As it stands, Bryce Petty and the Jets are 17-point underdogs this Sunday in New Orleans. Here are the 15 largest spreads the New York Jets have faced since 1978:
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| Rk | Tm | Year | Date | Time | LTime | Opp | Week | G# | Day | Result | OT | Spread |
vs. Line | Over/Under | Result | |
| 1 | NYJ | 2007 | 2007-12-16 | 1:02 | 1:02 | @ | NWE | 15 | 14 | Sun | L 10-20 | 20.5 | covered | 41.0 | under | |
| 2 | NYJ | 1992 | 1992-12-06 | 1:00 | 1:00 | @ | BUF | 14 | 13 | Sun | W 24-17 | 17.0 | covered | 36.0 | over | |
| 3 | NYJ | 2016 | 2016-12-24 | 1:00 | 1:00 | @ | NWE | 16 | 15 | Sat | L 3-41 | 17.0 | not covered | 45.0 | under | |
| 4 | NYJ | 2007 | 2007-11-22 | 4:20 | 3:20 | @ | DAL | 12 | 11 | Thu | L 3-34 | 14.5 | not covered | 47.5 | under | |
| 5 | NYJ | 2017 | 2017-09-17 | 4:05 | 1:05 | @ | OAK | 2 | 2 | Sun | L 20-45 | 14.0 | not covered | 44.0 | over | |
| 6 | NYJ | 1984 | 1984-11-26 | 9:00 | 9:00 | @ | MIA | 13 | 13 | Mon | L 17-28 | 13.5 | covered | 45.0 | push | |
| 7 | NYJ | 1989 | 1989-12-17 | 4:00 | 1:00 | @ | RAM | 15 | 15 | Sun | L 14-38 | 13.0 | not covered | 43.0 | over | |
| 8 | NYJ | 1996 | 1996-12-08 | 4:00 | 4:00 | @ | NWE | 15 | 14 | Sun | L 10-34 | 13.0 | not covered | 43.5 | over | |
| 9 | NYJ | 2005 | 2005-11-20 | 4:15 | 2:15 | @ | DEN | 11 | 10 | Sun | L 0-27 | 13.0 | not covered | 41.0 | under | |
| 10 | NYJ | 1978 | 1978-10-01 | 1:00 | 1:00 | PIT | 5 | 5 | Sun | L 17-28 | 12.5 | covered | 0.0 | over | ||
| 11 | NYJ | 1996 | 1996-09-15 | 1:00 | 1:00 | @ | MIA | 3 | 3 | Sun | L 27-36 | 12.5 | covered | 39.5 | over | |
| 12 | NYJ | 1992 | 1992-12-20 | 8:00 | 8:00 | @ | MIA | 16 | 15 | Sun | L 17-19 | 11.5 | covered | 37.0 | under | |
| 13 | NYJ | 2013 | 2013-09-12 | 8:29 | 8:29 | @ | NWE | 2 | 2 | Thu | L 10-13 | 11.5 | covered | 43.0 | under | |
| 14 | NYJ | 1987 | 1987-10-11 | 1:00 | 1:00 | @ | IND | 5 | 4 | Sun | L 0-6 | 11.0 | covered | 0.0 | over | |
| 15 | NYJ | 2009 | 2009-11-22 | 4:15 | 4:15 | @ | NWE | 11 | 10 | Sun | L 14-31 | 11.0 | not covered | 45.0 | push | |
In the last 4 NFL seasons, there have been just two games with a point spread of greater than 15 points. Both games took place when AFC East teams visited Foxboro. Just three weeks ago, the Patriots hosted the Dolphins and were 17-point favorites; New England took a 28-10 lead early in the third quarter, but wound up “only” winning 35-17. Two weeks later, the Patriots shockingly lost the rematch in Miami as 10.5-point favorites. And last year, the — Bryce Petty-led Jets — were 17-point underdogs in New England and lost 41-3.
That story again: the Jets are 17-point underdogs for the second time in as many starts for Bryce Petty. And the rest of the NFL has been a 16+ point underdog just one other time in the last four years.
The Jets, of course, once won a Super Bowl as an enormous underdog of 18 points (plus or minus a point or two depending on your source). The Jets also won as a 17-point dogs in the Dennis Byrd game against the Bills. Otherwise, the Jets history as big underdogs is what you would expect: it’s mostly losses, with a mix of covering and not covering the spread.
League-wide, teams are 5-84 when underdogs of greater than 15 points in regular season games since 1978. [1]Excluding games with replacement players in 1987. And, as you would suspect, it’s mostly great teams against bad teams.
But the Jets/Saints game is interesting because the Jets are 5-8, only four games behind the 9-4 Saints. The smallest gap in wins between teams in such a large game? That happened with the 1992 Colts and Bills, who played twice back when they were AFC East rivals. Indianapolis was 1-1 when they traveled to Buffalo in week 3, and was blown out 38-0 as 17-point dogs. In week 13, a 4-7 Colts team was a home underdog of 16.5 points…. and beat the 9-2 Bills. Buffalo finished 11-5, while Indianapolis won out the rest of the way, finishing 9-7.
References
| ↑1 | Excluding games with replacement players in 1987. |
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