To say that the Wild Card chase in the AFC is cloudy would be an understatement. The Steelers have lost Ben Roethlisberger to injury yet again. The Raiders, though good, are still only a .500 team. The Dolphins have come back to earth after whooping up on a couple bad teams to kick off the Dan Campbell era.
That more or less leaves the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills as the other two teams who have any chance to claim the two Wild Card slots. That makes Thursday's game a massive one in the AFC East.
NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Buffalo Bills +3.5
New York Jets -3.5
Over/Under 44.5
ODDS ANALYSIS
It's tough to argue with the oddsmakers in this one. The Jets aren't substantially the better of these two teams, if they're even the better team at all. They're getting the nod as the favorites in this one due to home field advantage and home field advantage only at -3.5, and we don't see that changing throughout the week.
Live bettors should note the drop in the total, though. The number opened up at 44.5 and quickly fell to 43, and that could be an omen of things to come in live betting. That total might dip in live betting just a bit quicker than it normally would in other games.
WHEN THE BUFFALO BILLS HAVE THE BALL
The Bills have to get the ball in the hands of Sammy Watkins. With LeSean McCoy battling a shoulder injury, Watkins is the best weapon Buffalo has, and with Antonio Cromartie likely out with a thigh problem he picked up last week at home against Jacksonville, if the team can figure out how to keep him away from Darrelle Revis, all the better.
Even if Revis is locking down Watkins, there could be soft spots in this secondary. Goodness knows that it's tough enough to run on this, the best rush defense in the league, but with Calvin Pryor and Cromartie dinged up, there are going to be opportunities. The Jets had a thin secondary last year, something which Rex Ryan knows better than anyone else in the world, and if half of that starting secondary isn't going to play, that will leave some huge holes to find against players which just aren't used to being in such spots.
Tyrod Taylor looked great in his first start back from injury, and he's now completing 71.8 percent of his passes this season with a 108.9 QB rating.
WHEN THE NEW YORK JETS HAVE THE BALL
It's tough to say much nice about the New York offense right now. Sure, Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall have had good years, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is a marked upgrade on Geno Smith, but the ground game hasn't been good at all, and if the Jets are only one-dimensional against this defense, Ryan is going to continue to dial up blitz after blitz against an offensive line which has left Fitzpatrick vulnerable for big hits.
Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes have both been relatively quiet this year in the sack department with three apiece, but if they can get on the ledger in this one and put Fitzpatrick on the ground, the Jets aren't going to be able to respond to getting off schedule.
It might've been all fine and dandy for Chris Ivory to average 1.1 yards per carry against the Jags, but if he duplicates that on Thursday night football, live bettors are going to be salivating over all of the opportunities the Bills will have with the ball in their possession.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The duel between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets will go down Thursday, November 12, 2015 at 8:30 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium. The game will be televised live on the NFL Network.
