Pregame Primer: Cornerback hell for Jets who look to end another streak
Everything you need to know ahead of today’s game between the Jets and Eagles.
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What’s Up with the Jets? 🛩️
The Jets face-off against the undefeated Eagles this afternoon in New Jersey at 4:25 PM
New York is the underdog for their 6th straight game to start the season
The Jets are 0-12 all-time against the Philadelphia Eagles in franchise history
CB Sauce Gardner was downgraded to “out” with a concussion earlier this weekend – New York will be without their top three corners in Gardner, D.J. Reed and Brandin Echols
OL Max Mitchell will start in place of Alijah Vera-Tucker, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon
Prior to this season, QB Zach Wilson only had one career game completing over 70 percent of his passes – he has now done that in each of his last two games
RB Breece Hall is looking to become the first Jets running back to rush for 100+ yards in back-to-back games since Chris Ivory during the 2015-16 season
Former Jets punter Braden Mann will be active for the Eagles this afternoon
Injury Report 🏥
❌ OUT
CB Sauce Gardner (concussion)
CB D.J. Reed (concussion)
CB Brandon Echols (hamstring)
CB Justin Hardee (hamstring)
❔ QUESTIONABLE
WR Xavier Gipson
DL Michael Clemens
FB Nick Bawden
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Jets (2-3) vs Eagles (5-0)
Where: MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ
When: 4:25 PM EDT
Where to Watch: FOX
The Odds 🎲
ESPN Analytics: Jets 34.5% chance to win
Line: Jets +6.5
Over/Under: 42.5 points
Postseason Odds: +610
⬆️ from +850 last week
Super Bowl Odds: +13000
↔️ unchanged from last week
Our Prediction 🔮
It’s been a season of long streaks for the Jets. 12 seasons without the making playoffs, 14 (now 15) straight losses to the New England Patriots, and now they get set to face a team that they have never defeated in their long franchise history.
This afternoon at MetLife Stadium the Jets look to knock-off the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that they are 0-12 against all-time. It should also be noted, by the way, that the Eagles are one of two undefeated teams remaining to start this season.
If the Jets had slightly better injury luck – and I’m not even counting Aaron Rodgers or Alijah Vera-Tucker here – I would have felt better about picking them to pull-off the upset.
Philly has obviously played well to start the season, but even their fans would admit that they haven’t been clicking on all cylinders despite the 5-0 start. Earlier in the week, I was talking myself into the road map for the Jets to “sneak up” on the Eagles, who may potentially be overlooking this Jets team ahead of their big match-up with Miami in primetime next Sunday.
But with the ridiculous amount of injuries continuing to pile up against the Jets, it’s definitely harder to see them pulling this off as of right now. They’re down their top three corner backs with D.J. Reed missing his second straight game, plus Sauce Gardner and Brandon Echols being ruled out, as well. And while the Eagles aren’t as pass heavy as other top offenses in the league, it is still a massively tough assignment to cover both A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith when you’re down to Bryce Hall on the outside and Michael Carter II who will likely remain in the slot.
I still expect this defense to keep the game within striking distance and for Zach Wilson and Breece Hall to make some plays. If things right for this team, I can see them keeping it closer than the spread would indicate and maybe finding themselves in a scenario where they can steal the game… but I would be lying if I said I’m confident in picking a win here.
Eagles 21, Jets 17.