DIVISIONAL PLAYOFF – Jets vs. Chargers
To paraphrase George W. Bush, have we been misunderestimating the Jets?
We all looked at New York’s won-loss record in games in which the opponent was actually trying and saw a ho-hum 7-7 team with a blowhard coach and a rookie quarterback, a team that would certainly get its comeuppance once live ammo was in the guns and bullets started flying for real.
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Time: Saturday 8:15 ET
Venue: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
MoneyLine: Chargers -340 (-114) / Jets +280 (-110)
Spread: Chargers -7.5 (-110)
Over/Under: 42
Maybe Rex Ryan wasn’t blowing smoke, maybe the Jets aren’t really the team that went 1-6 in Weeks 4 through 11, and maybe they can make life a little bit uncomfortable for the Chargers when the teams meet in the division round of the playoffs this weekend.
Yes, the Jets took advantage when the Colts decided to lay down. Yes, they squeaked into the playoffs when the Bengals rolled out the red carpet in Week 17. Whatever. In any case, the Jets are on a bit of a roll, and any team that can win in the playoffs on the road, as New York did in Cincinnati did last week, is worthy of some attention.
Oddsmakers opened the line at 9, but it was quickly bet down a point and a half – perhaps due to some heavy New York money that ignores the fact that San Diego has won 11 straight games and is 7-3-1 ATS during that stretch. The Chargers won even when they were resting key players in Week 17. Of course, they beat Washington. But still . . .
If there is any concern for the Chargers, it lies in their inability to consistently stop the run. San Diego ranks a mediocre 20th in the league (even Seattle is better), and the team that runs the ball better than anyone else in the league plays its home games at the Meadowlands (hint: it’s not the Giants).
Besides their 13-3 record that earned them a first-round playoff bye, the Chargers have a lot going for them:
- Most of the players understand what the playoffs are all about.
- They have Philip Rivers, who is only one or two playoff wins away from joining the Manning/Brady/Favre Club as among the best in the business.
- Marty Schottenheimer no longer is the head coach.
It wasn’t too long ago that San Diego fans were ready to give coach Norv Turner a one-way ticket to the city of his choice, as long as it was far away from southern California. Now Turner’s steady-as-she-goes style as being just what the doctor ordered after the Chargers stumbled out of the blocks at 2-3.
Turner & Co. will have to contain with a Jets offense that would prefers brawn to brains. Sanchez’s mid-season struggles (he threw 4 picks in a bad loss to New England that dropped New York to 4-6) forced Ryan to rein in the rookie, and New York’s run-oriented offense behind Thomas Jones (1,402 yards) has done the job.
Can the Jets continue to rock and roll on the road? Maybe not, but if they get by the Chargers, they won’t need a plane to fly back to New York.
Pick: Chargers
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Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel expert from Massachusetts.
