The NFL Week 8 slate features the fewest amount of games that we’ll see in any week this season, which means the spotlight will be unavoidable for some teams.
The Jets head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals in a game at least one side’s fanbase would love to be overlooked.
Gang Green is still looking for its first win after a nightmare start to the season. In order to achieve that win, the Jets will need to beat a Bengals team that has the rest advantage after an impressive win on “Thursday Night Football” against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week.
The odds for this game range from Bengals -6 to -6.5 depending on the book with the Over/Under holding at 44.5 total points across the market.
Jets vs. Bengals odds, prediction
If you didn’t believe in the football gods before you almost certainly have to hear them laughing right now.
The Jets and their meager offense have reached new lows over the past few weeks. Head coach Aaron Glenn appeared to finally pull the plug on quarterback Justin Fields, who amassed a total of 91 passing yards in 81 offensive snaps, and inserted backup Tyrod Taylor. Taylor looked slightly more competent, but the results were the same.
“It’s hard when you have a quarterback with the rating that we’ve got,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said when speaking to reporters early this week, pouring gasoline on the dumpster fire.
“If we could just complete a pass, it would look good,” he later added in a not-so-subtle dig at the play of his starting quarterback.
Taylor suffered a knee injury and had been questionable all week until the Jets decided that Fields would once again get the start under center. Hard to believe this isn’t some bad karma from the football gods for the owner openly calling out his quarterback.
The Bengals will certainly welcome the opportunity to face a Jets team that ranks last in passing yards per game (143.4), 27th in points scored per game (18.4), and 26th in points allowed per game (26.1). Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco has given the Bengals reason to believe their offense can compete again.
That said, the Bengals are even more vulnerable on defense than the Jets. They have allowed 30.6 points per game (31st in the NFL), 17 passing touchdowns (last) and 257.1 passing yards per game (30th).
Betting on the NFL?
After what we’ve seen out of the Jets, I’m not sure Glenn will let Fields take shots against this Bengals defense. Fields’ confidence has already appeared shaky, and having the team’s owner publicly criticize him doesn’t exactly help boost his morale.
It also doesn’t help that the Jets won’t have Garrett Wilson again this week, who remains out with a knee injury. Without a reliable passing attack, the Jets focus could lean heavily on the run game, which is another area the Bengals defense has struggled.
Cincinnati allows the sixth-most rushing yards per game (137.3) and running backs have scored a combined 10 touchdowns (rushing and receiving) against this defense.
Full disclosure, this is not a game I want or plan to bet on.
Neither team is trustworthy on either side of the ball, but the one bet that has my attention is Breece Hall to score a touchdown. Hall hasn’t scored one yet this season, but given the state of the Jets passing game and the Bengals’ deficiencies on defense, Hall looks like the most realistic option to end Gang Green’s two-game touchdown drought.
Lean: Breece Hall Anytime Touchdown Scorer (+115, ESPN BET)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Malik Smith has been immersed in the sports betting industry since 2017. He’s a data nerd with a particular focus on the NBA and combat sports. He spends his weeknights in the winter looking for edges on plus-money NBA player props.
