Jets grounded in New England again, but Brady aerial attack suffers due to injuries.

New York Jets New England Patriots (-11) Thurs. 9/12 7:25 PM (Home Team Listed Last) (Favorite Denoted By Point Spread) The NFL Network kicks of its slate of Thursday night games tonight with a tilt between the AFC East rivals New York and New England. The Pats have won the last four meetings in the series, including 29-26 and 49-19 wins last year. However, the time is ripe for the Jets to knock off the Patriots as they are more vulnerable than ever in recent years. The only problem is that the Jets offense is anemic behind rookie starting quarterback Geno Smith. The Jets would have lost last week if it werent for a last second field goal set up by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on a boneheaded play by Bucs linebacker Lavonte David. David shoved Geno Smith out of bounds to incur the yellow flag and set up the winning score. The Patriots have their own problems. Quarterback Tom Brady has limited weapons to work with in the passing game. Last week, Brady threw two touchdown passes to Julian Edelman in a hard fought game against Buffalo that the Pats won with a field goal in the final seconds. Edelman, though reliable, will not be mistaken for former Pats wide receiver Wes Welker who often singlehandedly dominated a game by himself. Danny Amendola, the guy slated to replace Welker in the Pats high flying offense, will be sidelined tonight with a groin injury. Bradys monstrous tight end Rob Gronkowski is still recovering from back and forearm injuries. With all the injuries in the passing game, it looked like the Pats would have to turn to the running game behind a formidable offensive line. However, the stable of running backs suffered a blow last week when Shane Vereen was placed on temporary injured reserve with a wrist injury. Vereen rushed for 101 years last week against the Bills as a replacement for Stevan Ridley who was benched because of fumbling. Ridley will get another chance tonight to prove his mettle with LeGarrette Blount sharing the carries. This will be an ugly game tonight. Gone are the days where Brady stands in the pocket and picks apart defenses with a plethora of wide receivers. Look for the Jets to blanket Julian Edelman in the Patriots passing game. New England will have to effectively run the ball tonight to win the game. On the other side of the ball, look for the Pats Coach Bill Belichick to flush Jets quarterback Geno Smith out of the pocket with elaborate pass rushes and force the rookie into mistakes. Predicted Score: New England Patriots 24, New York Jets 16