Despite being billed as an offensive shootout between Brett Favre and Kurt Warner this game will probably be decided on defense.  Both of these teams are allowing under 300 yards per game this season so turnovers could decide this game.  The Jets would like to run a balanced offense against the Cardinals and for that to happen Thomas Jones will need to have a good game.  If Jones gets going running the football then Brett Favre should have the needed time to throw the football down the field to WRs Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

The Cardinals have been running the ball more than throwing it the first three weeks but look for that to change against the Jets who are allowing 211.3 yards passing per game while only allowing 86.7 yards rushing on 3.1 ypc this year.  The Jets have 8 sacks this season and the Cardinals have allowed 7 sacks so look for the Jets to be bringing the heat against Kurt Warner.  Still, Jets’ CBs could be in deep trouble trying to match up with WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin of the Cardinals.

PREDICTION:  ARIZONA CARDINALS 23, NEW YORK JETS 21

The Jets are only averaging 85.7 yards rushing per game and that’s putting a lot of pressure on QB Brett Favre.  Favre has completed 63 of 90 passes (70%) for 646 yards with 6 TD passes and 3 interceptions (98.7 QB Rating).  The Jets need to balance the offense a little better so that teams can’t come after Favre with the blitz quite as often as he has already been sacked 8 times this season.  Look for Favre to even get better too as he learns his WRs better in the near future.

The Jets made some huge mistakes in this game and the Chargers made them pay for every one.  Brett Favre completed 30 of 42 passes for 271 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 interceptions (one of which was returned 52 yards for a TD by CB Antonio Cromartie).  Kellen Clemens played a little bit too as he completed 3 of 5 passes for 26 yards with a interception.  Thomas Jones didn’t get much action as the Jets were playing from behind most of the game as he carried the ball 10 times for 37 yards (3.7 ypc).  Jerricho Cotchery led the Jets in this game with 10 catches for 76 yards (7.6 avg).  Laveranues Coles also had a very solid game with 6 catches for 75 yards (12.5 avg) with a TD grab.  Chansi Stuckey (6 rec, 42 yards) and TE Dustin Keller (4 rec, 41 yards) each caught one TD apiece.  The Jets finished up with 41 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 33 of 47 passes for 267 yards.

Linebacker David Harris (10 tackles) and CB David Barrett (4 tackles and a interception that he returned 25 yards for a TD) led the way for the Jets in this game.  The Chargers finished up with 107 yards on 35 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 25 passes for 250 yards.  The Jets fell to 1-2 on the season with this loss.

This will be a much better game than most people expect as the Chargers in their current condition are not 9 points better than the Jets which is the current line on this game.  The Chargers are allowing 437.0 yards per game and 32.5 points so they should wake up the Jets’ offense.  The Jets will likely give the Chargers a big dose of Thomas Jones (171 yards rushing) as the Chargers are allowing 143.5 yards rushing per game and 5.4 ypc.  But, Brett Favre has to be licking his chops watching game tape of the Chargers pass defense which is allowing 293.5 yards passing per contest.  This could be the game that Favre finds his rhythm with WRs Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

The Chargers might want to throw the football a little more than usual tomorrow night as the Jets have a solid run defense which is only allowing 76.5 yards rushing per game and 3.1 ypc.  With LaDainian Tomlinson banged up, Darren Sproles will likely get as many carries against the Jets.  Vincent Jackson (9 rec, 120 yards), Chris Chambers (5 rec, 127 yards) and Antonio Gates (8 rec, 122 yards) are all off to good starts for the Chargers this season and if Philip Rivers (122.5 QB Rating) gets the time to throw the ball the Jets could be in trouble.  But, the Jets already have seven sacks this season so they will be coming after Rivers, big time.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 34,  NEW YORK JETS 30

The Jets just didn’t make the big play when they needed it yesterday and it cost them the game.  Brett Favre completed 18 of 26 passes for 181 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Thomas Jones led the Jets in rushing with 70 yards on 17 carries (4.1 ypc).  Leon Washington pitched in with 28 yards rushing on only 2 carries (14.0 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 22 yards (5.5 avg).  Laveranues Coles caught 3 passes for 72 yards (24.0 avg) to lead the way in the passing game for the Jets.  Chansi Stuckey pitched in with 4 receptions for 43 yards (10.8 avg) with a TD grab (2-yarder).  The Jets carried the football 21 times for 104 yards (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 26 passes for 152 yards.

The Jets’ Defense played good enough to win in this game.  Safety Eric Smith led the way for the Jets with 10 tackles.  Linebackers Eric Barton (8 tackles), David Harris (8 tackles) and Bryan Thomas (8 tackles, sack) all pitched in with good efforts yesterday.  The Patriots finished up with 104 yards rushing on 33 carries (3.2 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 23 passes for 156 yards.  The Jets fell to 1-1 on the season due to this loss.

