Statistically, New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is having a better season than New England Patriots QB Tom Brady. Let that sink in for a minute. The Jets giving the nod to Smith was one of the more controversial decisions of the young 2013 NFL season, but it appears to have been the right move. Brady’s numbers, though, have been hampered by a decimated receiving corp, and just as he’s starting to hit his stride, he’s now getting one of his biggest targets back in uniform. If you can’t see the game on CBS, make sure you watch Patriots vs Jets online streaming using one of several different methods. Because New England heading to New York is always an entertaining game, and what we saw just one month ago was only a glimpse of why this is one of the NFL’s most compelling day games today.
Patriots QB Tom Brady hasn’t had the best season, but today’s game against the Jets marks the first time he’ll get the chance to throw to one of his favorite targets. Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is expected to make his season debut today, as his agent said Gronk’s been cleared medically to take the field. Gronkowski has missed the first six games of the season while recovering from surgeries to his forearm and back. He’s not likely to be rusty, as he’s been practicing for weeks, but it still may take a few series to see whether he and Brady have the same chemistry.
If they do, the duo could make it a very long four quarters for the Jets defense. Although the Jets have the NFL’s fourth-ranked D, they’re allowing 22.5 points per game and a 36.7% conversion rate on third down. Those are both worse figures than the Patriots have achieved with their 14th-ranked defense. What this means as you watch Patriots vs Jets online streaming is that Brady, especially now with Gronkowski back in the lineup, could dramatically worsen the Jets’ third-down conversion rates with some clutch passing to a high-powered target.
The latest victim in the Patriots’ 5-1 march to a presumed playoff position was the New Orleans Saints. But as clutch as Brady was, he wasn’t the only one responsible for that win. The Patriots defense played a key lockdown role against the Saints, and they’ll have to play that role this week against Geno Smith as well, whose gone 113-190 for 1,490 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season. That could be quite a challenge, though, as Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo was ruled out for the season after suffering a torn pectoral muscle, and the New England defense continues to limp along without nose tackle Vince Wilfork and likely without a 100-percent-healed cornerback Aqib Talib, who limped off the field in Sunday’s win.
Geno Smith will surely take advantage of those injuries, particularly since his worst performance this season came in Week 2, when the Patriots faced the Jets and won 13-10. In that game, Smith completed just 15 of 35 passes for 214 yards, and he tossed three interceptions while being sacked four times. With that performance in his mind, not to mention his desire to come off a horrible 19-for-34, 201-yards and two interception week last week, Smith will be looking for both sweet revenge and a rebound game against the Patriots.
History, though, doesn’t favor Smith’s mission. Brady has an 18-4 career regular-season record against the Jets as a starter, and he’s led the Patriots to wins against them for six games in a row. To see whether he makes it seven in a row you can watch the game starting at 1pm Eastern / 10am Pacific on CBS, or you can watch Patriots vs Jets online streaming on DirecTV if you have the NFL Sunday Ticket Package (subscription required). The Patriots are favored by four points, but even though the Pats appear to have Gronkowski back, Jets QB Geno Smith could very well be a wild card — a role (and label) he’s had since being named the starting quarterback earlier this year.
