AGAINST ALL ODDS
Jets determined to prove Vegas doubters wrong
The Jets are making history, just not the kind you want to make.
The odds for the Jets to win the Super Bowl are 1,000-1, a number that has people shaking their heads in Las Vegas.
“I don’t recall a team in the NFL being 1 ,000-1 before the season starts. It just doesn’t happen,” said Jay Kornegay, a 31-year veteran of the Vegas sportsbooks and current vi ce president of ra ce and sports operations at Westgate Resort.
For perspective, the bottom-dwelling 49ers and Browns both are 300-1 to win the Super Bowl.
Not that the Jets care. The coaches and players have heard the doomsday predictions for months now. As they prepare for the season opener on Sunday in Buffalo, the Jets are certain they will surprise people.
Coach Todd Bowles said last month in a radio interview that he expects to win more games than people expect. How can he be certain of that?
“Y’all don’t expect us to win any,” Bowles joked. “We’ll be fine. I’m not worried about that.”
Every preseason prediction seems to have the Jets finishing with the worst record in the NFL. This week, the Jets are anywhere from a 8- point to a 9 ½-point underdog against the Bills, a team whose over/under win total for the season is 6 ½ games.
“Buffalo is really struggling as well with t heir team and their roster, and they’re going to be a poor-performing team ,” Kornegay said. “The line is telling you how horrendous the Jets are. You’re talking about one of the worst teams in the league giving up 8 ½ points.”
Jets cornerback Buster Skrine said he believes people are misreading this Jets season.
“Personally, I feel like we have a good team,” Skrine said. “We’ve got a special team. We’ve got a young team. People are saying, ‘you’re team is young, blah, blah, blah’ but before players are considered great players, they start off young. They have an opportunity to create a name for themselves.
“You’ve got a lot of guys out there who want to prove something. Us as a team, we just want to prove we’re better than what people are predicting.”
Bowles was asked about the team being 1 ,0 0 0 -1 shots.
“Me and the players don’t worry about outside noise,” he said. “Gambling is illegal anyway, so we’re definitely not looking at Vegas odds. We don’t worry about that stuff. People get paid for that. People get paid to talk. We get paid to play and coach and that’s what we’re going to do.”
There are some believers out there, or at least people hoping to cash in on a bet with a great payout. According to Kornegay, 62 hearty souls who have placed bets at Westgate on the Je t s hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. Amazingly, the Rams and Jaguars have fewer bets on them to win it all.
Kornegay said he does not expect the Jets to be favorites in any game this season unless they play much better than people expect. The point spreads could get huge if the Jets live down to expectations. They play in Oakland in Week 2 and could be twotouchdown underdogs.
“More of the discussion has been just how bad are they and how the books are going to deal with a team that is forecasted to be terrible,” Kornegay said. “What normally happens is the public will always bet against teams like the Jets. That’s typical betting patterns. When you see the numbers get inflated, you’ll see the sharp guys come and scoop those big numbers up.”
In terms of wins, Westgate has the Jets’ over/under at 3 ½, a staggeringly low number.
“I don’t ever remember ever seeing 3 ½,” Kornegay said. Another first for the Jets! Place your bets accordingly.