Monday Night Football: Giants at Jets
Who’s in, who’s out
The star of this game will be the New Meadowlands Stadium, the shiny new building shared by both teams. This is the first football game played in the building, though there has already been a soccer game.
For the Jets, the story is the absence of Darrelle Revis. He’s holding out and it’s a clear distraction for the team. Barring a last-minute miracle, that distraction will loom over this game.
The Jets have added a lot of new faces (and giant egos) this offseason and bettors should get a good look at them in this game. Jets coach Rex Ryan said that several starters, including first-team quarterback Mark Sanchez and new acquisitions LaDainian Tomlinson and Santonio Holmes, will play beyond the first quarter.
Sanchez will test his surgically repaired knee for the first time but won't stay in long enough to jeopardize it. That means that it will be left to the ancient Mark Brunell to knock off the cobwebs and Kellen Clemens to try to maintain his very tenuous hold on a roster spot.
This game will show us just how poorly the Giants have managed their QB depth chart. Eli Manning will play the standard opening quarter or so and then leave it to his backups. The thought of those backups must terrify Giants’ fans.
Jim Sorgi comes from years of mopping up for one Manning brother in Indianapolis to take over for another. The best thing you can say about him is that he has lots of experience playing in the preseason because Peyton hates August football. Rhett Bomar is the third choice.
Line movement
The line has shifted steadily toward the Jets after they opened as a one-point favorite. They are currently -2.5 at most books. The total isn’t going anywhere.
Trends
Rex Ryan started strong last year. He covered three of four spreads in the preseason. Tom Coughlin has a winning record in the preseason in his six years with the Giants, but is just 4-6-2 ATS in the last three preseasons and is coming off an ugly 1-3 ATS August last year.
Weather
It should be dry and pleasant for the debut of the new stadium. The forecast is for temperatures in the low 80s and little chance of rain.
Giants and Jets open new Meadowlands on MNF
By: StatFox
The first game ever at the new Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will feature the two teams that will share the stadium in years to come.
Big things are expected of the Jets and second-year QB Mark Sanchez, as they try to build on last season’s unexpected run to the AFC Championship Game.
The Giants and Eli Manning won the Super Bowl just three years ago, and have shown flashes of being the best team in the sport at times over the last two seasons. But they fell apart in the second half of 2009, losing eight of their final 11 games after starting 5-0.
The Jets will be without CB Darrelle Revis who is in the midst of what could turn out to be an extensive holdout, but newcomers to the Jets in 2010, cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson, have been standouts at camp so far.
Sanchez should only play one or two series, while backups Mark Brunell and Kellen Clemens will see the majority of the action for the Jets. Jim Sorgi and Rhett Bomar should play the majority of the game for the Giants after Eli Manning departs.
These two teams have played every preseason since 1969 with the Jets taking the last three meetings. We expect the streak to continue with the Jets superior talent at backup QB (Brunell and Clemens are both former starters).
FoxSheetspoints out: The NY JETS are 13-3 against the spread versus NY GIANTS since 1993.