NY Jets @ Washington 9:05 PM EST
NY Jets +3 over Washington (4 Units)
The NFL season kicks off with quite the intriguing matchup as the Washington Redskins, who plundered a good portion of the Jets roster during the offseason, hosts the very team they sideswiped in free agency... four key Jets players from the 2002-2003 division champions (Laveranus Coles, Randy Thomas, Chad Morton and John Hall) are now wearing the DC maroon and gold, and the rest of their former teammates and fans are certainly not happy about it, especially after Chad Morton's path to Washington was paved by an arbitrator who tossed out the Jets' matching offer on a technicality... purely coincidentally, that arbitrator happens to be a Redskins' season ticket holder...
The emotion on both sides should be high indeed, but we believe that this favors the Jets much more than the Redskins... while the four Jets defectors may come into this game a little tight in an attempt to prove their free agency worth to their former teammates, there is an entire Jets squad coming into town with a huge chip on their shoulder, prepared to show their former teammates that they made the wrong choice in leaving town to go to a team that went just 7-9 last season against a relatively easy schedule... and let's be honest here - have the Redskins improved THAT greatly in the offseason? Yes, Coles was a terrific signing, providing support for Rod Gardner to stretch the secondaries and Patrick Ramsey to have yet another target to which he can throw... however, Stephen Davis (who scored three TDs in Washington's last meeting against the Jets to overcome a major deficit) is now in Carolina, replaced by Trung Canidate, who has yet to prove his durability and ability to hold onto the ball... Ramsey is also fairly unproven and will be starting his first season opener under a lot of pressure to win... needless to say, the Redskins have quite a few question marks on offense heading into this contest...
The Jets also have a big question mark, and that is how they will respond to the loss of Chad Pennington for a good portion of the season... however, while Vinny Testaverde is getting up in age and certainly did not impress last season, he is a two-time Pro Bowler with 182 career starts and nearly 40,000 career passing yards on his resume... take that experience along with the added experience of veterans such as Curtis Martin, Wayne Chrebet and Curtis Conway, and the Jets will certainly not be caught with their pants down in preparing for this contest and making game-time adjustments... the same cannot be said for a Redskins team that will be attempting to develop chemistry between a brand new set of young skill-position players... and as we all know with football, losing poise during one critical drive can be the difference between winning and losing...
Washington also needs to be able to prove that they can thrive in the role of a favorite before we support them here, as the Skins are ust 5-10 ATS in their last fifteen regular season games as a home favorite (29-50 ATS in their last 79), and a horrendous 0-5 ATS as a home fav of six points or less (losing four times STRAIGHT UP)... meanwhile, the Jets have long thrived in the role of underdog, going an amazing 34-8-1 ATS as a regular season road dog since the start of the 1997-98 season... additionally, the J-E-T-S are an exceptional 18-4 ATS as a road underdog versus non-divisional opponents.... with Pennington knocked to the sidelines and Coles now in Washington, the Jets are once again in that all too familiar role, and the end result we expect to see is exactly what New York has thrived upon in the past... take the Jets, as they don't even need the points in the contest, opening up their season with a straight up win over Steve Spurrier's squad...
FINAL PREDICTION: NY JETS 20, WASHINGTON 15
NY Jets +3 over Washington (4 Units)
The NFL season kicks off with quite the intriguing matchup as the Washington Redskins, who plundered a good portion of the Jets roster during the offseason, hosts the very team they sideswiped in free agency... four key Jets players from the 2002-2003 division champions (Laveranus Coles, Randy Thomas, Chad Morton and John Hall) are now wearing the DC maroon and gold, and the rest of their former teammates and fans are certainly not happy about it, especially after Chad Morton's path to Washington was paved by an arbitrator who tossed out the Jets' matching offer on a technicality... purely coincidentally, that arbitrator happens to be a Redskins' season ticket holder...
The emotion on both sides should be high indeed, but we believe that this favors the Jets much more than the Redskins... while the four Jets defectors may come into this game a little tight in an attempt to prove their free agency worth to their former teammates, there is an entire Jets squad coming into town with a huge chip on their shoulder, prepared to show their former teammates that they made the wrong choice in leaving town to go to a team that went just 7-9 last season against a relatively easy schedule... and let's be honest here - have the Redskins improved THAT greatly in the offseason? Yes, Coles was a terrific signing, providing support for Rod Gardner to stretch the secondaries and Patrick Ramsey to have yet another target to which he can throw... however, Stephen Davis (who scored three TDs in Washington's last meeting against the Jets to overcome a major deficit) is now in Carolina, replaced by Trung Canidate, who has yet to prove his durability and ability to hold onto the ball... Ramsey is also fairly unproven and will be starting his first season opener under a lot of pressure to win... needless to say, the Redskins have quite a few question marks on offense heading into this contest...
The Jets also have a big question mark, and that is how they will respond to the loss of Chad Pennington for a good portion of the season... however, while Vinny Testaverde is getting up in age and certainly did not impress last season, he is a two-time Pro Bowler with 182 career starts and nearly 40,000 career passing yards on his resume... take that experience along with the added experience of veterans such as Curtis Martin, Wayne Chrebet and Curtis Conway, and the Jets will certainly not be caught with their pants down in preparing for this contest and making game-time adjustments... the same cannot be said for a Redskins team that will be attempting to develop chemistry between a brand new set of young skill-position players... and as we all know with football, losing poise during one critical drive can be the difference between winning and losing...
Washington also needs to be able to prove that they can thrive in the role of a favorite before we support them here, as the Skins are ust 5-10 ATS in their last fifteen regular season games as a home favorite (29-50 ATS in their last 79), and a horrendous 0-5 ATS as a home fav of six points or less (losing four times STRAIGHT UP)... meanwhile, the Jets have long thrived in the role of underdog, going an amazing 34-8-1 ATS as a regular season road dog since the start of the 1997-98 season... additionally, the J-E-T-S are an exceptional 18-4 ATS as a road underdog versus non-divisional opponents.... with Pennington knocked to the sidelines and Coles now in Washington, the Jets are once again in that all too familiar role, and the end result we expect to see is exactly what New York has thrived upon in the past... take the Jets, as they don't even need the points in the contest, opening up their season with a straight up win over Steve Spurrier's squad...
FINAL PREDICTION: NY JETS 20, WASHINGTON 15
