NFL Betting – Denver Broncos at New York Jets

There are two things we know about the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and New York Jets. First, there’s a good chance one team gets its first win of the season. And second, the losing team’s coach jumps to the front of the line for the first to be fired. This matchup had a lot of promise when the schedule was put together. Both clubs finished strong last season with Denver winning four of its last five and the Jets triumphant in six of their final eight games. However, injuries have plagued the Broncos while poor play has hampered New York. As a result both teams are winless with game listed as a toss-up on the current NFL betting line.  Bookmaker offers a generous welcome bonus (max bonus $1600)

Denver Broncos at New York Jets
Date and Time: Thursday, October 1, 2020, 8:20 p.m. ET
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Opening NFL Odds: Denver -2, O/U 41
Broncos at Jets TV Coverage: NFL Network

Odds Analysis

The Broncos are so beat up it’s hard to imagine them being a favorite over any team. Well, it is the Jets were talking about, so I guess anything’s possible. Denver opened as 2-point chalk until word that another quarterback will start this week. Brett Rypien got the nod, the third different starter in four weeks. The line was bet down to a pick ‘em. After losing their first two games by a combined seven points and covering the line both times, the Broncos were stagnant in last week’s 28-10 loss to Tampa Bay. There is promise, however. Denver is 10-3 SU and ATS in its last 13 Thursday night games. The Jets haven’t even been close in their games getting outscored 94-37 so far. They failed to cover the 12.5-point line in their humiliating 36-7 loss to the Colts last week falling to 0-3 ATS. It’s only fitting that the lowest scoring teams in the NFL have the lowest point total on the Week 4 board at 40.

Denver Broncos

At least Vic Fangio has an excuse for his team’s winless record. Injuries have decimated the Broncos early in the year and they added a few more names to the list. Jurrell Casey and Elijah Wilkinson joined four other starters on the injured list this week. And that doesn’t include Drew Lock and Philip Lindsay, who are hurt but not yet on IR.

Unfortunately for Fangio, the bottom line is winning. And the Broncos haven’t done that in the month of September during his tenure. So I guess it’s a good thing this game takes place on the first of October. If the Broncos are going to get their first win it’ll be with a third different starting quarterback. Lock was hurt in the second game and is expected to miss a few more weeks. Jeff Driskill replaced Lock in Pittsburgh but struggled in his start against the Bucs. In stepped undrafted Rypien to complete 8 of 9 passes in his only drive. The only misfire was intercepted. “He played pretty good in there. We want to see if that can continue,” Fangio said of Rypien.

The defense is equally shredded. Von Miller was lost before the season started and free agent Casey was injured in last week’s game. Tom Brady took advantage of some cracks throwing for 297 yards and three touchdowns. Sam Darnold isn’t Brady and the Jets are the only team in the AFC with fewer yards and points per game than the Broncos.

New York Jets

Without Le’Veon Bell and Breshard Perriman, the Jets are dealing with their own injury issues. Some even wonder if Darnold is hurt since his play has been awful. The face of the franchise when drafted a few years ago, Darnold is starting to look more like a bust. Adam Gase has already said he’s sticking with Darnold, who’s thrown for just 562 yards in three games. His four picks also lead all AFC quarterbacks. So it isn’t a complete surprise that the Jets are dead last in the NFL averaging 263.7 yards and 12.3 points per game.

Keeping opponents off the scoreboard has been a problem for the Jets, too. They’ve allowed more than 30 points in the last two games and concede an average of 31.3 to rank 27th. Facing a quarterback making his first NFL start you can bet Gregg Williams is going to dial up the pressure.

The biggest concern, though, is the play of Darnold. He hasn’t had a healthy group of receivers and Bell missed the last two games. Good QBs have a way of making their team competitive even when not at full strength. Darnold hasn’t done that. He completed less than 59 percent of his throws last week with three interceptions, two of which were returned for a touchdown. Gase continues to stick with his young signal-caller but that could all change if the Jets lose again.

Bet Broncos at Jets at BookMaker.eu

With the total already the lowest on the board and likely to go lower when squares see how dismal the offenses are, it’s a good time to jump on the over. The teams struggle to put up points, but they are both nearly as bad on the other side. Denver is down four defensive starters and the Jets can’t stop anything. We saw Darnold throw two pick-sixes last week and a few defensive scores will push the score over the total.

NFL Score Prediction: Broncos 23, Jets 21

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- Phil Simon, Gambling911.com