Monday Night Football: Lions Host Jets in Early Affair

Jets Throwing Rookie Into Fire Against Lions

The New York Jets and the Detroit Lions will play the traditional early game on Monday Night Football. They will battle at Ford Field in Detroit. Kickoff is set for 7:10 pm EST and ESPN will have the coverage. Oddsmakers opened the Lions as -6.5-point favorites versus the Jets, while the game’s total opened at 43.5. Detroit is now 7-point favorites and the total is up to 44.5. The New York Jets selected Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft. It merely was a matter of when, not if, the team handed him the keys to their offense.

Tale of the Tape

Darnold impressed New York’s coaches enough to win the starting job in the preseason. He will lead the Jets into Monday’s season opener against the host Detroit Lions. Darnold beat out Josh McCown and the since-traded Teddy Bridgewater for the job during the preseason. The kid will make history in his NFL debut. He will become the youngest Week 1 starting quarterback at 21 years, 97 days. The Lions will be playing their first game under first-year coach Matt Patricia. He spent the past six seasons as the defensive coordinator for New England. Patricia inherits a team that has posted back-to-back nine-win seasons. Detroit features an experienced quarterback in Matt Stafford, but also one that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1991.

Detroit Looking to Get Over the Hump

The Lions were 9-7 in 2017, which was 2nd in the NFC North. Stafford has thrown for at least 4,000 yards for seven consecutive years. He has to carry what has been a one-dimensional offense. The O has ranked last in rushing in two of the past three seasons. Detroit drafted rookie running back Kerryon Johnson from Auburn in the second round and signed LeGarrette Blount. He who is one year removed from leading the league with 18 rushing touchdowns. They hope this helps shore up an abysmal ground game. Marvin Jones led the Lions with 1,101 yards and nine touchdowns last season. He had 61 catches last season. Fellow wideout Golden Tate also surpassed 1,000 yards on 92 receptions. Detroit has a pair of standouts on the other side of the ball. Defensive end Ziggy Ansah had 12 sacks. Cornerback Darius Slay had eight interceptions. Detroit needs to find another pass rusher for a unit that ranked 27th in 2017. Stafford has recorded four scoring passes and zero interceptions in two career meetings with New York. Lions RB Theo Riddick has registered 186 catches and 10 TD receptions over the last three seasons.

Can Darnold Produce Immediately?

The Jets were 5-11 in 2017, which was 4th in AFC East. Darnold was the second quarterback taken in the draft. He finished the preseason by completing 29-of-45 passes for 244 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He will look to a wide receiving corps led by Robby Anderson. He paced the team with 941 yards and seven touchdowns last season. Jermaine Kearse had a team-high 65 catches. Quincy Enunwa had 58 catches in 2016 and is back. Quarterback-turned-receiver Terrelle Pryor is in the mix also. New York built up the running game by bringing in a power back in Isaiah Crowell. He appeared in all 16 games in each of his four seasons in Cleveland. Bilal Powell will provide some rest and serve as the third-down back. Leonard Williams anchors the defensive line. The Jets have a solid secondary, but it must improve on a pass rush that ranked 28th a year ago. The unit only had 28 sacks. Crowell is one of six active running backs with at least 600 yards rushing in each of the last four seasons. Free Pick: Lions 23, Jets 20

Recent Form

New York Jets

Detroit Lions

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	18.63	23	23.50	21
Awy Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense	164.50	32	266.88	32
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense	71.13	32	97.75	12
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	25.63	8	23.88	22
Hme Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense	265.63	5	233.63	18
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense	71.63	32	126.88	26

Head To Head Summary

Head To Head Detail

NFL Betting Odds and Trends

New York Jets
NY Jets is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games
Jets are 1-6 SU in its last 7 games
NY Jets is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
NY Jets is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Jets’s last 10 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of NY Jets’s last 6 games when playing on the road against Detroit

Detroit Lions
Detroit is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Detroit’s last 9 games
Detroit is 10-5 SU in its last 15 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Detroit’s last 9 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Detroit’s last 6 games when playing at home against NY Jets

New York Jets

Detroit Lions

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