1 New weapons on the field
The last time the Pats and Jets met, a certain Randy Moss was on the mind of Tom Brady. The QB forced too many passes to the mercurial WR, leading to the lack of offensive flow throughout the game.
Now Moss is history, and the Pats have two new offensive studs: Danny Woodhead and Deion Branch. Woodhead has been quite impressive during his time with New England, and Branch hasn’t missed a beat.
Since the trade of Branch, Brady has been on point between those two, BenJarvus Green-Ellis,
Wes Welker and Aaron Hernandez.
2 The consequences are going to be huge
The Pats and Jets came into Week 13 tied for the best record in the league. If they were playing in different conferences, that wouldn’t mean as much. But not only do they play in the same conference, they’re division rivals.
In fact, this could be the most meaningful regular-season game these two have ever played against each other. The winner of tonight’s game takes a huge step toward getting a first-round bye and home-field advantage for at least one game in the playoffs.
The Pats are undefeated at home this season, so that’s important.
3 Home again, home again
When it comes to playing at home, nobody does it better than Tom Brady.
No, seriously.
Brady will try to make history tonight as he goes for his 26th straight regular-season win at home. He’s currently tied with Mr. I’m Coming Back for One More Year in Green Bay (1995-98).
If you wanted to find the last time the Pats lost a regular-season home game, you’d have to look all the way back to Nov. 12, 2006 when (wait for it) the New York Jets won, 17-14.
