The New York Jets and New England Patriots can swap Tim Tebow horror stories before their AFC clash tonight as week two of the NFL 2013 football season schedule kicks off with Thursday Night Football on NFL Network at a start time of 8:25pm EST. Both teams enter tonight’s game with perfect 1-0 records early on in the new season, so one will be dropping to .500 and the other will maintain their perfect mark for another week. Watch Thursday Night Football online live streaming instructions are available below.
The Jets have embarked upon a new era of sorts as former starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, who seemed to have won the job during the preseason, is likely out for the season with surgery reportedly required on his torn shoulder. Enter rookie Geno Smith who guided the Jets to a late game-winning field goal victory over Tampa Bay by a single point. His numbers weren’t spectacular with 24 of 38 passing for 256 yards, a touchdown pass, a pick, and a fumble, but he got the job done and the Jets are going to ride him from here on out for better or worse.
New England has historically manhandled the Jets defense, but last week New York held the Bucs to only 250 total yards and a measly field goal in the entire second half. If the Jets defense can keep Brady off-balance, they could end up walking out of Foxborough with a rare win.
The Patriots have won four of the past five against the Jets and a commanding 11-games straight against East teams that dates back nearly two years. All streaks come to an end and the Buffalo Bills nearly sent the Patriots packing last week with an upset loss, but instead they escaped with a two point win.
The good news for Patriots fans is that Tom Brady was still effective despite not having Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez and injured Rob Gronkowski to throw to. Newcomer Danny Amendola caught 10 passes for 104 yards to fill the void, and rookie running back Shane Vereen broke 100 yards rushing and caught three passes in the game-winning drive. Unfortunately Vereen was lost to injury and will miss at least eight weeks due to a broken bone.
If tonight’s game comes down to a battle between quarterback efficiency then the clear victor will be the Patriots. Brady turned up the heat against the Bills when he had to, and the Patriots offense is not the Bucs offense that the Jets were able to smother last week. I predict this will be a seesaw game decided late with a Tom Brady scoring drive for the winning score.
The start time for tonight’s second NFL Thursday Night Football game featuring the New York Jets visiting the New England Patriots is 8:25pm EST / 5:25pm PST, with the game being televised in high definition (HD) on NFL Network. The easier way to watch Thursday Night Football online live streaming is via DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket package with the Max upgrade. However, you must pay extra to gain access to the live online streaming feature.
Subscribers of NFL Network on a handful of select cable or satellite providers, then you have the ability to watch a free live online streaming version of tonight’s Thursday Night Football game here on Xbox 360, cell phones, laptops, tablets, iPads or any Internet connected electronic device.
