At long last, one team has broken away from the middling pack and established a sole proprietorship on first place. After a 29-26 overtime victory over the New York Jets, the New England Patriots now sit atop the AFC East with a record of 4-3. However, the Jets weren’t the only team to suffer a late game loss in week 7. The Buffalo Bills fell to the Tennessee Titans 35-34, after a fourth quarter comeback led by veteran quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, handed the Bills their fourth loss of the season.

In Foxboro, Massachusetts the Patriots took advantage of a couple of untimely Mark Sanchez turnovers and some suspect play-calling to grab their fourth win of the season. Tom Brady tossed two touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over once to a Jets defense that looked primed and ready for an upset from the first snap. However, even a stellar defensive effort wasn’t enough to combat the continued offensive woes for the Jets.

Mark Sanchez fumbled a hand-off in the opening half which lead to a safety, and threw an interception on an under thrown pass to a wide open Stephen Hill in the end zone. The Patriots rallied off a first quarter kick return touchdown by Devin McCourty. Rob Gronkowski added two touchdown passes, and his size ultimately proved too much for the Jets undermanned secondary to handle. Despite a valiant effort, the Patriots added a Gostkowski field goal in overtime, followed by a strip-sack of Sanchez to end the game. Jets fans have to be wondering how much longer Mark Sanchez can struggle before Tim Tebow sees some substantial playing time.

In Buffalo, the Bills engaged in a back and forth shootout all day, only to fall 35-34. Ryan Fitzpatrick looked more impressive than in recent weeks, tossing three touchdowns to only one interception. Running backs, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, both looked fresh, having seemingly fully recovered from early season injuries. However, the Bills are still working out the kinks on defensive. One of the most highly touted units in the off-season, this Buffalo defense is yet to make any type of meaningful impact toward a Bills victory.

In Week 8, the Miami Dolphins return from bye to face the Jets at Metlife Stadium. The Patriots travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams, and the Bills receive their much needed bye week.

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The 2011 NFL season was one to remember for many reasons. Now dubbed the ‘year of the quarterback’ with passing records being broken on multiple fronts, the improvement in the passing game culminated in a higher desire for athletic and versatile tight ends, whilst slot receivers continued to grow in value, as did receivers with speed enough to stretch the field.

With the 2012 NFL Draft over and done with, fans excitement for the upcoming season is rapidly growing so we have made a list of players who set the standards for their positions last season, and whose performances players this year will be trying to better.

Quarterback

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers

Although there was some stiff competition at this spot, it is impossible not to name a man who was crowned NFL MVP for the season. He may have had the NFL’s best offense around him, but his statistics speak for themselves. He had a quarterback rating of 122.5, the highest in the league, whilst passing for 45 touchdowns and giving up just six interceptions. The fact his offensive line allowed him to be sacked 36 times, more than both Tom Brady and Drew Brees, makes his feats even more impressive and a worthy MVP selection.

Honorable Mentions – Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) Tom Brady (New England Patriots) Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions).

Running Back

Maurice Jones-Drew – Jacksonville Jaguars

Jones-Drew was the only player to rush for more than 100-yards a game on average last season, and whilst propelling his case for being the best running back in the NFL last season, highlights their declining importance in what has quickly become a passing league. His case is helped by the fact he was arguably Jacksonville’s only real offensive weapon and saw more of the ball then any other running back in the league.

Honorable Mentions – Ray Rice (Baltimore Ravens) Arian Foster (Houston Texans) LeSean McCoy (Philadelphia Eagles).

Fullback

Vonta Leach – Baltimore Ravens

Already one of the league’s top fullbacks when he joined the Ravens, Leach went on to have a stellar season up in Baltimore and earn the title of best fullback in the NFL. His powerful and astute blocking helped Ray Rice to a career-best season whilst also providing a limited target for quarterback Joe Flacco.

Honorable Mentions – Greg Jones (Jacksonville Jaguars) Marcell Reece (Oakland Raiders) Jed Collins (New Orleans Saints).

Wide Receiver

Calvin Johnson – Detroit Lions

Similar to Jones-Drew, Johnson was the only receiver to average over 100-yards a game, and also had over 100 more receiving yards than his closest rival, Wes Welker, despite having significantly less receptions. Known as ‘Megatron’, Johnson is a huge threat down the field due to his height, speed, jumping ability and reach, and managed to finish the season with 16 touchdowns, more than any other wide receiver, despite having to put up with double coverage for much of the season.

Honorable Mentions – Wes Welker (New England Patriots) Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) Victor Cruz (New York Giants).

Tight End

Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots

The term ‘breakout season’ was surely created to describe Gronkowski’s second season in New England. The University of Arizona product broke NFL records for most receiving touchdowns (17), most total touchdowns (18) and most receiving yards (1,327) by a tight end. With help from positional colleague Aaron Hernandez, and the pinpoint arm of Tom Brady, Gronkowski has spearheaded the current crop of athletic and versatile tight ends currently playing in the NFL and should do for many more years to come.

Honorable Mentions – Jimmy Graham (New Orleans Saints) Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys).

