The Patriots start the most important stretch of the regular season Thursday night in New Jersey against the Jets. New England -- which has won four in a row heading into the game -- not only has an opportunity to put a hammerlock on the AFC East, but it can also continue to build in the right direction for an all-important post-Thanksgiving stretch that includes games against the powerful Texans and 49ers.

In this edition of “Scout’s Take,” one NFL scout who has broken down film and watched both the Patriots and the Jets provides us with a wealth of information heading into Sunday’s game for both teams. (Per usual, we have the scout’s statements in italics, with our notes underneath.)

“I think coming into this game, the Jets probably gained some confidence because of what happened last Sunday in their win. While the Patriots will be heavily favored -- and in my opinion, win this game -- there are some interesting matchups. However, almost all of them favor New England. It starts on offense, where without Santonio Holmes, the Jets' lack of firepower and their inability to get the ball downfield in chunks has created some limitations for their offense. Their sporadic run game and the occasionally erratic play of their quarterbacks is a problem. The offensive line also isn’t what it was a few years ago. They are definitely not what they used to be a couple of years ago.”

The Jets skill-position players have underachieved this season. And while quarterback Mark Sanchez showed he was capable of moving an offense up and down the field against New England the first time these two teams met last month (he threw for 328 yards in the overtime loss to New England), it remains to be seen if he can do it again, particularly against a Patriots defense that has forced seven takeaways the last two weeks. The New England run defense yielded 106 rushing yards to the Jets the first time around, but New York’s 3.2 YPC was tied for second lowest of any team the Patriots have faced this season.

“Defensively, they are not what they once were, particularly on third down. They are not getting the key stops they got a few years ago. In their heyday a couple of years ago, they could run the ball and play good defense at the same time. They don’t have the same defense anymore. They had it two or three years ago when they were getting stops and consistent turnovers, but that’s not the case anymore, and that’s why they’re having struggles.”

As a group, the New York defense is statistically in the middle of the pack this season, with a good pass defense (200.1 yards per game, fourth in the league) and a shoddy run defense (141.9 yards per game, 30th in the league). But a closer look at the numbers reveals some issues for New York, particularly when it comes to third-down defense and red-zone defense. The Jets defense is ranked 30th in the league in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert 60 of 140 chances this year, an average of 43 percent. New York is also 30th in the league when it comes to red-zone defense (based on touchdown percentage), allowing 18 touchdowns on 27 chances -- 67 percent.

“The pass rush of the Jets has to try and manufacture pressure on [Tom] Brady. They don’t get pressure from their outside linebackers, and so they have to scheme it up and trick it up and try and do different things to try and generate pressure. They bring it in volumes, which should open up some opportunities for Brady. They don’t get a traditional pass rush -- one that you would hope to get from a 3-4 front. They have some promising young players in Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples, but when you lose your best defensive player in Darrelle Revis -- who also happens to be the best defensive player in the league -- it really changes what you can do defensively.

“The problem for the Jets is that Brady has seen it all their first time around. I just think it’s hard to throw the kitchen sink at a quarterback like that -- there’s only so much you can do when it comes to tricking and scheming and trying to fool a quarterback like Brady in that situation. He’s seen it all from them.”

While the Jets’ pass defense numbers are good, they have had trouble getting consistent pressure on opposing passers. New York has 17 sacks, tied for 25th in the league, and Bryan Thomas leads the Jets with 2.5 sacks. Meanwhile, the New England offensive line has allowed Brady to be sacked just three times in the last five games. The Jets have gotten some positive performances from Wilkerson and Coples, but much of the struggles in New York’s pass defense can be traced back to the loss of Revis, which has simply been too great to overcome.

“As for the rest of the secondary, they have an inside slot guy in Kyle Wilson playing outside, and had to essentially kick everyone up the depth chart. I could see them going after Wilson or Ellis Lankster, particularly if the Patriots get [Aaron] Hernandez back and the Jets try and match up Lankster on Hernandez. I have no doubt that the Jets safeties will struggle to cover the Patriots’ tight ends, even without Rob Gronkowski.”

Without Revis, the Jets have bumped all their defensive backs up the depth chart, with Wilson moving from the slot to the outside, while Lankster has been pressed into service. One area where the Jets did have success the first time around was Isaiah Trufant on Welker -- Welker was limited to six catches for 66 yards. In many ways, the wild card in the passing game is Hernandez. If he’s healthy, he should pose matchup problems for the Jets.