Jerod Mayo is already a star. He has few weaknesses in his game and must be contained if the Jets are to have a chance.

Mayo is tough, athletic, smart and instinctive and will demand double teams throughout the day. He missed three games earlier in the season and is still not in top form but is improving each week.

Mayo is a big play guy; he forces fumbles, can pressure the quarterback and makes plays on the ball in coverage. This could be a tough game for Dustin Keller because Mayo and fellow linebacker Gary Guyton cover tight ends well.

Brian Schottenheimer would have to get Keller matched up on Pierre Woods or Adalius Thomas to have any success since neither guy covers particularly well.

The Patriots’ once-dominant linebacking corps now relies on a committee approach to get the job done. Instead of Bruschi, Vrabel and Seau staying on the field for all three downs, they now use a bigger group that is more specialized.

Mayo will be the only one to stay out there but Woods and ILB Eric Alexander are strictly run stoppers. They will give way to Tully Banta-Cain and Guyton in passing situations.

Banta-Cain is probably one of the Patriots’ best pass-rushers at this point but their overall rush has been disappointing, collecting only 16 sacks on the season (27th overall).

Adalius Thomas will be used in both pass and run situations and Derrick Burgess will be come in as a situational pass rusher but both have slowed down considerably and lack the burst from earlier in their careers.

The Patriots are not a team an opponent can look at statistically and determine a clear area to attack. Belichick and his staff do such a good job of game planning, they find a way to hide their liabilities and this game will be no different.

Even though their pass rush is weak, they still rank 7th against the pass and get it done primarily with their schemes. They confuse opposing quarterbacks with disguised coverages, which mitigate their deficiencies in the secondary.

Their corners, Shaun Springs and Leigh Bodden, are both average players but like many before them, they play well within New England’s scheme. They excel in zone coverage and play smart.

Bodden in particular has really turned his career around. He was going nowhere in Detroit but as Belichick always does, he took a veteran off the scrap heap that had skills that translated well into the Patriots’ system and found a place for him.

The strength of the Pats’ secondary is at safety and Brandon Meriweather is the star of the group. He is instinctive, athletic and has the range to do it all.

He is aggressive in run support and versatile enough to line up in different spots on the field. He can be inconsistent in coverage, especially when he loses leverage on the receiver and will also take some bad angles out of his breaks.

With a more seasoned quarterback, the Jets might have some opportunities against Meriweather, particularly if he had to face a speedster like David Clowney but Mark Sanchez is just not consistent enough yet to exploit Meriweather’s weaknesses.

The Patriots have only given up one play of 40 yards or more, which speaks to their discipline. It will be hard for the Jets to generate any big plays against this defense.

Like any Bill Belichick-coached team, this year’s version is technically sound and makes few mistakes. They do not beat themselves with penalties and do not commit mental mistakes like blown assignments.

They force the other team to be perfect and capitalize and nearly every mistake. This does not bode well for the Jets who have been undisciplined, mistake prone and have not protected the football.

One area where Sanchez might be vulnerable is in reading the drops of the Patriots’ defensive backs. They like to show man coverage from their corners and then, at the last minute, with the ball in the air, peel off into a more shallow zone and step in front of another receiver for the interception.

Sanchez struggled with similar reads against New Orleans and Buffalo and threw a ton of picks. Schottenheimer would be wise to limit Sanchez’ reads in this game and have him throw safer routes to his receivers that require limited reads.

This will make the Jets’ passing attack more predictable and easier to defend but a conservative attack against the Patriots’ defense, in their own building, is the way to go.

New England has the 17th ranked run defense but this stat is misleading. The Patriots team as a whole may not generate great statistics but they get it done on game day.

They did so in their first meeting, holding Thomas Jones to a 3.9 average.

This would have been a great game to have Leon Washington. He posed a greater threat to the Patriots’ defense and would have created some match up problems in the passing game.

New England plays a base 3-4 but has mixed in more 4-3 fronts to compensate for the loss of Seymour.

NT Vince Wilfork is a beast and is difficult to move off the ball.
Nick Mangold will have his hands full but he has played well against him in the past.

Mangold’s ability to control Wilfork is one of the keys in this game. If he can control him at the point of attack the Jets stand a better chance of running the football, which is a must if they want to control the clock, limit Sanchez’ exposure and keep Tom Brady off the field.

DE Ty Warren is still one of the best in the league and he teams up with Mike Wright on the other end. Wright is very strong and quick and gave Alan Faneca fits in their first match up.

It was Wright who hit Sanchez on the Jets’ first play from scrimmage and forced a fumble that rolled to the Jets’ two-yard line. Fortunately Faneca recovered the ball but the Jets were in a hole early.

Wright pushed Faneca back like he was on roller skates and the play highlighted Faneca’s diminishing pass blocking skills. Schottenheimer will have to build in some combo blocks from D’Brickashaw Ferguson or Mangold to help out or keep his backs in more often just in case Faneca breaks down.

Despite not being statistically impressive, the Patriots are stingy and give up only 16.7 points per game which ranks third. They know how to tighten up on third down and are tough to score on in the red zone.

This game looks to be a tough one for Sanchez. The Patriots play good pass defense and will try to confuse the rookie with their coverages and will certainly throw a fair share of stunts and blitzes to rush his decision-making.

He will have to be disciplined, which he has not shown so far, and throw the ball away when nothing is there. He must protect the football because New England will make the Jets pay for every mistake.

Keys

• Mangold must contain Wilfork at the point of attack. The Jets must run the ball in order to have a chance in this game and containing Wilfork will be the key. If Mangold cannot do it on his own they must double-team him.

• Sanchez must protect the football. If the Jets can run the ball and keep Sanchez to 15 throws they have a chance.

• The Jets must focus their attention on Jerod Mayo. He is the best playmaker on New England’s defense and must be the focus of the Jets’ offensive line if they want to move the football.