Wake-Up!

Time to go bet on some football.

If you just did wakeup, and your eyes first focussed on the New York Jets hosting the Tennessee Titans you wouldn’t have to wait until you shook the cobwebs from your sleep to get your money down on the Titans.

The Jets, with rookie quarterback Zach Wilson and first-year head coach Robert Shleh, haven’t been even competitive enough to win with points on the spread through the first three weeks of the 2021 season. They lost their opener to the Caroline Panthers, were blown out at home in second week action in the battle between two rookie quarterbacks, Mac Jones of the New England Patriots and Wilson of the Jets, 25-6, and shutout last Sunday in Denver by the Broncos, 26-0.

So, how many points do the Jets get this week when they host the talented Titans?

Six.

Seems like not enough to get excited about the Jets, but it is even more intriguing to know that the line opened higher, the Titans were first installed as a 7½ point favorite.

So that means the public is wagering on the Jets to move the line down a point-and-a-half?

Nope. The public is just like the guy just waking up to first see the matchup, they are all over the Titans at more than 70%.

This doesn’t make sense.

If the Jets are perhaps the worst team in football, and the Titans again a legitimate Super Bowl contender, how is it that the line is going down while the public is backing the clearly better team?

Smart money … and lots of it.

The wise guys are betting the Jets while figuring this is the week New York gets their first win of the season at least when factoring in the point spread. That first win for New York includes the Giants, who, like the Jets, are winless in three starts this season.

So, what do the wise guys see that no one else does?

First, winning in the National Football League is often driven by need and the Titans are playing out of the AFC South, which is in need of a transfusion of talent more than anything else. The Titans three competing teams in the AFC South have only one win in ten games between them this year, and that was when two of the AFC South teams played each other. The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars on opening day. The other AFC South team is the Indianapolis Colts, who are surprisingly winless this season.

When watching NASCAR, you can see drivers follow close to the car in front of them to pick up a draft that both saves gas and keeps them pacing the lead car. In sports, drafting can occur when a team has division competition that forces them to play their best every game, and the Titans just don’t have any extra motivation based on their weak division competition.

Is that enough to warrant a wager on the Jets against the Titans superior talent?

The guy who just woke up doesn’t think so, and he is in a huge majority.

Of course, the smart money is on the other side of this game, and I suggest a wager on the Jets may give you sleepless nights before the game, but help you rest a lot better on Sunday night.

Qoxhi Picks: New York Jets (+6) over Tennessee Titans