The Denver Broncos visit the New York Jets at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Thursday night. Both teams have faced tough opposition for far and are winless thus far. The Broncos head to this road contest after dropping a 28-10 contest to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, the Jets were dominated by the Indianapolis Colts 37-6 last Sunday.
The Denver Broncos have not started the season the way they would have wanted to. Denver finished 7-9 last season and was supposed to get better in Vic Fangio’s second season as head coach. However, the Broncos are still winless after three games played in 2020. They lost to the Titans at home 16-14 in their season opener then lost starting quarterback Drew Lock during their week 2 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In their last outing, the Broncos got clobbered by Tom Brady’s Buccaneers 28-10.
The Bucs got off to a fast 23-3 start and the Broncos were unable to get closer than 13 points. Denver was outgained 353 to 226 in total offense and 17 to 13 in first downs. Denver also committed a pair of turnovers while being unable to force one. Jeff Drieskel threw for 176 yards on 17-30 passing with one touchdown and one interception. Brett Rypien also figured in action and threw for 53 yards with one interception on 8-9 passing. Denver’s rushing game yielded only 42 yards on 13 carries while they allowed six sacks on their quarterback. Noah Fant leads all Denver receivers with 184 receiving yards with 14 catches and two touchdowns.
Out: LB Mark Barron, CB A.J. Bouye, TE Austin Fort, DL Jonathan Harris, NT Joel Heath, T Ja’Waun James, DE Dre’ Mont Jones, QB Drew Lock, LB Von Miller, NT Kyle Peko, LB Justin Strnad, WR Courtland Sutton, DE DeMarcus Walker
Questionable: LB Jeremiah Attaochu, CB Davontae Harris
Like the Broncos, the Jets are off to a slow start to their 2020 campaign. New York dropped their first game of the season to the Buffalo Bills by a score of 27-17. They couldn’t find any offense going in their next assignment as they lost 31-13 to the San Francisco 49ers. Then in their most recent outing, New York was dominated by Indianapolis 36-7. The Jets produced only 260 yards in total offense while allowing the Colts to tally 353 yards. Quarterback Sam Darnold completed 17 of 19 passes for 168 yards but had three interceptions. Darnold is completing 61.5% of his passes this season and has thrown for 562 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
37-year old Frank Gore leads the Jets in rushing at 3.4 yards per carry and a total of 144 yards in three games. Gore rushed for 57 yards on 15 attempts last Sunday. Braxton Berrios leads the receiving corps with 10 catches for 123 yards with two touchdowns. New York’s offense is averaging just 12.3 points per game and a league-worst 263.7 offensive yards per contest. The Jets defense allowed the Colts to rush for 119 yards on 3.8 yards per carry. New York’s defense also gave up 217 yards with one touchdown without forcing an interception. They also allowed Indianapolis to pick up 21 first downs without a turnover.
Out: RB Le’Veon Bell, WR Braxton Berrios, CB Kyron Brown, LB Blake Cashman, T Cameron Clark, CB Bryce Hall, CB Arthur Maulet, WR Denzel Mims, LB C.J. Mosley, LB Patrick Onwuasor, WR Jeff Smith, WR Vyncint Smith, DL Jabari Zuniga
Questionable: DL Jordan Willis, CB Quincy Wilson, WR Breshad Perriman, T George Fant, S Ashtyn Davis, WR Jamison Crowder
Denver is 2-4 SU in their last six games played. The Broncos are 1-5 SU in their last six games played on the road. New York is 2-4 SU in their last six games played and 4-1 SU in their last five games played at home. Head to head, the Broncos are 5-2 SU in their last seven games played against the Jets.
Injuries will play a big part in this game. While both teams are dealing with their own set of injured players, New York’s injuries are mostly from their offense. On the other hand, Denver is hurting on both sides and they will be without their starting quarterback here. And with Denver’s secondary compromised here, I expect Sam Darnold to finally have a big passing game here.
Denver is a huge step down in competition for the Jets who have faced opponents with a combined record of 7-2. The Broncos are still unsure of who will start on Thursday and that is not a good sign for them. Denver hasn’t really looked so bad to start the year but with a cross-country travel and tons of injuries, there is definitely good value in betting on the Jets and I am rolling with that.
Prediction: New York Jets
The Broncos are 10-5 ATS in their last 15 games played. Denver is 6-1 ATS in their last seven October games but 1-6 ATS in their last seven games played against the AFC East division. The Jets are 2-6 ATS in their last eight games played. New York is 1-5 ATS in their last six October games and 3-9 ATS in their last dozen games against the AFC West Division. Head to head, the Broncos are 5-2 ATS in their last seven games played against the Jets.
These are two teams who are struggling off the gates and both are coming off big losses in their last assignment. The offense has been terrible for both sides to start the year and that’s where the main problem lies. The Broncos have yet to announce who their starting QB will be while the Jets will be going with Sam Darnold. It’s hard to pick which team is better so I will go with the home team who also has a +3 attached next to their name. I’ll take the plus points and the home team here.
Prediction: Jets +3
The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by Denver. The under is 15-5 in the Broncos’ last 20 games against the AFC. The total has gone under in six out of the last nine games played by the Jets. The under is 6-2 in New York’s last eight games played against the AFC. Head to head, these teams have seen the total hit over in four out of their last six games. The total has also gone over in six out of their last seven games played in New York.
The New York Jets rank last in the league in total offense and in scoring, putting up 267.3 yards and 12.3 points per game this season. Meanwhile, the Denver Broncos are third from the bottom in scoring at 15 points per contest and they have the fourth-worst offense in the league at 289.3 yards per game. These teams have combined to score an average of 39.2 points per game in their last 10 meetings. I have more faith in the defense of these teams more than their offenses.
Prediction: Under 40
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