The AFC East will get a moment in the limelight tonight as the Buffalo Bills (3-2) square off against the New York Jets (2-3) in the Monday Night Football game at 8:15 p.m. from MetLife Stadium.
The Bills enter this contest with a two-game losing streak to snap. After starting the year with three straight wins, Buffalo has fallen to Baltimore and Houston in back-to-back road losses. The Bills have won both of their home games this season.
New York will enter the game with a new head coach after canning Robert Saleh last week after the team’s 23-17 loss to Minnesota in the International Series in London, England. The Jets turn to Jeff Ulbrich as he looks to become only the second interim coach ever to lead a team to the postseason.
Can Ulbrich right the Jets’ flight this season, or will the Bills stomp their way to a fourth victory of the year? The winner of this game will take control of the AFC East, and we’ll give you our three best player prop bets along with our best bet for this divisional rivalry tonight.
Now that Saleh has been removed from the Jets’ coaching roster, New York quarterback Aaron Rodgers may thrive under new play-caller Todd Downing. Rumors swirled that Saleh wanted to can Hackett as the two potentially were at odds about what this offense should feature, and ultimately, neither coach won the argument.
Hackett was a part of Rodgers’ run at the end of his Green Bay career, including Rodgers' third and fourth MVP seasons as a Packer. In those years, Rodgers completed over 69 percent of his passes for 8,414 yards and 85 touchdowns against nine interceptions. The thought was he would replicate that under his system, but those bets never materialized.
Expect the difference to be immediate as Rodgers will be working under an experienced offensive coordinator in Downing who may know Rodgers better than any assistant coach on the roster. Downing’s offenses always feature the best player. Bettors can confidently wager on this passing prop as I expect the quarterback to throw for 300 yards tonight against the Bills.
Across the field will be another quarterback that should be in the conversation for MVP in Buffalo Bills signal caller Josh Allen. Last year, Allen threw for 4,306 yards and 29 touchdowns while also rushing for 524 yards and 15 touchdowns for the Bills.
This season, he’s on track for a similar stat line with 160 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 945 passing yards and eight touchdowns through the air. While Allen is attempting to be more of a pocket passer than a runner, he’s still lethal on the ground.
Last year, he ran for 51 total yards against the Jets in two games, eclipsing the 34.5-yard mark once in those two contests. He’s done so in three of his team’s five games thus far, and the Jets have allowed Will Levis to exceed this prop bet in total yards earlier this season. Bettors should take the over on Allen’s prop bet.
Bettors know that you cannot predict Aaron Rodgers to begin throwing the football unless you’re also taking his receivers to perform significantly better, too. That’s why New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard should be in for a big game tonight.
The 6-foot-5 athlete is coming off a so-so performance against Minnesota but otherwise has been strong this season. Before the Vikings' loss, Lazard had eclipsed the 35.5-yard mark in three of the four games. Bettors should expect he’ll do the same to Buffalo and cover this prop bet.
The Jets are sure to bring a new passion under Ulbrich, but that alone will not be enough to fend off this Buffalo team desperate to keep their season on track. Expect the Bills to easily surpass this spread en route to a 4-2 record.
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Earnest is a 25-year veteran of the newspaper industry. He's spent the majority of his early years working as a sports reporter and editor. He made the move back to the digital world in 2022, joining EatWatchBet as a senior writer. Ernie covers college football betting, fantasy football, and NFL betting for EatWatchBet.