Week 6 Preview

We’re heading into Week 6 in the AFC East, and the buzz word around the division is “streak”. Two teams, Miami and New York, will be looking to end their streaks, while New England will be looking to extend theirs.

The Dolphins swim north to Cleveland this weekend for a matchup with the 2-3 Browns. While they may have a losing record, the Browns game against the Patriots showed that they aren’t a pushover and their offense is capable of putting up points against good defenses. The Dolphins defense will be under extra pressure to keep Cleveland off the scoreboard as the already shaky offense turns to backup QB Cleo Lemon. While Lemon doesn’t have the stats of Trent Green, with the way Green had played thus far that might not be a bad thing. Look for Ronnie Brown to once again carry the load on offense to keep the pressure off the passing game. Rookie Tedd Ginn Jr. will try and build off last week’s performance in which he finally showed why the Phins were willing to draft him with the #9 pick last spring.

For the second week in a row the Jets take on an NFC East opponent in the Meadowlands when the Philadelphia Eagles swoop into town. The Jets are in serious need of a win this week, but they need to avoid pressing too hard. Jets’ QB Chad Pennington could be the key to the Jets’ fortune this week, and more than throwing for a lot of yards he needs to take care of the football. Turnovers have been killing the Jets, and they cannot afford to give the Eagles offense a short field to work with. The Jets’ defense, on the other hand, needs to start causing some turnovers and getting some pressure on the quarterback. If the front 4 can get consistent pressure on Eagles QB Donovan McNabb it could force some bad throws and some turnovers.

In the biggest game thus far in the 2007 season, the 5-0 New England Patriots head to Dallas to take on the 5-0 Cowboys. It is only the 5th time in NFL history that two undefeated teams have met this late in the season, and only the third time since the 1970 merger. The last time it happened? 2004, when the 5-0 Jets fell to the 5-0 Pats, 13-7. The hype leading up to this game is bordering on overkill, but its tough to argue with it when you look at the stats.

Total Yards per Game
Dallas: #1 (429.6)
New England: #2 (427.8)

Passing Yards per Game
Dallas: #2 (292.4)
New England: #4 (272.8)

Rushing Yards per Game
Dallas: #7 (137.2)
New England: #3 (155.0)

Scoring Offense
Dallas: #2 (35.2 points per game)
New England: #1 (36.4 points per game)

Points Allowed per Game
Dallas: #13 (19.2 points per game)
New England: #6 (13.0 points per game)

Yards Allowed per Game
Dallas: #8 (285.4)
New England: #2 (251.4)

The numbers seem to give the Patriots a slight advantage in this game, but that advantage could be negated by a frenzied Texas Stadium crowd. The Patriots offense will have to do what it does best, namely score quickly and score often, to get the crowd out of the game early. Look for the Pats to come out in their usual spread offense to exploit some mismatches in the Dallas secondary. One matchup in particular to watch will be Pats’ TE Ben Watson against Dallas safety Roy Williams. Williams is a big hitter, but he is essentially useless in pass coverage, so look for Brady and the Pats to exploit this hole in the Dallas defense.

When the Cowboys offense has the ball, a matchup to keep an eye on will be TE Jason Witten against the Pats’ linebackers and safeties. Its unclear how the Pats will defend Witten, but it is obvious that he is a vital cog in the Cowboys powerhouse offense. Newcomer Adalius Thomas has shown he has both the size and speed to stay with TEs like Witten, so look for Thomas to be on Witten at least once in a while.