The Denver Broncos will travel to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to take on the New York Jets for Thursday Night Football. Both teams have faced tough opponents in the early stage of the season and are winless thus far. The Broncos are coming off a 28-10 home loss as a six-point dog to Tampa Bay, while the Jets were dominated on Sunday, 36-7, as a 12.5 point road dog to the Colts.
The Jets and Broncos last met on October 7, 2018, when the Jets came away with a 34-16 win at Denver as a one-point favorite.
Broncos uncertain on which QB to start
After going 7-9 last season, Vic Fangio has gotten off to a 0-3 start in his second year as the Denver Broncos head coach. According to Vegas Insider, the Broncos came into the season with an over/under projected win total of 7.5. Denver opened this season with a 16-14 home loss to the Tennessee Titans on a Monday night. Drew Lock started as the Broncos quarterback in the season opener but injured his shoulder the following week in a 26-21 loss at Pittsburgh, and he expects to miss at least another two weeks. The team has since added former Jacksonville signal-caller Blake Bortles to the team; however, Bortles is reportedly not a candidate to start on Thursday.On Sunday, the Broncos fell behind 23 to 3 late in the second quarter to Tom Brady and the Tampa Buccaneers and never pulled any closer than their 23-10 half-time deficit. The only scoring in the second half was a safety allowed by the Broncos and a 35-yard field by Tampa Bay.
The Broncos were outgained 353 to 226 in total yards, and 17 to 13 in first downs. Denver also committed two turnovers and did not force any. Quarterback Jeff Driskel completed 17 of 30 passes for 176 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, and Brett Rypien came in to complete 8 of 9 passes for 53 yards with an interception. The Broncos only rushed for 42 yards on 14 carriers and allowed six sacks on their quarterbacks for 45 yards. Rypien will get the start over Driskel in this game, though the Broncos could use the more athletic Driskel in some situations.
With so many issues at quarterback, the Broncos will have to get more production from running backs Melvin Gordon and Phillip Linsday. Gordon leads Denver with 174 yards (4.1ypc), while Lindsay (24 yards) has been hampered by injuries. He’s missed the last two but is expected to play on Thursday night.
Defensively, Denver held Tampa Bay to just 68 yards on 27 carries, but Tom Brady threw for 297 yards with three first-half touchdowns. The Broncos defense did sack Brady twice for a loss of 12 yards. Overall, they rank 20th in yards allowed per game (380ypg) and seventh against the run (102.3ypg).
After finishing 7-9 last season, the New York Jets entered this year with an over/win total of 6.5. The Jets are off to an 0-3 this year and have lost each game by 10 points or more. The Jets were outgained 353 to 260 in total yardage to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. The Colts gained 21 first downs and did not commit any turnovers in the game. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold went 17 of 29 with a first-quarter touchdown pass and 168 yards, but he also threw three interceptions for the game. On the season, Darnold is now completing 61.5% of his passes, has thrown for 562 yards, three interceptions, four interceptions, and a 28.8 QBR, which is 30th among quarterbacks.At 37-years old, Frank Gore has led the Jets in rushing in each of the first three games, totaling 144 yards on the season, and averaging 3.4 yards per attempt. Gore rushed for 57 yards on 15 attempts on Sunday.
- Under is 6-2 in Jets last 8 games after allowing more than 30 points in their previous game.
- Broncos are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite of 0.5-3.0.
- Broncos are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games as a favorite.
After three games, neither team has shown their fan bases much reason for optimism. The Broncos still have not officially announced who will start at quarterback on Thursday, but they could be going with Brett Rypien, the team’s third-string quarterback, before the season began.
