Preview: Falcons at Patriots, Gillette Stadium

Tom Brady hasn't lost back-to-back games in nearly 6 years. The Patriots are nearly undefeated when the visiting team is playing for the first time in Gillette Stadium. Wes Welker is out. So is Jerious Norwood. Matt Ryan and Thomas Dimitroff are both making homecomings of sorts. The Falcons are battling to continue their season-long winning streak. The Patriots are battling to recover from a close, and somewhat lucky, win against the Bills and a loss to the Jets. The real player in today's game, however, will likely be...the weather. Currently, according to weather.com the temperature is 63° and raining. That isn't going to change for the majority of the game, so two teams that have built their success this season (the Falcons) or this dynasty (the Patriots) through the air have a challenge ahead of them. With Welker out, I think the hands advantage goes to Tony Gonzalez and the Falcons. That's not to diminish the danger inherent in competing with Tom Brady and the rest of his elite receivers. Randy Moss is in, and you never know when Brady and Joey Galloway will start clicking. It will be up to Michael Turner and, with Jerious out, Jason Snelling to keep the ball away from Brady. Jason Elam will likely be key today as well.