Thursday Night Football: Denver Broncos at New York Jets Preview, Prediction and Pick

Denver and New York try to rebound from double digit defeats and earn their first win as they meet at the MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night.

A pair of 0-3 teams kick off week four with an excellent chance to nab a first win. Despite having identical records, these two teams are in drastically different situations.

Injuries have ravaged the visiting Broncos. Denver has already lost OLB Von Miller, WR Courtland Sutton and DE Jurrell Casey for the season. The Broncos have also been without starting QB Drew Lock for the past seven quarters as well as RB Phillip Lindsay and CB A.J. Bouye for the last two games. Despite these injuries, Denver has remained competitive.  The Broncos’ three losses are by a combined 25 points and two of them are by single digits. QB Brett Rypien is going to make his first NFL start after relieving Jeff Driskel on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Jets have been the opposite of competitive. Their three losses are by a total of 57 points, QB Sam Darnold has thrown more INTs than TDs and they are dead last in total offense as well as scoring offense. On Sunday, Darnold threw more touchdowns to the Colts than Indianapolis QB Philip Rivers did. The former USC Trojan doesn’t have great options around him to begin with and two of his better weapons, Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman, are hurt. With the Cardinals, Chargers, Bills, Chiefs and Patriots up next, Thursday night is the Jets’ best chance at a win for a while.

Denver Broncos at New York Jets Key Stats

  • QB Brett Rypien makes his first NFL start, 8-9 for 53 yds and an INT vs Tampa Bay
  • QB Sam Darnold is 0-2 on TNF & 1-7 all-time in September
  • RB Melvin Gordon averages 4.2 yards per carry and has scored 30 total TDs on the road

Denver Broncos at New York Jets Betting Lines

  • The O/U is 41
  • The Jets are 1 point favorites on DraftKings
  • The Broncos are +102 on the ML, the Jets are -115

Denver Broncos at New York Jets Spread Prediction

Denver is riddled with injuries but the Broncos should still be able to score enough points to distance themselves from New York. The Jets allow 133 rushing yards per game so a big day for RB Melvin Gordon could be in store. Denver’s pass defense is vulnerable but it faces New York’s 31st ranked passing offense. The Broncos are without their starting quarterback but their weapons are healthy outside of Sutton. The same can’t be said for the Jets’ weapons. Denver has the seventh-best run defense and if they can shut down the New York ground game, it will force Darnold into obvious passing situations and that could lead to turnovers. A game like this is difficult to predict and that includes the spread. The safest bet to me is Denver on the ML.

The O/U is tricky as well. Through three weeks, the Broncos and Jets rank 30th and 32nd in scoring offense respectively. They combine to average just over 27 points per game which is well below the O/U for this game. If you want to bet the points, go with the under.

Whether it’s close or a blowout, this game is going to be ugly. The Broncos have enough to get their first win but they are traveling across the country and anything can happen in 2020.

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