New York Jets Small Favorites To Beat Carolina Panthers

NFL News - November 24th, 2009 - Written by John

It will probably be a good day for defense in New York this week. Two of the most turnover-prone quarterbacks meet at the Meadowlands when the New York Jets host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Granted, Jake Delhomme has calmed down his calamity of errors recently, but an ugly first third of the season leaves him third on the interception chart, just four behind Jay Cutler for the outright lead. New York Jets'Mark Sanchez made sure his name wasn't forgotten last week, too. He is second on the list after throwing four interceptions, three to Leigh Bodden, and lost a fumble against the New England Patriots to raise his total to 16. They are two of only four current-starting quarterbacks with more picks than touchdowns.

But at home, BetUS Sportsbook is giving the Jets a three-point edge, with a -115 payout on New York and -105 on Carolina as listed in the NFL Week 12 Betting Odds. The over/under for the game is 41 1/2.

The Carolina Panthers have performed well on the road lately, covering the spread in four of their last six games, and pushing the total points over in seven of the last nine. That's bad news for the Jets, who have won only one of their last six.

New York's defense has remained one of the best units in football despite sliding down to fifth in the league. Part of the problem has been the short field position Sanchez's turnovers have created for opposing teams, including an interception inside his own 30 last week that set up a short touchdown run by Laurence Maroney.

The Panthers are one of the best teams in short-yardage situations with two elusive runners in the backfield. DeAngelo Williams has 982 yards this year, and Jonathan Stewart has 509 yards on 71 fewer carries. The Panthers are the third-best rushing team after gaining 182 yards against the Miami Dolphins last week, but still found a way to lose because they couldn't contain Ricky Williams.

The Jets will probably use a similar approach to keep the ball out of the hands of Sanchez in his rookie year, instead opting to ride Thomas Jones out of the backfield. Jones is sixth in the league with 884 yards on just 10 more carries than Williams, with eight touchdowns. He would likely have eaten up more real estate if the Jets hadn't been playing from behind so prominently.

The Jets haven't played the Panthers since 2005, a 30-3 point loss on the road with Brooks Bollinger under center. In that game there were a combined six interceptions and two fumbles that led to short touchdowns for Carolina.