Tackle

Joe Thomas – Cleveland Browns

If you took a poll of all NFL coaches and asked them for one player they would want to build their offensive line around, you would get a very limited range of answers, and Thomas’s name would be repeated a lot. He is arguably the Browns greatest reason for optimism in the coming seasons as should they manage to find a franchise quarterback, they can rest assured that his blindside is well protected.

Honorable Mentions – Jake Long (Miami Dolphins) Tyrone Smith (Dallas Cowboys) Jason Peters (Philadelphia Eagles).

Guard

Marshal Yanda – Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens’ guard has long been underrated, and generally considered to not be quite at the level of the likes of Carl Nicks, Steve Hutchinson and former teammate Ben Grubbs. That was until last season. Yanda was equally impressive in both pass protection and run blocking, and his parity in these two skills are what earns him the pick over some of his contemporaries.

Honorable Mentions – Carl Nicks (formerly New Orleans Saints, now Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Steven Hutchinson (Minnesota Vikings) Josh Sitton (Green Bay Packers).

Center

Ryan Kalil – Carolina Panthers

Realising that Kalil will be a contentious decision given that he is not considered as ‘elite’ a center as some other centers in the league, but his play last season, with a rookie quarterback in Cam Newton, deserves some serious recognition. Other top players at the position such as Scott Wells and Chris Myers have the added security of being surrounded by a top quality offensive line, a luxury which Kalil does not enjoy in Carolina.

Honorable Mentions – Scott Wells (Green Bay Packers) Chris Myers (Houston Texans) Nick Mangold (New York Jets).

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When the Jets and Patriots met a month ago, the Patriots handed the Jets their third straight loss and made people question whether the Jets would even make the playoffs, let along make good on Rex’s usual preseason guarantee. Now the Jets have the chance to do the same thing right back to the Patriots.

The Jets have been hot lately, and they are undefeated at home this season. They’ve won the past two meetings at home against New England and on Sunday have a great opportunity to give the suddenly vulnerable Patriots their third straight loss, which would be their first since 2002.

“Both teams are going to be humming for this one, no question,” Rex Ryan said. “You can sugarcoat it all you want, but they know they need it and we know we need it. Both teams are going to be hungry.”

During their three game losing streak the Jets gave up at least 30 points and fell two games behind the AFC East lead. Three wins later and New York is 5-3 and back into a tie for 1^st with Buffalo and New England. The defense looks like the defense of old, circa 09’ and 10’, allowing only 38 points and forcing 8 turnovers in the past three games. Their last win was a convincing one 27-11 over the Bills last week.

“We definitely have been getting better these last three weeks,” Ryan said. “But we’re going to see how much we’ve improved.” While the defense is playing better they will still face a tough task against Tom Brady and the Patriots who are ranked second in the league averaging 437.3 yards per game.

However in the Patriots past three games they’ve failed to score more than 20 points. Against Pittsburgh two weeks ago they managed only 213 yards total and didn’t score in the first half last week against the Giants. They also committed four turnovers against New York last week which is the third time they’ve done so this year compared to only 1 turnover through their final eight games last year.

Tom Brady isn’t having his best year as he already has 10 interceptions which is the third most in the league compared to only four all of last year. ”Just decision making,” Brady said. “I’ve just got to make better decisions.” The problem for the Patriots though hasn’t been the offense. There issue is the defense which is dead last in passing allowing 314.0 yards per game and is the only team allowing 300+ passing yards in the league.

“I think everybody can do a better job,” Bill Belichick said. “That includes everybody — it includes me, it includes all the coaches, it includes all the players. There’s room for improvement for all of us.” The Patriots cut Albert Haynesworth on Tuesday who they had brought in hopes that he could help improve their defensive front.

They also brought in wide receiver Chad Ochocinco hoping he could give them some sort of a vertical threat, but he hasn’t made a catch in three games. Last week Brady targeted him five times. ”He’s continued to do a great job in practice in his role that he’s really carved out for himself,” Brady said, “and he’s going to continue to be out there and, hopefully, make a bunch of plays.”

The patriots will need him to start making plays to give them a some semblance of a deep threat, because due to his lack of production the Patriots have had to rely extensively on Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski. With Welker likely being matched up against All-Pro corner back Darrelle Revis his job will be even tougher this week.

Welker had a big 73 yard reception in the last meeting against the Jets, it came when he was lined up opposite Revis. He was otherwise held to a very pedestrian day only catching four balls for 51 yards. ”Sometimes I was throwing him on the ground, sometimes he was catching some balls on me,” Revis said. “I call him the ‘Energizer Bunny’ because he never stops — it doesn’t matter what you do to him, he just keeps on coming and coming.”

The key for the Patriots last time the two met was the run game. BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns and the Patriots racked up 152 yards on the ground. The Jets defense has been playing well against the run lately, though they are still ranked 22^nd giving up 123.0 yards per game. They will be getting defensive end Mike DeVito back who is a big part of their run defense so that bodes well for the Jets.

