Jets open as 1.5 point favorites vs Raiders

The New York Jets lost to the Los Angeles Chargers last night in an ugly, mistake filled 27 - 6 blowout. The loss was their first in four games and brought the Jets’ season record to 4-4.

Now the Jets prepare for a trip to Sin City to take on the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football. The 4-5 Raiders are coming off a 30 - 6 blowout victory over the New York Giants on Sunday.

The Las Vegas Raiders are a team, like the Jets, that has had all kinds of trouble scoring this season. Before Sunday’s 30 point offensive explosion, the Raiders hadn’t scored more than 21 points all season. The Raiders’ offensive ineptitude eventually led to the firing of head coach Josh McDaniels last week and the replacement of Jimmy Garoppolo by Aidan O’Connell at quarterback. The changes seemed to breathe new life into a listless Raiders offense against the Giants.

The New York Jets come into this game having played perhaps their worst game of the season last night. The Jets made mistake after mistake. Though the defense again played well, the offense was unable to take advantage of playing one of the worst defenses in the NFL. It is very tough to win when your offense simply can’t get the ball in the end zone. It requires nearly flawless performances by the defense and special teams. When there are any mishaps by those units, the chances of victory vanish. If the Jets can’t figure out how to get the ball into the end zone on offense, this season will likely end up like every season since 2010 - with no postseason action. The Jets look to start to figure out how to avoid that fate with a game against an opponent that shares their offensive frustration in the Las Vegas Raiders.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Jets surprisingly open as 1.5 point road favorites against the Raiders on Sunday night. If the Jets had shown some semblance of life on offense yesterday against a bad Chargers defense perhaps making the Jets a road favorite here makes sense. The Raiders are starting rookie Aidan O’Connell at quarterback, and the Jets defense should be able to make life miserable for him. But the Jets offense seems so lifeless it’s difficult to see them as favorites on the road. I expect the Jets defense to make things tough for the Raiders on offense, but I expect the Jets offense to make things tough for themselves. Whether the Jets offense can get out of their own way enough to secure a victory against the Raiders remains to be seen.

The Moneyline odds are New York Jets -122/Las Vegas Raiders +102.

The Over/Under for the game is 36.

What do you think Jets fans? Will the Jets beat the odds in this game?