Jets expected to improve, perhaps get to eight wins
New offensive-minded coach could help Darnold grow
This is the 11th in a series of 32 NFL team betting previews in 32 days leading up to the league’s Sept. 5 season opener. We’ll count down the teams from the lowest season win total to the highest.
The New York Jets haven’t won more than five games since 2015. But Las Vegas oddsmakers expect that to change this season.
New York’s 2019 season win total is 7½, with the over a minus 130 favorite.
“I think they’ll find a way to win eight. I’d definitely lean in that direction,” Westgate sportsbook manager Ed Salmons said. “Their coach last year (Todd Bowles) was a defensive guy. Now they have the guy (Adam Gase) who was Peyton Manning’s offensive coordinator during some great years in Denver.
“There are a lot of reasons to believe (quarterback) Sam Darnold will have a really good year, (running back) Le’veon Bell is not going to hurt them, and they have the makings of a good defense. It looks like a team that can make a dramatic jump this year.”
Gase was fired as Dolphins coach after last season and finished with a 23-25 record in three years in Miami.
But he was hired by the Jets with the hope that he can develop Darnold into their franchise quarterback.
The No. 3 pick in the 2018 NFL draft, Darnold threw 17 touchdown passes in his rookie year and 15 interceptions, second-most in the league behind Ben Roethlisberger (16).
After Darnold threw four picks in a loss to the Dolphins, he threw a total of six TDS and one interception in his final four games.
The Jets return leading wideout Robby Anderson and added slot receiver Jamison Crowder to an offense that was in the bottom 10 of the league in scoring at 20.8 points per game.
New York was the NFL’S second-best over team last season behind the Chiefs, with a 10-6 over-under mark. That was largely due to the league’s fourth-worst scoring defense (27.6 ppg). The Jets bolstered their defense by drafting Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams with the No. 3 overall draft pick and signing four-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley.
New York has the NFL’S second-easiest schedule based on its opponents’ 2019 win totals and fifth-easiest schedule based on its opponents’ 2018 win percentage.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.