No Randy Moss, no problem?
Not exactly.
Sure, the Patriots no longer have Moss, one of the premier deep-threat receivers in the history of the game and a headache they got rid of after Week 4.
That, however, hardly makes the New England offense any less dangerous for the Jets in the rematch between the two teams Monday night at Gillette Stadium.
In fact, without Moss and his drama, the Patriots’ offense might be even more difficult to defend because quarterback Tom Brady’s strength has always been spreading the ball around to different receivers.
“Without Randy Moss, now they’re focusing on the tight ends and trying to get the ball in the middle of the field,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said yesterday.
Indeed, Brady has completed 61 passes and nine of his 23 TD passes to his two rookie tight ends, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.
This doesn’t represent a favorable matchup for the Jets’ defense, which has had problems covering opposing tight ends this season, yielding a combined 37 catches for 529 yards and three TDs to them in 11 games.
“Inconsistent,” is how safety Jim Leonhard described it. “It’s definitely something we’re focused on this week, because they’ve got some great tight ends there who are really involved in the passing game. If we don’t take care of them it’s going to be a long day for us.”
When the Jets last played the Patriots in Week 2, Hernandez gashed them with six catches for 101 yards.
Hernandez has 36 catches for 462 yards and three TDs and is one reception away from tying the Patriots’ record for catches by a rookie tight end.
Hernandez, a wide receiver in a tight end’s body (6-foot-1, 245 pounds), is complemented by Gronkowski, who at 6-6, 265, is the better blocker of the two and has 25 catches for 310 yards and six TDs.
“We didn’t handle [Hernandez] at all,” linebacker David Harris said. “He beat us in man-to-man and in zone.”
With no more Moss to deal with, the Jets likely will mix their coverages on the tight ends, using cornerback Antonio Cromartie on Hernandez as well as Leonhard and fellow safeties Brodney Pool and Eric Smith.
“This is a flexible defense,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “It’s designed to be able to defend anybody. We’re not just a one-trick pony; we don’t just have to win one way.”
Making matters even more complicated is Patriots slot receiver Wes Welker, who leads them with 65 catches and is tied with Gronkowski with a team-high six TDs.
The strength of the Patriots’ passing game is in the middle of the field, not the outside. The weakness of the Jets’ pass defense has been in the middle of the field.
Herman Edwards, the Jets’ head coach from 2001-2006 and now an ESPN studio analyst, said the Patriots are “going to spread you out and force you to tackle in space.
“They force your safeties and linebackers to tackle, force you inside,” Edwards said. “The problem matchup [for the Jets] is not on the outside. [Patriots wideouts] are not going to catch a lot of balls on Revis and Cromartie. It’s all about the slot receiver [Welker] and the tight ends.
“The nickel and dime backs and linebackers have to slow down the tight ends and slot guy.”
Edwards suggested either putting Revis on Welker or doubling Welker, especially on third downs.
“[But] you can’t double them all,” Edwards said. “Rex [Ryan] knows that. It’s going to be a game of strategy and adjustments during the course of the game, a cat-and-mouse game.”
Ryan, who often will flat-out say who Revis is covering, was being coy about it yesterday, joking, “The game plan specifically is that Darrelle will not be on Randy Moss.
“We’re not saying who he is on or isn’t on,” Ryan said. “I have a feeling that he’s going to get an opportunity to cover a lot of different people.”
The likelihood is that Revis will see a lot of Deion Branch, the Patriots’ best outside receiver, and will also be on Welker in certain situations, such as third downs.
“They have a lot of weapons,” Revis said.
mcannizzaro@nypost.com