Wins on field don’t translate into cash
Even with the defense allowing more yards per game than any team in the NFL, the Patriots had 10 days to prepare for yesterday’s game against the Jets at the Meadowlands.
It was enough time for fans to for- get just how poorly the defense, which was the main factor in the Pats’ 1-3-1 start to the season against the spread, has played.
So loyal Patriots backers surely lined up at the window to throw their shekels in support of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the rest of the visitors as 9-point favorites against the Jets, who were picked by many to lose every game in 2017 and bank their future on yet another high first-round draft pick.
Hopefully someone tackled you on the way to that window. And it probably wasn’t a Patriots defensive player because they would have let you slip away. The Pats fell behind by two touchdowns and failed to cover the spread in a 24-17 win against the Jets. Though they are 4-2 and in first place in the AFC East, they are 1-4-1 against the number and hard to trust regardless of the spread or opponent.
Things looked good when Stephen Gostkowski’s 28-yard field goal gave the Pats a 24-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Jets then marched 75 yards for what should have been a touchdown, and the officials even did the Patriots a favor when they made a brutal call that Austin Seferian-Jenkins did not score on a 4-yard pass from Josh McCown and actually fumbled the ball out of bounds for a turnover. Baffling.
A Pats cover was in play, but a holding penalty and three-and-out on the next possession spelled doom.
Even if you embraced the poor defense by betting the over, you were disappointed. The teams could not reach the 471⁄2-point total, and the game was just the second to go under this season for the Patriots.
Now we move on to a Super Bowl rematch between the Pats and Atlanta Falcons next Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots opened as 5-point favorites, and the total likely will be around 50.
The Falcons have had a rough month, with home losses to Buffalo and Miami sandwiched around the bye week. Julio Jones hasn’t scored a touchdown yet, and Matt Ryan has taken a huge step back.
But again, it’s impossible to trust the Pats as favorites. They should win handily, but the more likely outcome is a game that features a lot of scoring and ends up closer that it should be.
Brady and Ryan both should have fun against shaky defenses.
Take the over.