Though the Patriots pass defense is bad, the Jets will continue to rely on their run game as they have the past few games. Shonn Greene has stepped up and the Jets are averaging 130.7 yards over the three game win streak up from 76.2 before. A lot of the resurgence has to do with All-Pro center Nick Mangold fully healing from injury.

The return to the run game has also helped the passing game as Mark Sanchez has 7 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions with a 63% completion rate over the past four games. Sanchez has done well at home against the Patriots posting a 114.5 passer rating and a 2-0 record.

With the recent struggles of the Patriots and the Jets playing well lately and at home the game will be a close one. The Jets should be able to learn from the Steelers and their New York NFC counterparts and be able to keep Brady off balance in the passing game. Unless the Patriots get another big day from the run game the Jets will be hard to beat at home.

When it’s all said and done the Jets should be able to hand the beleaguered Patriots their third straight loss and move into first place in the AFC East. Final Prediction: Patriots 24 Jets 27

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The New York Giants repeated a comeback victory, similar to their 2008 Superbowl championship game, against the New England Patriots, scoring the final minutes to win 24-20 on Sunday.

There were no scoring drives in the first half of the game; however, the Giants where able to take the lead off a 22-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes, then a rushing touchdown from Brandon Jacobs a minute later, giving them a 10 point lead. Stephen Gostkowski was able to get the Patriots on the board with a 32-yard field goal with five minutes left in the quarter, making the score 10-3.

Five minutes into the fourth quarter, Tom Brady through the tying 5-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez for the Patriots’ first touchdown of the game. The Patriots took the lead in the third quarter off a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, making the score 13-10.

The final three minutes of the game was where all the action and tension was. Eli Manning took charge in an 85-yard streak of plays that ended with a 10-yard pass to Mario Manningham and a lead for the Giants. Brady responded by leading nine plays downfield for 64-yards, finishing up with a 14 yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, which gave the Patriots a 20-17 lead with a minute left in the game.

But a minute was all Manning needed to get the ball downfield in eight plays, and thanks to a 20-yard pass interference call on Patriots safety Sergio Brown that left the ball spotted on the one-yard line, a touchdown pass to Jake Ballard finished the game with the Giants winning 24-20.

The Giants (6-2) travel to California to face the San Francisco 49ers next Sunday, while the New England Patriots (5-3) travel to New Jersey to face the New York Jets.

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When the 6-1 Patriots take on the 5-2 Steelers this Sunday we all will get a little preview of what may come later in the playoffs as both teams look to make runs at the Super Bowl. Both teams have been playing well as of late and this should be another classic showdown between one of the leagues’ best offenses and one of the best defenses.

New England is the No. 1-ranked offense and Pittsburgh is the third-ranked defense. On paper this would seem like an even matchup and for years the Steelers have been known for their staunch defense, but there is one thing that those stats don’t reflect: Tom Brady is the QB for the Patriots and if history shows anything it’s that Brady plays really well against the Steelers.

Brady is 6-1 all-time against Pittsburgh with a 104.8 career passer rating and a 67.8 completion percentage. You don’t have to be a sports analyst to know that those are astonishingly good stats against a team whose defense is usually its strong point. In the most recent matchup between the two from last year, Brady was 30 of 43 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.

Mike Tomlin, whose now in his fifth season coaching the Steelers, has yet to beat the Patriots. “He is just very good physically and mentally,” Tomlin said this week. “He is very talented in both areas. He is tough to trick, he makes quick decisions, he has pinpoint accuracy and he has the arm to do the things he desires to do.”

The Steelers run a base 3-4 defense with a lot of zone-blitzes that are designed to trick and disguise quarterbacks, but Brady always seems to be a step ahead of them. Brady’s ability, plus the personel for both teams favors the Patriots. The Steelers strength is not their secondary it’s their front seven.

With the way the Patriots utilize spread formations along with the emergence of tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, the Steelers are forced to sub out linebackers for more corners, or live with James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, and Larry Foote matched up against the more athletic tight ends.

With the way the Patriots have been able to run the ball this year–they are 10^th in the league–it’s a double edge sword for the Steelers. Not having James Harrison, who will miss his 4^th game due to an eye injury, hurts as well because it takes away from the Steelers pass rush, which as we have seen over the years is the only way to get to Brady.

On the flip side is the atrocious Patriot defense, especially the secondary, against Big Ben and the Steeler offense. The Steelers have the 9^th ranked pass offense and the Patriots have the 32^nd ranked pass defense.

This matchup should favor the Steelers  as Rashard Mendenhall has been running the ball effectively and with a WR core consisting of Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, and TE Heath Miller, the Steelers should have no problem exploiting the secondary.

This game has the looks of a shootout the question boils down to whether the Steelers can manage to stop Brady and if Big Ben, who isn’t known for putting up monster numbers in a game, can keep up with the high scoring Patriots. This is not to say that history won’t repeat itself again and that means that Tom Brady and the Patriots have the Steelers number.

Add to that giving Belichick an extra week to prepare and it is probable that the Patriots will win a high scoring. Final Prediction: Patriots 31 Steelers 21.

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