BETTING PREVIEW: Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets Betting Pick
The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen recently tweeted out that “Nobody wants a piece of the Jacksonville Jaguars right now” and while that may seem like a bit of an overreaction for a 6-8 team, things have gotten fun in Duval County lately. The Jags completed an epic 40-34 comeback victory over Dallas last week and have now won three of their last four.
While Jacksonville is trending upwards, the New York Jets (7-7) are slipping out of the playoff picture as losers of four of their last five. It is the short week for this Thursday game and the Jets are at home, but the Jaguars are still a slight -1.5 favorite for this matchup.
Lawrence Coming Into His Own for Jaguars
There have been a lot of pieces with big performances in Jacksonville’s late season turnaround, but it’s QB Trevor Lawrence that has Jaguars fans optimistic for not just the future, but the rest of 2022. At 6-8 the Jaguars are just a game back from 7-7 Tennessee in the AFC South with those two teams set to meet up in the regular season finale which could be for the division.
Lawrence was great last Sunday, throwing for 318 yards and four TDs against a Cowboys squad that ranks third in the NFL in pass yards allowed (191.6). That’s 3+ TDs in three of the last four games for Lawrence, who also shined in a 36-22 win at Tennessee and in beating Baltimore 28-27 at home.
Lawrence has an obvious favorite target lately, and that’s Zay Jones who had six catches for 109 yards with three TDs vs. the Cowboys. Christian Kirk also had 92 yards receiving while Travis Etienne ran for 100+ so this Jaguars offense has the depth to challenge this Jets defense that ranks third in the league in total yards allowed (305.4).
Jets Continue to Sputter
New York has now dropped three straight but are still just a game back from the sixth and seventh playoff spots. That makes Thursday’s game a must-win, especially on the short week and because it’s the Jets’ home finale with trips to Seattle and Miami winding out the year.
The Jets’ three-game losing streak includes close losses to Minnesota (27-22), Buffalo (20-12), and most recently the Lions (20-17). The Vikings and Bills are playoff teams, and Detroit is red hot, but does New York take any moral victories from those games? Eventually, losing starts to chip away at a team’s confidence regardless of how close the defeats were.
A Thursday game usually favors the home team, especially with the Jets playing on their own turf last week as well. In this instance though it doesn’t give a lot of time for QB Mike White (ribs) to return from the injured list. That means we could see Zach Wilson again following his 18/35 day vs. the Lions that did include 317 yards and two TDs with one INT.
Jaguars at Jets Pick
New York’s Wilson might be the most scrutinized player in the NFL, but he did some good things last Sunday despite the Jets only scoring 17 points and losing to Detroit. The pressure gets amped up on Thursday as Lawrence was the #1 pick in the 2021 NFL draft and seems to be progressing nicely, while Wilson went #2 and has already been benched multiple times in his career.
This is usually the type of game where the Jaguars let down their fan base who had just gotten some hope if they’ve truly changed their ways so be it but I’m not banking on it.
Pick: Jets +1.5
