Two teams with perfect preseason records square off on Sunday in New Jersey when the New York Jets host the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens completing another perfect preseason is nothing new, they have won 23 straight preseason games and haven’t lost a summer contest in five years. But the Jets? How can we read their 3-0 preseason?
Might it be more in line with the perfect 4-0 preseason marks that the Detroit Lions put together in 2008 and the Cleveland Browns scored before their 2017 regular season? The Lions and Browns followed their perfect preseasons with winless regular season campaigns that saw both teams struggle through oh and 16 records.
Now that we are on a team with struggles, it seems a perfectly appropriate time to discuss the J-E-T-S. This is a team that consistently does better against the point spread than they do straight-up, but still come up losers most weeks. Even with generous point spreads the Jets have scored only three winning point spread seasons since 2012, and only once had a winning record straight-up.
That was in 2015, when the Jets finished the season with ten wins. It was only good enough to be two games behind Tom Brady and his New England Patriots in the AFC East Division standings and out in the cold when the playoffs opened. It was a season in which a couple other second place AFC teams finished with double-digit wins and edged the Jets out of a playoff berth by virtue of tie-breaking procedures.
The Jets just can’t catch a break; they even miss the playoffs in their only winning season in a decade.
Last year, New York made Brigham Young Quarterback Zach Wilson their first choice in the draft, selected second overall behind Trevor Lawrence. His rookie season was marred by injuries and the Jets seemed mostly out of sync during his rookie season. While New York fans were hoping for a positive turnaround this year with both their young quarterback and team, things have not started well. In his first preseason game. Wilson suffered an injury that required surgery and he is known to be missing the season opener next Sunday against Baltimore. Whether he will need additional weeks before Wilson returns to game action is not yet decided.
Here is how the Jets built their perfect preseason this year; they fell behind and then turned the offense over to Canadian Football veteran Chris Streveler who was up against an opponent’s backup defensive personnel. The results were perfect. Streveler led the Jets from deficits to wins in all three games with multiple fourth quarter scores. In three preseason outings, Streveler combined for 24 pass completions on 33 attempts and five scoring throws against only one interception. His heroics reached a fever pitch a couple Sundays ago when he engineered his third come-from-behind win over the rival Giants in their preseason finale.
The problem with this for the Jets, is that what New York is left with is the same unit that had caused those deficits that Streveler and company had to overcome. Wilson is sidelined, Streveler is on the practice squad, and Joe Flacco is behind center. I don’t see anything in that set of circumstances that favors the home team on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
What does bode well for New York in the not too distant future, and this is contingent on Wilson developing into a top flight NFL quarterback, is a bright future with a team that is loaded with talent. At some point, somebody is going to put it all together and enjoy some solid seasons for the fans of the football team in New York wearing green.
Head Coach Robert Saleh begins his second campaign with the Jets and he appears to have this organization headed in the right direction even if the results have not yet caught up to the process. On Sunday, New York opens against a team that I think is headed to Super Bowl LVII. It appears to be too early for the developing New York team to compete against a talented Baltimore squad.
I write about this game first because this is one of those contests where if you are on the favorite it is best to get them at the current line. The number has already risen 2½ points from the opening number posted three weeks ago, 4½. The most common current line has the Ravens favored by seven points.
While the vig on this game will shift with the books not looking to get off this seven number, I don’t see it coming down to 6½ points. The best bet today is to lock in the seven point line at the best possible vig number and protect against a run on the Ravens next Sunday that has the books fishing for Jets money with lines as high as 8½ points.
Qoxhi Picks: Baltimore Ravens (-7) over the New York Jets