New York Jets Getting 3 1/2 Points Against New England Patriots

NFL News - September 16th, 2009 - Written by John

The storylines have pretty much written themselves. Rex Ryan and the New York Jets have publicly treated this game to be their Super Bowl. The Patriots responded with nothing but compliments, giving the status quo 'they're team is really good and they do good things' comments.

Another day in the AFC East.

The Patriots are known across the league for being as secretive as Julie, the class note- passer, never allowing the other team to use any of their comments as bulletin material, while feasting on their opponents'. And boy have their opponents taken trash-talk to a whole new level this week.

Profootballtalk.com reported today that that Kris Jenkins said his team was treating this game like the Super Bowl, and head coach Rex Ryan has even delivered voice messages to all of the Jets' season-ticket holders, encouraging them to be a part of the game.

The message, in part, says:

"Hey this is Rex Ryan, the head coach of the New York Jets. I just wanted to let you know how much we need you this week. I've already admitted that the Patriots have a better head coach and they have a better quarterback than us. But we're going to see who has the better team. The other part that I'm confident in is, they've got to face you and they've got to face the rest of our fans. My challenge to you is that we need you at your best. So get ready to go for four quarters, get after them, especially when our defense is up there, we really need you. We want it to be miserable for Brady and company and seem like there are 13 or 14 guys out there on defense. It's tough enough when there's 11. But when our fans are into it, it's almost impossible to do anything against us."

And to it, the Patriots answered with the typical "nothing-to-see-here" attitude.

"They can treat it however they want to treat it," Tom Brady said. "We're gonna treat it like we treat every game. We're gonna put everything we have into it. It's an important game, no doubt. Division game, playing on the road in a tough place to play, but uh, it's not the Super Bowl. That's not until February."

Most head coaches would not admit themselves inferior to the opponent, especially in public, so props to Ryan. Sure, it's a cheap gimmick, but does make preview writing much easier. Media outlets eat this stuff up and will no doubt pound viewers in the days leading up.

The Jets have reason to be optimistic following their 24-7 beat-down of the Texans Sunday. Rookie Mark Sanchez shined in his debut, throwing for 272 yards and a couple of scores against a better-than-average Houston defense. He appears to be on the same page as Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey.

The running game was smooth in the opener, as well. Both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington had at least 60 yards, making it easier on Sanchez to maneuver the offense. But the Patriots are certainly not the Texans. They are resilient, even amidst controversy and inefficiency. As many NFL minds can attest, good teams win games they play poorly in. Like Monday night, when New England was dominated in every aspect of their game against the Bills until Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes within a span of two minutes to catapult his team into the win column.

Their ability to survive, if nothing else, has given BetUS reason to give New England a 3 1/2-point edge over the Jets. If New York wasn't an underdog enough, taking them straight up will pay you +160.

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