Who could have predicted the Buffalo Bills being undefeated (3-0) and the AFC East leader going into week 4 of the 2011 NFL season. Even more surprising, they overcame a 21 point deficit against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in week 3 to remain undefeated.

That was a hard loss for Brady and the Patriots. You can bet the bank that the “Brady bunch” are anxious to redeem the loss this Sunday against the Raiders in Oakland. That’s why the Patriots are our 2011 week 4 NFL pick of the week.

Current betting odds for this 4:15 pm ET matchup have the Patriots 4.5 point favorite. The over/under is 55 points. The game will be aired nationally on CBS.

The Pats (2-1) opened the season with two wins. They beat the Dolphins 38-24 in Miami and the San Diego Chargers 35-21 at home before losing to the Bills in Buffalo, 34-31.

The Raiders are also 2-1. They beat the Broncos in Denver, 23-20, lost to the Bills in Buffalo 38-35, then beat the New York Jets at home, 34-24.

This AFC features the NFL’s top passing offense, led by Tom Brady’s 442.3 yards per game, against the No. 1 rushing attack with Darren McFadden, who leads the league with 131 yards per game.

Against the Bills, Brady completed 30 of 45 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. But he also threw four interceptions, matching his total for all last season, with one returned for a touchdown.

He should do better against the Raiders, who have allowed more yards passing than all but four teams.

Here’s why the Patriots are our NFL pick of the week:

• Although Brady threw 4 interceptions against the Bills last week, he threw a total of 4 in all of the 2010 season.
• Tom Brady seldom has two bad weeks in a row. The last time was in 2009 when they lost to the New Orleans Saints (11/30/09) 38-17 and the Miami Dolphins (12/6/09) 22-21.
• The Pats are hungry after last week’s loss.
• The Patriots defense against the run is ranked 10th best (91 yards per game) — and should have success against a run-oriented attack like Oakland’s.
• Patriots are ranked 1st overall in passing yards (437) and the Raiders defense is ranked 28 overall against the pass (289).
• Oakland’s QB Jason Campbell has thrown only 82 passes in the Raiders’ three games.

Prediction: Patriots 31 Raiders 14

In the latest NFL news, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick won the Associated Press 2010 NFL Coach of the Year, for the third time this decade. Belichick also won the coveted award back in 2003 and 2007. He is only one shy of Hall of Famer, Don Shula, who has won the award four times.

Coach Belichick received 30 of the 50 votes from a committee consisting of media members who regularly cover the NFL. Behind Bill were Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris who received 11 ½, and Chiefs Todd Haley who got 4 ½ . 4 other NFL coaches received one vote each, including: Falcons Mike Smith, Eagles Andy Reid, Bears Lovie Smith, and Rams Steve Spagnuolo.

Bill Belichick was heralded for making a successful transition of the New England Patriots to a much younger team. He led the Patriots to a 14-2 regular season record. His starting QB, Tom Brady was voted AP Offensive Player of the Year earlier this week.

“I will say the foundation of the Patriots organization, which starts with Mr. Kraft and Coach Belichick, has not changed since the day I arrived,” Brady said. “They have and will always do what is in the best interest of the team, and they will continue to find selfless players that love to work hard, compete and strive to be the best they can possibly be.”
More on Belichick Named AP NFL Coach Of The Year

The New York Jets hope of taking over sole possession in the AFC East were crashed after their devastating loss the New England Patriots (45-3) Monday night in Foxboro.

You could almost hear Dandy Don Meredith singing “Turn out the lights …”, after the Patriots took a 17-0 first quarter lead. By half time it was 24-3.

But this is NFL football, and most of us expected to see the Jets come out of the locker room, hell-bent on kicking Patriot butt – but who would have “thunk” it. The Jets never got over their shell-shock from the first half!

While Tom Brady and the Patriot offense added 21 more points, the Patriot defense, ranked 31st in the NFL, shutout (and shut up) the Jets in the second half. The final score 45-3.

Why did the Jets lose so badly? Are the Patriots that good? Is the Jets Bark bigger than it’s Bite?

The answer is both, plus another factor – Tom Brady! Here are some tidbits to back it up:

• With Tom Brady at QB, the New England Patriots have won last 25 consecutive games at home.
• Brady hasn’t thrown an interception in his last 228 passes.
• Brady has thrown at least one TD pass in all 12 of the Patriots games in 2010.
• Brady followed up a 4 touchdown, perfect 158.3 QB rating against Detroit last week with a 4 TD passes and 148.9 QB rating against the Jets.
• 8 different receivers caught Brady passes against the Jets.
• An ex-Jet, Danny Woodhead, had 4 receptions for 104 yards. Wes Welker had 7 catches for 80 yards and 1 TD. Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Tate were each on the receiving end of a Brady TD pass.
• Brady is the NFL MVP
• The Patriots have the #1 ranked offense in the NFL.
• The Jets allow an average of 19 points per game – 6th worse in the NFL.
• The Jets score on average 22 points per game – 14th in the NFL.
• The Jets average 356 yards per game – 12th in the NFL.
• The Patriots have beaten Baltimore, San Diego, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and the Jets.
• The Jets record of 9-3 comes against teams with a combined record of just 39-68, with only one of those teams being over .500 (the Patriots in Week 2, who were 1-0).

The Jets can take one consolation from the game; it only counts as one loss. If they can come to terms with this loss and play better football, they may still have a chance to snatch first place in the AFC East division title from the the Patriots. But it won’t be easy and they’ll need some help!

The Jets play the Miami Dolphins (6-6) at home, travel to take on the Steelers (9-3) and the Bears (9-3), and return home for the season finale against the Bills (2-10).

The rest of the Patriots schedule is away at Chicago (9-3), home at Green Bay (8-4), away in Buffalo (2-10). They finish at home against the Dolphins (6-6).

But one question remains:  Will the Jets get out of their seats after their near-fatal crash in Foxboro?

We’ll have to wait a week!

Sources: new york daily news, sportsillustrated.com