“This one is going to be the ultimate chess match,’’ Ryan said. “We don’t know exactly what we’re going to get from them. They don’t know exactly what we’re going to give them.’’
“You have to slow down their offense, that’s for sure. Nobody’s stopped them completely. They’re averaging over 500 yards a game, a ton of points.
“You’d better hope for a hurricane or something. That might be your only chance.’’
In two regular-season games against the Jets last season, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw six touchdown passes. Ryan is still trying to block out the four Brady piled up in a 45-3 win. This season, Brady is up to 13 already, with two four-touchdown games.
“Quite honestly,’’ Ryan said, “I’ve been on the sideline wishing there was a hurricane, because he’s that kind of guy.’’
No quarterback/wide receiver combination has been more explosive than Brady to Welker. Last year, coming back from an ACL tear, Welker caught 86 passes for 848 yards. This season, he is already up to 40 catches and 616 yards.
More than a third of Brady’s 109 completions have gone to Welker, who is averaging 13.3 yards a catch even when you take out the 99-yarder he had in the season opener.
Jets shutdown cornerback Darrelle Revis was mum on how much he’d cover Welker, but he said he hadn’t see a pass-catch combo so potent since Brady was throwing to Randy Moss.
“Those two guys are having an unbelievable year,’’ Revis said. “This is - what? - only the fifth game? So to have over 600 yards, it’s impressive.
“I think since Randy’s been gone, the focal point has been more on Wes Welker, to get him the ball so he can make plays.
“They’re very smart with how they work together and how they break Cover-1s and man coverage.’’
Even with Welker as his go-to, Brady has completed passes to 10 different receivers this season and thrown touchdowns to four of them.
