Will Pats top Jets on Monday? NAY: I’m in a New York state of mind

Say it with me ? J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.They’re flying away en route to the NFL’s best record, and they’re going to fly away with a win on Monday night against your New England Patriots.Of course they’re good at flying away – New York has two airports to Boston’s one. And they know how to apply the pressure – the New York Times just did a big article on how some of the Jets players, including turncoat Damien Woody, have learned the benefits of acupuncture.It is more painful than an acupuncturist’s needle to say this, but the Jets have out-everything’ed the Pats thus far. Quarterback Mark Sanchez is playing like a young Dan Marino. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson has found the Fountain of Youth that eluded him in San Diego. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes has shown a knack for the game-winning catch. And the whole team has shown a refusal to lie down on the canvas.The gritty Pats will come at the Jets in Round Two with more weapons than they brought to the Meadowlands in the second game of the season – a 28-14 Pats loss. Between now and then, Danny Woodhead and BenJarvus Green-Ellis have emerged as legitimate threats on offense to complement the surprising rookie depth of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. The defense, meanwhile, has gotten overachieving performances from guys like Devin McCourty and James Sanders. Of course, losing Randy Moss has proven a bit of addition by subtraction.The Pats have proven they can hang with the big boys after defeating traditional powers like Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Yet the Jets will prove too tough. Here’s why:First, make no mistake, Tomlinson is going to coast through the Pats’ run defense like a tractor-trailer on the Mass. Pike. What Peyton Hillis did in the humiliating Pats loss to Cleveland, the rejuvenated Tomlinson is going to do ten-fold in Foxborough.Second, “Sanchise” is going to feast upon the young Pats secondary like a New Yorker noshing on a Nathan’s Famous. Look for continued big catches from Holmes, and for tight end Dustin Keller to do more damage on the poor Patsies.Third ? everyone keeps making much ado over how Woodhead has carried all this supposed intelligence about how the Jets work. Yet intelligence is a two-way street, as any good Hitchcock or James Bond fan knows. I’m sure the Jets defense knows as much about stopping Woodhead as the diminutive sparkplug knows about defusing the Jets.Bill Belichick has done some very good work this season. He and Nick Caserio chose wisely in the draft with McCourty, Hernandez and Gronkowski. The Pats brain trust made Mensa moves in acquiring Woodhead and going with Green-Ellis at running back. What the Pats have produced is a good team that can beat other good teams most of the time (remember, the Colts were one drive away from a ‘W’ before Sanders’ interception). Yet with all the progress these guys have made since last season, they cannot beat a great team like the J-E-T-S.Alexander the Great legendarily put his sword back into its scabbard when he ran out of places he could conquer. Belichick the Great is not at that point yet. He and the Pats will go down fighting on Monday, 34-23.Rich Tenorio is The Item’s sports copy editor.