Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season is here, featuring an exciting AFC East matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Jets. The Patriots seek to rebound from their blowout loss to the Chicago Bears last week while the Jets aim to win their fifth consecutive game.
Can the Pat riots prove that last week's loss was a fluke? Or will the Jets prove that they're for real with a victory over their division rival?
Patriots vs Jets Odds
According to FanDuel Sportsbook's'NFL odds, the Patriots are a slight -146 favorite on the moneyline (2.5-point spread) in a game with an over/under of 39.5.
What should NFL fans expect in this matchup, and where can bettors find value?
Patriots vs Jets Prediction and Best Bet
Th e Patriots have dominated the Jets over the last two decades or so, winning 20 of the last 22 collisions between the AFC East rivals. If that wasn't impressive on its own, the Patriots haven't lost a game to the Jets since December 2015.
Having said that, this is a much more improved Jets team. Their defense held the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos to 19 total points over the last two weeks in addition to only surrendering 19.6 PPG this season – tied for 10th best in the NFL.
Still, the Jets have done a lot of beating up on underperforming teams. Though the Patriots haven't exactly been knocking off Super Bowl contenders either, it's worth pointing out that New England won back-to-back games by a combined score of 67-15 before losing to Chicago, so it's entirely possible that last week's loss was a one-off.
At the end of the day, the Patriots have had the Jets' number for a reason. Bill Belichick knows how to handle his team's divisional rival, which is tied for the 13th-most turnovers this season with nine. Despite how much of a feel-good story the Jets' success has been, the Patriots hate being embarrassed and will take out their frustration at MetLife Stadium.
I'm backing the Patriots as -2.5 favorites seeing as how they've covered the spread in four of their last five games against the Jets. I'm also backing the total hitting over 39.5 points seeing as how the last four New England-New York matchups have produced an average total of 49.3 points .