Monday Night Football–US version–features the rampaging New England Patriots heading South to take on the resurgent (?) New York Jets. The Patriots have run roughshod over the entire league this season going 6-0 SU/4-2 ATS. They’re coming off of a Thursday night destruction of the New York Giants whom they throttled 35-14 on their home field, covering as -16.5 favorites. The scheduling situation also gives them 11 days off between that game and this game which should help their banged up defense.
The Jets looked like a completely different team last week with Sam Darnold back under center as they upset the Dallas Cowboys 24-22 as +7 home underdogs. That was also the Jets first victory of the season and Darnold looked extremely sharp given his recent lack of action. The New York Jets starter passed for 23-32 for 338 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Robby Anderson caught 5 balls for 125 yards and a touchdown and the Jets’ offense generally looked revived.
Of course beating the slumping Dallas Cowboys and the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots are two different things. The Patriots now have a significantly more problematic injury situation than do the Jets on both sides of the ball. That’s been the case for most of the season, however, and New England has managed to persevere nonetheless. The Patriots are entering a more difficult stretch of their schedule after an almost comically weak early slate–they’ll host Cleveland next Sunday before traveling to Baltimore, Philadelphia and returning home to host the Dallas Cowboys. The Jets have road games at Jacksonville and Miami on deck before returning home on 11/10 to play their NFC rival New York Giants.
The kneejerk reaction is to pull the trigger on the Patriots but not sure that’s the way to go. Pats will be happy to just get a ‘W’ and move on but this is a big game for the Jets who looked reborn last week with their starting quarterback back in the lineup. For whatever reason, Pats have struggled against the Jets in this venue covering only 1 of the last 6 trips to the Meadowlands.
