The annual battle for New York will take place in New Jersey when the New York Giants host the New York Jets in Week 3 of the NFL preseason. It’ll be hard to give the Giants the edge for home field advantage since both teams call MetLife Stadium home, and thus the game has been dubbed the MetLife Bowl. Not much is expected from the Jets this season as they are in the throes of a complete overhaul, but you can throw the records and expectations out the window in this matchup.
This duel in Week 3 of the preseason will go down Saturday, August 26, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium.
Odds Analysis
The line had yet to hit the board with the Giants playing on Monday night, but don’t look for too big a spread in this one. The Jets have looked exactly like what we expected while the Giants aren’t doing anything on offense. The spread hasn’t been higher than 1.5 in the last five preseason meetings and we can expect something similar. Given the lack of offense from both sides the total could be the lowest of the week.
Quarterback Rotation
Josh McCown is the Jets starter but he’s played just one series this preseason. So we can expect to see him for at least the first half and possibly into the second depending on how the game plays out. Bryce Petty had a productive outing last week, guiding the Jets to a pair of scoring drives. They resulted in field goals, however, which were the only points in a loss to the Lions.
The competition for the backup job became cloudier after Christian Hackenberg had a poor outing in Detroit. He completed just 2 of 6 for 14 yards and was sacked twice. Petty went 15 of 24 for 160 yards and threw a pick, but he moved the offense against Detroit’s backups. The Jets have produced just 13 points this preseason and McCown will have the opportunity on Saturday.
The Giants need to find a backup to Eli Manning, but that shouldn’t prevent Ben McAdoo from playing his starter for the first half. McAdoo has held true to last year’s preseason strategy by sitting Manning in the opener and playing him a quarter in the second game. We should get the first half with the starters before the battle for the No. 2 spot continues.
Josh Johnson and former Jet Geno Smith are locked in a fierce competition with rookie Davis Webb headed for the practice squad. Smith had decent numbers going 11 of 17 for 79 yards, but tossed a costly red zone interception and took a sack. Johnson was unimpressive in his short stint going 2 of 4 for six yards in Monday’s loss to the Browns.
Coaching History
The Jets won’t win many games this season but they have a chance to knock off their rivals in what has always been a heated matchup. Todd Bowles was 3-1 in his rookie season and the Jets went on to win 10 games. Last year they went 1-3, including a loss to the Giants, and won just five regular season games. They split their first two games in 2017 scoring just 13 points. Overall, Bowles is 5-5 SU and ATS but he’s just 1-4 in his last five exhibition games.
Ben McAdoo has some serious problems with his football team heading into the dress rehearsal game. The Giants have done nothing offensively and have yet to score a touchdown. He’s just 2-4 SU and ATS in the preseason while the G-Men have played below the closing total in their last five.
Free ATS Pick
If the Giants are to be contenders in the NFC the offense needs to be better than it was last season and much better than what its shown in the first half of the preseason. Manning will get more snaps and the group should be able to do something against the Jets, even if Odell Beckham Jr. is out. It will be a good test for the Giants offensive line against the Jets defensive front, which is the strength of the team.
Don’t expect much offensively from the Jets, even with McCown playing more snaps. The group managed just two field goals last week and has scored a total of 13 points so far. The Giants have a shutdown defense and will contain McCown for much of his time.
The teams don’t play during the regular season so this is for bragging rights. The Giants have a quick turnaround after Monday night’s game, but that shouldn’t be too much of a concern against a Jets team that lacks talent and the under looks like the right play.
NFL Odds: Giants 17, Jets 13
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