Earlier in the week, David Purdum from ESPN reported about an intriguing trend in which bettors are firing away at futures bets on the New York Jets to win Super Bowl 57 — currently at +13000 odds — which is shocking considering that bookies set an initial win total for the LOL Jets at 5.5 games.
As a die-heard and tormented fan of the Jets, there’s a lot of cognitive dissonance going on. In one sense, the LOL Jets are always going to be the LOL Jets so it’s absurd to think people would waste their money on a Super Bowl bet. On the other hand, this offseason has been one of the most hopeful for Gang Green in a very long time.
The Jets are currently +13000 odds to win Super Bowl 57 on DraftKings, or 130/1. They opened at +20000 when sportsbooks opened up futures shortly before Super Bowl 56 kicked off. That’s when the first bets on the Jets began to trickle in at sportsbooks in Las Vegas and offshore.
“I’m not too concerned about the Jets,” Tom Gable from The Borgata sportsbook in Atlantic City told Purdum.
Purdum reported that a bettor wagered $5,000 at 200/1 odds on the Jets to win Super Bowl 57, which would pay out a cool million bucks.
LOL Jets Win Total: 5.5 o/u
Both the New York Giants and New York Jets have been bloody awful the last five seasons. Both inept teams are tied for the worst record in the NFL at 22-59 since 2017. The Jets were 4-13 last season in the first year the NFL expanded the regular season from 16 to 17 games. In 2020, the Jets were 2-14 but couldn’t even table properly when they blew a chance to secure the #1 pick in the draft, which was Trevor Lawrence from Clemson.
The Jets had not been in the playoffs since 2010. He last had a winning season in 2015 when they went 10-6 under Todd Bowles. The team hired Robert Saleh to end their playoff drought and help instill a winning culture for Gang Green.
The Jets currently have a win total of 5.5 season wins. Yes, would you really want to back a team to win the Super Bowl that seems destined for a losing record? The optimist in me like the Jets to win at least six games this season. But the tortured LOL Jets fan that is teased mercilessly from friends is prepared for another season of misery and another winter of discontent.
The Jets do not have a favorable schedule in 2022. They square off against the AFC North to start the season, and aside from the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets could potentially start the season 0-9 prior to their bye week in Week 10. The schedule eases up in December with home games against the Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars, so that’s good news for the worst pessimists that the Jets will at least win one game this season.
The Next Bengals?
Bettors are always looking for value, and trying to find the next Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were 4-11-1 in 2020 yet went 10-7 in 2021 and secured a berth in Super bowl 56. There’s always at least one playoff team that didn’t make the postseason the previous year. As a Jets fan, it would be awesome if the Jets could qualify as an AFC Wild Card team, but they lack the firepower to make a deep run.
And let’s be brutally honest — Zach Wilson is not even in the same league as Joe Burrow. Perhaps he can become a capable quarterback someday, but even the bulked-up Wilson still has a long way to go before he can lead the Jets to the promised land.
The Bengals are +2000 odds to win Super Bowl 57, but they’re only the tenth-highest team on the NFL futures board at DraftKings.
The Jets are +2200 odds to win the AFC East this season. The Bills are the favorites to win another division title at -225 odds followed by the Miami Dolphins (+450) and the New England Patriots (+500).
The Jets are +7000 odds to win the AFC Championship, and only the Houston Texans have worse odds.
Read more ramblings from a jaded fan of the New York Jets.