and Jay Cutler(notes) doesn’t seem, well, picky about who intercepts him.

Philly fell far behind in San Diego before rallying, still lost, and might be without star RB Brian Westbrook(notes) (concussion) for a while. Because neither side can run effectively, watch for Donovan McNabb(notes) to put up as many passes at Cutler.

San Francisco (4-5) at Green Bay (5-4)

Both teams reversed fortunes last week, the Packers most impressively by manhandling Dallas. The way the defenses stepped up in Green Bay and San Francisco bodes well.

Now, about those offenses. Somehow, the Packers must protect Aaron Rodgers(notes) better—they’ve allowed 41 sacks—but the Niners don’t have an outstanding pass rusher. San Francisco is getting rookie wideout Michael Crabtree(notes) into the mix nicely, but quarterback Alex Smith remains unpredictable if not totally unreliable.

Buffalo (3-6) at Jacksonville (5-4)

The coaching change in Buffalo hardly was surprising, although elevating defensive coordinator Perry Fewell might seem strange because the Bills need a hearty boost on offense.

Jacksonville is coming off a last-second win at the Jets that featured Maurice Jones-Drew’s(notes) kneeldown at the New York 1 to set up the winning field goal. The Jags have won three straight at home.

Cleveland (1-8) at Detroit (1-8)

Aside from fans stuck with tickets to this one, we should feel sorry for Don Criqui and Randy Cross, the CBS announcers assigned to describe the, uh, action.

At least nobody can call this season a low point for the Lions. As for the once-proud Browns: It doesn’t get much worse.