The Patriots swept the season series with the Jets last season by a combined score of 58-24, but, Brett Favre and Matt Cassel are the starting QBs now so things will likely be different this year.  Matt Cassel will be making his first start since 1999 when he was in high school!  Look for the Patriots to keep the offense the same with Cassel at QB as that was what he has been trained to do.  He played well last week for the Patriots leading them to a nice victory over the Chiefs plus the Jets allowed 251 yards passing to the lowly Dolphins last week.  Randy Moss will be looking to duplicate his numbers of last week (6 rec, 116 yards, TD) against the Jets tomorrow.  Look for Wes Welker to also be very busy for the Patriots in the passing game.  The Patriots also might decide to run the ball a little bit more than usual to protect Cassel.  Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris should get their fair share of work against a Jets’ defense that only allowed 49 yards rushing (2.9 ypc) last week against the Dolphins.

The Jets will likely look to stay balanced on offense to keep the Patriots guessing.  RB Thomas Jones has a nice game last week rushing for 101 yards on 22 carries (4.6 ypc) with a TD run.  The Patriots allowed 102 yards rushing last week against the Chiefs so Jones could find some running room.  If Brett Favre gets protection (the Patriots had 4 sacks last week) then he can attack the subpar corners of the Patriots deep with Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

PREDICTION:  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 27, NEW YORK JETS 24

Jets’ starting kicker Mike Nugent will be out indefinately with a pulled thigh muscle.  He tried to play through it in the season opener for the Jets and he made both of his extra points but missed his only field goal attempt.  The Jets acted quickly to replace Nugent by signing 32-year old Jay Feely to replace him.  Feely played in all 16 games for the Dolphins last season and he connected on 21 of 23 field goals (91.3%).  He also made all 26 of his field goal attempts.  Feely is a good fit for the Jets as he used to play for the Giants and knows the Meadowlands well.  Feely has now played in 112 games in his NFL career and he has connected on 177 of 219 field goals (80.8%) and 249 of 251 extra points (99.2%) in his career.

Brett Favre had a winning debut for the Jets but it came right down to the end of the game with CB Darrelle Revis picking off Chad Pennington very late in the 4th quarter.  Favre completed 15 of 22 passes for 194 yards with 2 TD passes.  Thomas Jones lent ground support for the Jets with 22 carries for 101 yards (4.6 ypc) with a TD run.  WRs Jerricho Cotchery (3 rec, 80 yards) and Chansi Stuckey (2 rec, 37 yards) each caught one of Favre’s TD passes.  The Jets finished up with 112 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 22 passes for 181 yards.

The Jets’ Defense was outstanding against the run but the Dolphins had some success throwing the football.  Linebacker Bryan Thomas was bringing the heat for the Jets in this game as he finished with 3 tackles and 2 sacks.  CB Darrelle Revis made the big play in this game intercepting Chad Pennington to end the game.  He also had 3 tackles.  The Dolphins finished up with only 49 yards rushing on 17 carries (2.9 ypc) and they completed 26 of 43 passes for 228 yards.  This was a good win for the Jets who look to put last year’s nightmare season behind them.

With Brett Favre in the fold it’s all systems go for a revival of Jets’ football.  The Jets have improved in a few areas and it will make them a legit playoff contender.  I’m thinking that the Jets will win at least 9 games this season so plunk some cash down on the over and take the money to the bank.

This game should be a bloodbath as the Jets have a much better roster than the rebuilding Dolphins.  Brett Favre should have a field day throwing against a secondary that doesn’t have much talent.  The Dolphins also don’t figure to get much of a pass rush against the Jets as DEs Vonnie Holliday and Kendall Langford are not the most talented duo in the league.  Also, OLBs Matt Roth and Joey Porter will make no one forget Jason Taylor.  Look for the Jets to pass the ball to get the lead and then to run out the clock on the ground.  WRs Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles solid both have field days against CBs Will Allen and Andre’ Goodman.  If the safeties help double the Jets’ WRs look for Favre to attack the Fins’ defense with TEs Chris Baker and Dustin Keller.  RBs Thomas Jones and Leon Washington should also have good games against the 3-4 front of the Dolphins’ defense which lacks playmakers.

The Dolphins probably want to run the ball a lot to try to control the clock.  That will be easier said than done against NT Kris Jenkins and 2nd year linebacker David Harris.  But, the Fins will try in anyway handing off the football to Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown.  The Dolphins better hope that works because they don’t have a good receiving corps and Chad Pennington doesn’t have the strongest arm around.  Still, Pennington could be inspired playing against the man who took his old job (Favre) and the only team he has ever played for in the NFL.  If DEs Shaun Ellis, Kenyon Coleman and linebackers Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas are getting in the backfield it will be virtually impossible for the Fins to pass.  WR Ted Ginn Jr. has the speed to get down the field and he will be dealing with young CBs Darelle Revis and Dwight Lowery.  The Fins also would like to get the TE involved in the passing game with Anthony Fasano and David Martin having some talent but Pennington will have to be careful throwing to them because free safety Kerry Rhodes is a big time playmaker for the Jets’ defense.

PREDICTION:  NEW YORK JETS 31, MIAMI DOLPHINS 10