NFL Football Betting Preview
New York Jets (3-1) at Miami Dolphins (1-3)
Monday October 12th, 8:30PM Eastern

Betus.com betting line – Jets -2.5, 36 O/U

The AFC East division takes the spotlight this Monday night. The Miami Dolphins took down the AFC East over the Patriots one year ago, but have struggled early on with a 1-3 record. The New York Jets on the other hand are a bit of a surprise team in the league. The Jets defense has strived behind new coach Rex Ryan which includes a big win over the Patriots to lead the AFC over New England at 3-1.

The Jets also made a big move during the week to add some firepower to the offense bringing over WR Braylon Edwards from Cleveland in a trade. Edwards should find a good home in New York and help the Jets offense become a bigger threat to opposing defenses. However, it is not sure how big of a threat Edwards will play as early as Monday night considering he will be adapting to his new team. Still, the Jets defense will look to continue their dominance against a Miami offense he is under new command behind quarterback Chad Henne.

The Dolphins lost their big playmaker in quarterback Chad Pennington nearly two weeks ago for the season due to a torn rotator cuff injury. Pennington was perhaps the biggest reason the Dolphins had their turnaround season a year ago, and if they are to avoid falling back to the bottoms of the AFC East then Chad Henne must pick up the offense. Henne was fairly good in the Dolphins 38-10 win last week against Buffalo going 14 of 22 with 115 yards and a score.

However, the Dolphins will now take on a feisty defense that ranks 4th in the NFL. The likely scenario here is Henne will just need to protect the football. The Dolphins will likely keep the ball in the hands of tailbacks Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Both running backs have combined for over 600 yards through the first 4 games along with 6 scores. Considering how the Jets defense has kept games to low scoring affairs for the most part, the Dolphins run game will have a chance to win a low scoring close ball game.

The Jets offensive has been fairly effective, but the team has gotten a lot of praise from their defense. The Jets defense has allowed just 277 yards per game this season while only giving up 14.3 points per game good enough for 3rd best in the NFL. The Jets defense will be looking for their stellar defensive front to shut down the Dolphins running game and force the inexperienced Henne to beat them with his arm. On offense rookie Mark Sanchez had looked pretty strong in his first season before a bad performance last week against New Orleans where he threw 3 interceptions.

However, Sanchez has still controlled the ball well outside of the performance against the Saints and has found comfort with WR Jerricho Cotchery. However, Cotchery has a bum hamstring and listed for questionable for the contest. If Cotchery is a no go, Sanchez may turn to the new teammate of Braylon Edwards who was brought over to revive his career. Still, the Jets will keep running backs Thomas Jones and Leon Washington with plenty of touches with the football. The Jets rushing offense was the biggest part of their success in 2008 behind Jones. Jones has been held to just 229 yards while Washington has added another 181. However, these two backs will still get plenty of carries as they look to get some better efforts from the offensive line and re-establish their rushing threat.

Betting Trends -

The Jets are just 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games while reaching the under in 5 of the last 6 games. New York has also reached the under in 4 of the last 5 games on the road. Miami is just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games and reached the under in 11 of the last 15 games. The Dolphins are just 2-7 SU against the Jets in their last 9 games and the Jets hold a 13-4 advantage against the spread in the last 17 meetings in Miami.

Pick – Jets -2.5