Saturday Night NFL with the Redskins in Jet Country
Saturday, August 16
The New York Jets (4-12 SU, 6-9-1 ATS in 2007 regular season, 1-0 SU & ATS in pre-season) will be sporting a new look and a new quarterback when they take the field on Saturday night for their pre-season game against the visiting Washington Redskins (9-7 SU, 7-7-2 ATS in 2007 regular season, 1-0 SU, 0-1 ATS in pre-season). It’s the debut of Brett Favre, which adds an element of glamour to this contest that is scheduled to kick off at 7 PM ET at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
BetUS NFL betting odds: N.Y. JETS -3, Total 35.5
NOTABLE STAT: Jets were 29th in rushing defense (134.8 ypg)
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: NY is 5-1 SU in its last six in pre-season
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Jets are listed as a three-point favorite, with the total posted at 35.5 points.
Here are some NFL betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* WASH has won and covered four of its last five games
* WASH has played five of its last seven road games OVER the total
* NY has lost ten of its last 13 games SU
* NY has played six of its last seven games UNDER the total
* NY has lost four of its last six home games SU
* NY has played five of its last six home games UNDER the total
* WASH has won four of its last six pre-season games SU
* WASH has covered four of its last six pre-season games
* WASH has covered five of its last 14 pre-season games
* WASH has played five of its last seven pre-season games UNDER the total
* NY has won five of its last six pre-season games SU
* NY has covered four of its last six pre-season games
* NY has won four of its last six pre-season home games SU
* NY has played four of its last six pre-season home games OVER the total
Of course, the storyline in this game is Brett Favre, who signed a week ago with the Jets and will be inserted as the starting quarterback for this game, looking to progress to the point where he can be ready to lead this offense against the Dolphins and former Jet QB Chad Pennington in the season’s opening week.
It is not known how much Favre can really play on Saturday. His arm was getting tired in camp, but he does have to learn the new offense, which is somewhat different than the one employed in Green Bay for so many years. Chances are he will see action for a series or two, and then give way to Kellen Clemens, whose world also drastically changed with the Favre deal, since he can count on being nothing more than a backup, for the time being at least.
Will the Jets play inspired football? Well, they’re happy to have Favre; at least most of them are (Laveranues Coles was reportedly very upset that Pennington got released). They have won five of their last six pre-season efforts, and the team is about to sell Private Seat Licenses (PSL’s) to its season-ticket holders, so there is enough reason to believe they won’t fall on their faces.
But Washington has not done a bad job of moving the ball with the first-team offense since implementing Jim Zorn’s version of the West Coast scheme. Or the second team, for that matter. It might be expected that Todd Collins could pick up things quickly, but Jason Campbell was 7-for-10, with two interceptions that were not really his fault, and brought the team in for a score.
There is reason to believe that Zorn would like to get a winning attitude going with his team in the pre-season, and the Redskins, for the most part, have played like it, even though they didn’t get the cover against Buffalo. They should be a little deeper this week in the defensive backfield, which may include Carlos Rogers, who is coming off knee surgery. The running game is holding its “ground,” with spirited play from Marcus Mason (Clinton Portis also scored a TD last week). And having played one more game than your opponent does have certain advantages.
We feel this is enough to pull the trigger with the Redskins, who are the three-point underdogs in the BetUS NFL pre-season betting odds.
JAY’S PLAY: WASHINGTON (+3) ** (Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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