Monday Night Football Odds – Baltimore Will Upset New York Jets

Monday Night Football betting lines kick off in 2010 with a doozy of a matchup as the New York Jets host the Baltimore Ravens in what will be an all-out war.

The Jets are favored in this matchup slightly, but they’re also toting a crippling amount of hype and expectation heading in to this year. I like everything about this team…except quarterback Mark Sanchez.

If you take Sanchez’s numbers out of context, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.

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The context is simple: best rushing attack (172.3 yards per game), best passing defense (153.7 yards against), 8th ranked rushing defense (98.6 yards allowed), New York’s 9-7 SU/ATS record.

Take Sanchez in a bubble and here’s what you have: a quarterback who ranked 25th in pass attempts, 23rd in passing yards, 24th in touchdown passes, 2nd most interceptions, 28th in quarterback rating and 25th in longest pass completion last year (65 yards).

Listen, you can make a lot of excuses for Sanchez. He was a rookie. He’d never played in cold weather before last year. He’s only 23-years old. But the fact remains that he threw for 250+ yards just once in 2009, and had only two games where he threw multiple touchdowns.

What the hell does this have to do with the Jets’ Monday Night football odds? In a word – everything. The first person you blame when things go wrong is the coach, and the second person is the quarterback. At some point in a major game, Sanchez is going to have to take over and he hasn’t shown that he has the tools to do that.

He’s relied on a team loaded with talent, but that same team can’t rely on him.

The thing about Sanchez’s situation is that he has zero excuses if the Jets stumble early on this season. Considering they’re playing in a tough, grinding division, he won’t have much room for error. Especially with Jets fans.

Baltimore Ravens (0-0) vs. New York Jets (0-0)

Monday, September 13th — Meadowlands Stadium — 7:00pm EST

Monday Night Football Odds: NYJ -2.5 (36)

The Ravens have questions as well, but I have almost no concerns about Joe Flacco. Across the board, all of his numbers from the 2009 betting season were far better than Sanchez. Can he win a big game? Not with just Derrick Mason.

Last year, Baltimore hit a sticking point because teams essentially realized that their only weapon was Ray Rice. The former Rutgers star is entering his third year, and led all tailbacks with 78 receptions while posting 1,339 rushing yards with 8 touchdowns overall.

To help the foundation of Flacco and Rice, the team has shipped in Anquan Boldin from Arizona. While I don’t expect Boldin to have one of those crazy 1,500 yard, 12 touchdown seasons, defenses will have to at least respect him.

He’ll dilute a defense’s ability to stack eight in the box against Rice on every play, especially since Flacco has the ability to make teams pay for disrespecting his arm.

All this focus on the quarterbacks and offenses isn’t meant to ignore the effect of the defenses on the Monday Night football odds. The Jets boast one of the best defenses in the league. The only major concern is what the Calvin Pace injury does to the starting roster, and if a necessary trickle-down effect emerges to make up for his loss.

Still, that’s a weak excuse for a team that has a ghastly pair of corners in Revis and Cromartie, as well as Kris Jenkins back from injury.

I’m much more inclined to doubt the defense of the Baltimore Ravens to a certain extent. The loss of Ed Reed is huge, make no mistake about that. But Terrell Suggs is improving at a ridiculous rate, giving Ray Lewis a smaller load to handle. As much as I’ve harped on Lewis’s declining ability, the one thing that will never die is his heart and his will to win.

Even as he enters his 15th season, I think Lewis has the type of intangibles and smarts to make him effective in what the Ravens do defensively.

While I’m willing to allow the Jets to prove me wrong, I’m not getting caught looking sideways with such tight Monday Night Football odds on the line. Baltimore may have gone just 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 road games, but the Jets have hardly looked sharp in the preseason which is why I’m betting on their 2-4 ATS record at home to steadily head south in the new stadium.

I don’t know if Sanchez can handle the pressure, the expectation and the intense spotlight of Monday Night Football. I know the Ravens can. That why I’m airing on the side of caution with the Baltimore Ravens in Monday Night Football odds. I’ll believe in the hype train of the Jets when it proves to be worth it.

Furious Monday Night Football Pick – Baltimore +2.5 (OVER)

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