Patriots-Jets Matchup Could Set Up To Be Another Snoozer

The Patriots-Jets rivalry has been one-sided in the past eight seasons, which is probably why oddsmakers aren’t expecting this Sunday’s Week 3 matchup at MetLife Stadium to be a skippable one for neutrals.

The Week 3 slate features unremarkable matchups like the Tennessee Titans against the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers against the Seattle Seahawks. But New England against New York was chosen on FanDuel as the favorite to be the lowest-scoring game this Sunday at +500. The game also has the lowest consensus total at 38.

It’s not hard to see why since three of the past four matchups went under the total with last season’s Week 11 matchup ending 10-3. The last touchdown came in the final seconds of the game when Marcus Jones returned a punt for a touchdown to avoid overtime.

Zach Wilson again will be a feature in the rivalry, and he’ll likely be a headache for Jets fans for a second week in a row since the Patriots defense should feast on an inferior offensive line. Wilson has been pressured on a league-high 53.4% of his dropbacks through the first two weeks, and that should continue.

New England fans will have to hope Mac Jones and the offense can find their groove against an equally stout Jets defense. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has changed the complexity of the offense with the Patriots 11th in pass rate over expectation through two weeks. Jones only has an 8.7 average depth of target, but there’s at least been an attempt to play fast and be aggressive on offense.

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If the offense does find success against the Jets defense, 5-1 might be buying high, and it might be better to find a blowout spot with the Dallas Cowboys-Arizona Cardinals (+950) or Chicago Bears-Kansas City Chiefs (16-1). You can also find a potentially worse matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers-Las Vegas Raiders game at 9-1.

Patriots fans only can hope for a dominant win over the Jets to give their team their first win of the season. And for neutrals, you’re hoping for at least a glimpse of competency from one of these offenses.