NFL Preseason Betting Free Picks: New York Jets vs. New York Giants

Added on Aug 16, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

NFL Preseason Week #1 concludes on Monday night with a nationally televised battle of New York between the Giants and the Jets. Actually, it’s a ‘battle of New Jersey’ and adding to the significance of this year’s contest will be that it’s the first game in the new and remodeled Meadowlands Stadium that the teams share. This game will be televised on ESPN in the US.

New York Jets vs. New York Giants
August 16, 2010—5:00 PM Pacific

For a long time during the late 80’s and into the 90’s there was no stronger bet than taking the Jets to win and cover their annual preseason matchup against the Giants. It has historically meant more to the AFC Jets than to the NFC Giants—some suggest that the Giants have a ‘superiority complex’ in the region and this game was one of the few chances for the Jets to respond. It hasn’t been quite as one sided lately, and the last five Jets v. Giants preseason matchups have seen the teams share the spoils with a 2-2-1 ATS mark. The Jets have gone 2-0-1 in the last three years and there are a few reasons to think that they’ll make it 3-0-1 this year.

Even predating the current coaching regimes, the teams have had differing philosophies about preseason football play. The Jets have gone 52-31 ATS in preseason play since 1990 for a 62% winning clip. The Giants, meanwhile, are 34-47 ATS in the same span for a 41% winning percentage. No nonsense Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin just puts more emphasis on preparation in the preseason than winning games. The Giants were 1-3 ATS in the 2009 preseason, and have a 3 year record of 4-7-1 ATS. The Jets on the other hand were 3-1 ATS last year and are 8-3-1 ATS over the last three years.

The local media has made a big deal about this game having greater significance than the average preseason contest, and Jets’ coach Rex Ryan is playing along. He’s already said that his first team starters will play into the second quarter and has thrown down the gauntlet with quotes like this:

“It’s going to be our city sooner or later, and it might as well be now. I have a great deal of respect for the New York Giants, but I’m not playing second fiddle and our team is not playing second fiddle to anybody, let alone a team that plays in our building.”

Just don’t expect to see Tom Coughlin playing along. He knows that ‘bragging rights’ are earned by deep playoff runs and championships, not by winning meaningless games in August. In any case, he won’t have his personnel rotation and preparation dictated by the opposing coach or the local media. Don’t expect to see starter Eli Manning in for very long and once he leaves we give the edge to the Jets’ quarterback rotation. Behind starter Mark Sanchez is a solid #2 and #3 in Kellen Clemens and Mark Brunnell. Former San Diego State QB Kevin O’Connell is fourth on the depth chart and has all of the tools to be a solid contributor in the NFL. While the Giants likely have the edge at QB with the starters in the game, we’ll give the Jets’ reserves the edge over Jim Sorgi and Brett Romar.

Giants are also working in a new defensive coordinator (former Bills’ head coach Perry Fewell, not to be confused with Jane’s Addiction lead singer Perry Ferrell)who is revamping the team’s defensive set. There are no questions about the Jets’ defense, which was the best in the league against the run 2009. More continuity on the Jets’ side of the equation and they traditionally make a bigger deal of preseason games. They want this one more and we’ll bet this one accordingly.

Bet New York Jets -2’ over New York Giants