Betting Picks

Week 9: Buffalo at NY Jets TNF NFL Betting Preview and Pick

We all love the NFL. It remains easily the most popular sport in the United States, both from a television and a betting perspective. That said, TV ratings are down across the board this year.

One theory is that it’s because of a lack of star quarterbacks around the league. If that’s true, then the Thursday night game in Week 9 between the AFC East rival Bills and Jets from New Jersey probably won’t do a huge number as Tyrod Taylor and Josh McCown aren’t exactly stars. Buffalo is a 3.5-point NFL betting favorite.

Buffalo (5-2) is just a half-game behind New England in the AFC East, and the Bills have been one of the best bets in the NFL this season with a 5-1-1 against the spread mark. Every other team in the league has at least two ATS losses.

The Bills haven’t won a division title since way back in 1995 – the tail end of that Jim Kelly/Thurman Thomas/Bruce Smith powerhouse team – or made the playoffs since 1999. That’s the longest drought in the NFL. The Bills would be in as things stand currently, but they can’t afford a loss to a bad Jets team.

Coach Sean McDermott, the former Carolina defensive coordinator, has done a stellar job in his first season as Buffalo’s head coach – he’s among the favorites for NFL Coach of the Year with the Rams’ Sean McVay. McDermott’s defense is one of the league’s best as Buffalo is allowing just 16.4 points per game. The Taylor-led offense is near the bottom in passing. The Bills generally ride tailback LeSean McCoy. He rushed 27 times for 151 yards and a touchdown in this past Sunday’s 34-14 win over Oakland.

The Jets (3-5) were projected to finish last in the AFC East again and that’s where they sit, although Gang Green has been much more competitive than expected. The journeyman McCown is 38 but having a solid season in throwing for 1,840 yards and 12 scores. It’s still considered a lock that the Jets take a quarterback with their likely high 2018 first-round draft pick.

New York enters on a three-game losing streak, blowing 14-point leads in losses to the Patriots and Dolphins and a one-point fourth-quarter lead to the Falcons on Sunday in a monsoon at MetLife Stadium. If NFL games were three quarters long, the Jets might be 6-2 instead of 3-5. They have been blistered in the fourth quarter this year by a combined score of 76-20.

The Bills were swept by the Jets in 2016, including 30-10 at MetLife to close the regular season, but beat New York in Week 1 this year, 21-12. Taylor threw for 224 yards and two scores, while McCoy (110 yards) led a ground game that totaled 190 yards. McCown didn’t throw a TD pass (only has happened twice this season) and was picked off twice.

Buffalo has covered in six of the past eight meetings overall and will here in what could be the lowest-scoring game of Week 9.