As the New England Patriots prepare for their Week 12, AFC East match up with the New York Jets, here are some pregame story lines to follow:

Top & Bottom- The Week 12 game pits the AFC East's best team, the Patriots, against the the division's last place team, the Jets. New England comes into the battle at 8-2 overall and 2-1 against AFC East opponents, while the jets enter at a lowly 3-7 overall and 1-1 in the division. Up until recently, the Jets had been the Pats biggest competition in a division that New England has had a stranglehold on for the past 16 years. As of late, however, the Jets have seemingly taken a step back in the standings.

Walking Wounded- The Patriots enter the game with a number of offensive weapons listed as questionable. The hefty list includes the prominent likes of starting quarterback Tom Brady, both top tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett and wide outs Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan. Now, both Gronkowski and Hogan missed last week's win over San Francisco due to injuries, so it's no surprise to see them on the injury list. Bennett has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury for some time now, but has managed to stay on the field. Last week, he played, with Gronkowski out, but was more or less a non-option all game long, as he was targeted only twice and caught one pass. Edelman also has been dealing with foot discomfort for most of the season, but has been out on the field week after week, so he should be good to go. The most surprising member of the list might be Brady, however, as he missed both Wednesday and Thursday's practices and was limited on Friday. Brady doesn't like to miss out on any reps, whether they are in practices or games, so it is a situation to watch, though the 39-year-old should be expected to play. The Jets are not playing good football right now, so even if a couple of guys on this list end up not playing, the Pats should be able to create the offensive firepower to win.

About To Make History- Provided that Brady is good to go on Sunday, which should be expected, the future Hall-of-Famer is in line to make some history. A win against the Jets would tie Brady with Peyton Manning for first place on the all-time wins list at 200. The victory would also give the former 199th overall draft pick his 22nd career win over New York. That would give him at least 22 wins over two different opponents (Buffalo Bills), and tie Hall-of-Fame quarterback Brett Favre as the only other quarterback to amass such a total against two teams.

Give It To The Backs- With a host of injuries to some of the team's key options in the passing attack, it wouldn't be a shock to see Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels dial up a game plan that features his two pass catching backs, Dion Lewis and James White. Lewis, who got back on the field for the first time last week after missing the start of the season while rehabbing from a torn ACL, showed the same sort of elusiveness he demonstrated early last season on limited snaps. White was also effective catching the ball out of the backfield last week, as he has been all season. With both backs at his disposal and limited other options, it would make sense for McDaniels to utilize them maybe more than usual. While Lewis is still on a "pitch count" of sorts and shouldn't be overworked just yet, using him in tandem with the steady White could help create some big plays for the New England offense.

Maximizing Mitchell- Last week, when the Pats were without Chris Hogan and Rob Gronkowski, who are the team's two top deep passing threats, rookie Malcolm Mitchell stepped up and put together the best game of his career. The fourth round pick suffered a dislocated elbow early in the preseason and had somewhat faded to the background on the depth chart, but was forced into a larger role last Sunday. Given the opportunity to play a larger part of the offense, Mitchell shined, catching a season-high four passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, including a 56-yard catch-and-run score. With the real possibility of the Pats being thin in the passing game again this week, Mitchell might have a chance to maximize his worth once again on Sunday.

Picking On An Old Friend- Jets defensive back Darrelle Revis, who won a ring with the Patriots back in 2014, has had a Hall-of-Fame worthy career during his 10 years in the league. It appears, however, that years of living out on an island and taking away the opponent's top receiving threat have caught up with the once lock down corner. While Brady and his fellow offensive teammates have a wealth of respect for their former teammate and what he has done throughout his career, don't be shocked if the Pats pick on their old friend.

Opposite Ends Of The Spectrum- One of the main reasons why the Pats are atop the AFC and the Jets sit near the bottom of the barrel is the fact that their quarterback play has been vastly different. For New York, starter Ryan Fitzpatrick has been flat out terrible this season, completing just 56.4% of his passes for 1,983 yards in nine total games. He also has thrown a whopping 13 interceptions to just eight touchdowns. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Brady has been nothing short of spectacular since returning to the lineup in Week 5. In three fewer games than Fitzpatrick, who entered the season looking for a big money deal, TB12 has dazzled, completing an astounding 70.4% of his passes for 1,915 yards. He has also slung 16 touchdown passes and thrown just one single pick. With the two teams heading in such opposite directions, it's not hard to see why when you look at the play of their top quarterbacks.

A Chance To Get Back To The Old Way- The game presents a real chance for the Patriot defense to get back to their old ways of creating turnovers. In years past New England has had a similar bend, but don't break approach to their defense, but has been adept at causing key turnovers and forcing their opponents into bad decisions. That same style of play has yet to really be seen from this 2016 defense, though if there is any team to help get them going in that familiar direction it would be the Jets. New York has a staggering -11 turnover differential, thanks in large part to 15 interceptions their three quarterbacks have managed to throw this season. They rank near the bottom of the league in both number of turnovers and overall turnover ratio. If the Pats play them like most others have this season, New England should be able to win the turnover battle which usually coincides with winning the game.

The One To Watch- Despite how bad New York has been on offense so far this season, free agent running back Matt Forte has come over and picked up right where he left off in Chicago. On 212 total touches, Forte has gained 911 yards from scrimmage and score eight times. For the New England defense, he'll be the one to watch and keep an eye out for, every time he is on the field. Expect the Patriots to do what they normally do defensively and try to take away the opposing offense's biggest threat, which in this case is Forte.

Prediction- The jets are still a relatively strong defensive team, but their offense is just so very bad that it is tough to see them sticking with the New England offense. While the New York defense and injuries to some of the Patriots top offensive weapons might slow them down just a bit, New England still has enough weapons to create scoring opportunities. While the Patriot defense has been not nearly on the level many had expected, coming into the season, the Jets usually do enough damage themselves to help opposing defenses out and crush their own would-be scoring opportunities. Though he enters the game as questionable with a knee injury, expect Brady, along with some of the other questionable players for New England, to head out onto the field in New Jersey Sunday and do enough to cruise to another double digit victory.

Patriots 31, Jets 13

 

 

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