Jets Offense - passing.
Last week Chad Pennington was able to complete a career high 32 passes out of 39 thrown for 291 yards, but that was against a Bills team playing without three defensive starters, all on injured reserve. He was effective hitting wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery who had eight catches for 107 yards. Pennington is smart and can read defenses. The Jets rank third in the league in third-down percentage (49.1). He can get rid of the ball fast if he has to, but still, the Jets are tied for 25th for most sacks allowed (11).

Jets Offense - running.
Thomas Jones should be an option for the Jets if a defense gets too frisky on Pennington. Jones has rushed for more than 2,500 yards combined in his last two seasons, and he was brought in from the Bears to pick up where Curtis Martin left off. Last week, Thomas Jones had 35 rushing yards on 12 carries against a defense that was giving up 177.3 per game, So far, over 4 games, Jones has picked up 254 yards, for a 3.4-yard average and no touchdowns. The Jets are ranked 28th in rushing yards, 29th in rushing yards per attempt, and their offense is ranked 28th overall in the NFL and tied for 20th in points per game.

Giants Defense - last week.
One game does not a season make. Last week the Giants defense jumped all over the fact that Eagles running back Brian Westbrook was out with an injury and they went after quarterback Donovan McNabb whenever they could. By the end of the game, it seemed inexplicable that Eagles head coach Andy Reid did not adjust to the pass rush led by Osi Umenyiora and directed at second-year tackle Winston Justice making his first NFL start in place of veteran William Thomas. Maybe Reid had nothing good to counter with?

Giants Defense - this week.
Anyway, you would expect that an inventive head coach like Eric Mangini, having had a week to digest the Giants game tape, will have his team well prepared for the pass rush, and early on try to take advantage of a possibly over confident and too eager group of guys. You still hold your breath when you see opposing quarterbacks heave the ball downfield into the Giants secondary. The Giants defense is ranked 16th in the NFL, but 23rd in points allowed having given up 80 of the 100 in those first two game losses.

Jets Defense.
Last week they allowed the Bills their most points, total yards (304), yards passing, first downs (19) and their first passing touchdown of the season. The had no sacks in the first two games, and three sacks in the last two. If the Jets don't pressure Manning, he'll certainly be testing the Jets secondary deep with Plaxico Burress. The Jets defense is ranked 28th overall in the NFL.

Giants Offense.
Eli Manning can try to take advantage of the height of his receivers over the Jets cornerbacks, tossing high to Plaxico Burress or Amani Toomer. Toomer has 19 catches this year, and Burress also has 19 with 6 going for touchdowns. Jeremy Shockey sometimes gets a shot at catching the ball too.
It will be interesting to see how the Giants plan to use the combination of Brandon Jacobs, returning from his injury in the opening game, and Derrick Ward who has 353 rushing yards and 467 total yards from scrimmage. Ward was a seventh-round pick of the Jets in 2004. He ended up on the Jets practice squad and was picked up by the Giants. The Giants are overall ranked 19th on offense and 11th on points scored.

Slow starters.
Both teams struggle to put up points in the first quarter. The Jets have only 7 first quarter points - out of 72. The Giants have scored just 9 out of their 100 total points in the first quarter.

Jets - Hope or Hype.
The Jets are hoping that their performance last week was just one of those fluke games where everything goes wrong. Pennington threw his first interceptions of the season, the second one he meant to throw out of bounds. The team came into the game with only 9 penalties for 45 yards, and they pulled 9 in this one for 65 yards. Mike Nugent clanged a 37-yard field-goal attempt off the right post as time expired in the first half, and they went on to lose by 3 points, etc.

Giants - Hope or Hype.
The Giants are hoping that their defense is for real, improved with first round pick Aaron Ross on the field, with Osi Umenyiora shaking off some early injuries and with Michael Strahan coming back to form. They also hope that Eli Manning can perform like he did at the start when he threw for 312 yards with four scores and just one interception against the Cowboys. Since then he has thrown three touchdowns and four interceptions.

Your crystal ball.
Monday Night Football has division rival 4-0 Dallas playing against the Bills who surprised the Jets last week. Watch and root for their rookie quarterback, Trent Edwards, to be the next Tony Romo and steal one away from the Cowboys.

Notes.
Giants Osi Umenyiora has three more sacks this season than the Jets have as a team.

Jets have lost the last three regular season games to the Giants.

Jets caution - Since the playoff format was instituted in 1990, 83 teams have started 1-4, and only 5 have made it to the playoffs.

Jessie Armstead, who played in five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1997-2001, will be the Giants' honorary captain on Sunday.

Oct 7- Jets at Giants 1:00PM on CBS.
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