New England (1-0) at NY Jets (1-0)

 

SCOUTING REPORT

Jets can't let Brady get comfortableThe Jets' Eric Mangini, the youngest coach in the league, got his first win on the road in Week 1 against the Titans. The Patriots escaped with a win at home despite a subpar performance. The winner of this game will take the early lead in the AFC East. It's tough to outwit someone you know well (Mangini coached under Bill Belichick in New England), but you can bet that both coaches will have some wrinkles up their sleeves.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
NWE	12-4	385	237	5-3	7-1	4-2	8-4
NYJ	10-6	316	295	4-4	6-2	4-2	7-5
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

New England Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Brady 66.4 3049 20 6 Hoyer 81.8 52 0 0

NY Jets Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Sanche... 52.1 1791 10 16

New England Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Marone... 116 455 3.9 6 Taylor 45 201 4.5 2

NY Jets Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Jones 191 884 4.6 8 Washin... 72 331 4.6 0

New England Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Moss 63 925 14.7 8 Welker 79 854 10.8 4

NY Jets Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Cotche... 36 582 16.2 3 Keller 32 385 12.0 2

Full Player Stats: New England | NY Jets

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	NWE	336.0
	NYJ	306.0
Yards Passing	NWE	212.5
	NYJ	197.1
Yards Rushing	NWE	123.1
	NYJ	108.6
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	NWE	294.4
	NYJ	331.6
Pass Yds Allowed	NWE	200.2
	NYJ	201.4
Rush Yds Allowed	NWE	94.2
	NYJ	130.3

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
New England leads 10-3
Dec 26, 2005	NWE 31, NYJ 21
Dec 4, 2005	NWE 16, @NYJ 3
Dec 26, 2004	NWE 23, NYJ 7
Oct 24, 2004	NWE 13, @NYJ 7
Dec 20, 2003	NWE 21, NYJ 16
Sep 21, 2003	NWE 23, @NYJ 16
Dec 22, 2002	NWE 17, @NYJ 30
Sep 15, 2002	NWE 44, NYJ 7
Dec 2, 2001	NWE 17, NYJ 16
Sep 23, 2001	NWE 3, @NYJ 10

New England (1-0) at NY Jets (1-0) Sunday 4:15 pm EDT

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- More fuel has been added to a bitter AFC East rivalry.

Eric Mangini, the youngest coach in the NFL, faces his mentor Bill Belichick when the New York Jets host the New England Patriots on Sunday.

But the first meeting between the pupil and the teacher comes at a time when there appears to be more bad blood between the teams.

According to the Boston Globe, the Patriots have filed tampering charges against the Jets after New England traded holdout wide receiver Deion Branch to the Seattle Seahawks for a first-round pick.

In their reported tampering charge, the Patriots claim that while the Jets had permission to negotiate a contract with Branch, any trade talks were to be solely between the teams. They claim that because Branch's representatives became involved in trade talks, the Patriots' negotiating position was compromised.

This is the latest chapter in the rivalry that heated up when Bill Parcells left the Patriots after Super Bowl XXXI to take the Jets job in 1997. Parcells proceeded to sign running back Curtis Martin away from the Patriots. Then in 2000, Belichick turned down the Jets coaching job as the heir apparent to Parcells and took over the Patriots.

Under Belichick, the Patriots have won three of the last five Super Bowl titles. In that span, the Jets made the playoffs three times, but didn't reach the AFC championship game.

New England has also dominated the Jets in the head-to-head series, winning the last six meetings and eight of the last nine.

After finishing 4-12 last season, Jets owner Woody Johnson decided to pick from the Belichick tree, naming Mangini as his coach last January to replace Herman Edwards.

Just 35 years of age, Mangini has three Super Bowl rings as Belichick's secondary coach in New England. Last season, he was promoted to defensive coordinator.

"Bill and I spent a lot of time together. I enjoyed that time and learned a lot from him," Mangini said. "But this is the Jets against the Patriots. Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini are just the coaches."

Mangini's coaching philosophy is patterned on what he learned from Belichick - the discipline and the grueling training camp - and the personalities of the two are similar.

Mangini's debut was a rousing success as the Jets posted a 23-16 win at Tennessee last week.

Chad Pennington showed no ill effects from a twice-repaired shoulder injury, completing 24-of-33 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target Laveranues Coles caught eight passes for 153 yards.

The Jets squandered a 16-0 lead, but Pennington hit tight end Chris Baker with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who led the NFL in tackles last season, had 12 tackles and cornerback Andre Dyson, who was signed in the offseason to replace Ty Law, had two interceptions.

But the Jets missed Curtis Martin, the NFL's fourth all-time leading rusher who will be sidelined at least the first six weeks of the season with knee soreness. Derrick Blaylock and Kevan Barlow combined for just 61 yards on 30 carries in the win at Tennessee.

Also, kicker Mike Nugent missed field-goal attempts of 34 and 30 yards as well as an extra point.

The Patriots rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Buffalo, 19-17, in their season opener. Defensive end Ty Warren sacked J.P. Losman in the end zone for the go-ahead safety with 8:33 left in the fourth quarter.

But it's clear that Tom Brady misses Branch and David Givens, another starting receiver from last season who signed with Tennessee in the offseason. In the win over Buffalo, Brady completed just 11-of-23 passes for 163 yards.

Last December 26, Brady threw for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns to linebacker-fullback-tight end Mike Vrabel here in a 31-21 victory for the Patriots.

Vrabel also recorded a sack, becoming the first player since 1982 to have two touchdowns and a sack in the same game.

Star inside linebacker Tedy Bruschi is questionable for Sunday. He suffered a broken wrist in the preseason and missed the opener last week.

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Patriots.com News Blitz

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