There’s nothing like a good rivalry game that will be wasted on a Thursday night.
I’m a little upset the NFL decided to put the Pats-Jets in this prime time slot. The league shouldn’t be wasting good games on short weeks when they could have been slotted for a Sunday of Monday night. I’d much rather see Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick face off with a whole week of prep instead of seeing what will likely be a dumbed-down slog.
As for picking this one, it’s getting pretty hard to give up that many points taking the Pats. They’ll likely be without their two best playmakers from Sunday’s game in Buffalo – Shane Vereen and Danny Amendola – plus it’s very doubtful that this will be Rob Gronkowski’s debut.
So can Tom Brady win this game by double digits with Kenbrell Thompkins (four catches on 14 targets), Zach Sudfeld (also ailing) and Julian Edelman (who will be the No. 1 guy)? I doubt it.
The Jets only won on Sunday because of a dumb penalty, but they didn’t look as terrible as we all thought they would.
They’ll be fired up for this game too and Ryan may have a thing or two up his sleeves.
Pick: NY Jets +11.5 over NEW ENGLAND
Last week: 6-9-1
This season: 6-9-1