The Gotta Get Unstuck Game of the Week includes a Monday Night Football matchup between the two worst teams in the AFC East, with the struggling New England Patriots (2-5) visiting the winless New York Jets (0-8).
The Buffalo Bills top the AFC East with a 7-2 record after they picked off the Seattle Seahawks, arguably the top team in the NFC heading into Week 9. The Miami Dolphins sit in second place with a 5-3 record after they picked off the Arizona Cardinals.
Meanwhile, the other two teams in the AFC East have a combined 2-13 record. It’s unusual to see two teams as bad as this on a nationally televised game.
| MNF: New England Patriots (2-5) at New York Jets (0-8) |
- Kick-off: 8:15 pm ET
- Point Spread: NE -9.5
- Total: 41.5 o/u
- Money Line: -450 NE / +370 NYJ
Oddsmakers aren’t ready to write off Bill Belichick and the Patriots just yet. The Pats are 25/1 odds to win the AFC East, whereas the Jets are a ridiculous 1000/1 odds to win the division. For a scenario like that to happen, the Jets would have to finish the season with an eight-game winning streak, and the rest of the AFC teams would have to lose the rest of their games or forfeit the remainder of the season due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
A Rare Dark Year in Foxboro
New England bookies might be making money for the first time in two decades because the Brady and Belichick duo are no longer a tandem that’s steamrolling everyone in their path. Even Belichick admitted that the Pats put themselves in this dire situation when they sold the farm to win one last Super Bowl a couple of seasons ago.
“This is kind of the year that we’ve taken to, I would say, adjust our cap from the spending that we’ve had in accumulation of prior years,” explained Belichick. “We just haven’t been able to have the kind of depth on our roster that we’ve had in some other years.”
He said Cam Newton deserves much more than a cool million per season, but that’s all they could offer the veteran quarterback due to salary cap restrictions.
That said, Belichick and the Jets have lots of bad blood, so if there’s ever a team he’ll want to crush, it’s Gang Green.
For a coach who’s desperate to get his 2-5 team back on track, Belichick can’t ask for a better slump-buster opponent than the sad-sack Jets.
Pride might be the only thing that could boost the LOL Jets to a victory. Teams tend to play better when they’re on a nationally televised game, especially on Monday Night Football, because they get the sense that the whole world is watching — especially their peers. Many of the current Jets might be seeking employment elsewhere next season, so they’ll want to be on their best behavior on MNF.
Fade the LOL Jets?
There’s no shortage of Jets fans who are convinced their team will blow its pursuit of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is the projected #1 pick. The Jets should be in full-blown tank mode, but never underestimate the genius of Belichick and the incompetence of the Jets organization. Belichick’s evil mind could leverage a situation in which the Jets defeat the Patriots twice this season. The two rivals could finish the season with 2-14 records, but the Pats would snag the #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft because they had a tougher schedule than the Jets. Then Belichick and Lawrence will win seven Super Bowls in the next 15 years, and Lawrence will go down as the new GOAT QB. Ouch!
At first glance, this scenario sounds more like an NFL conspiracy theory from your crazy uncle who wears a tinfoil hat and moderates a Reddit conspiracy subgroup. However, as a lifelong, suffering Jets fan, there’s a part of me that knows the Jets could really screw up the #1 pick by defeating the Patriots on Monday Night Football.
The LOL Jets opened up as a +7 home dog, but the line went as high as +10. In the old days, both the wiseguys and public would pound a home dog on Monday Night Football, but in this instance, do you really want to risk your bankroll backing the winless Jets to beat the mighty Belichick and the Patriots?
We’ve been fading the LOL Jets all season, and will continue to do so. The Jets are 0-8 straight up and 1-7 against the spread. Backup QB Joe Flacco will get the start because Sam Darnold is injured again.