It's not a huge surprise that New York Jets starting quarterback Zach Wilson will not be ready for Sunday's season opener against Baltimore after he injured his knee in the first preseason game and had surgery, but the big news today is that Wilson will not play until at least Week 4. It's Joe Flacco's team for now, and the Jets are 7-point home underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook vs. Flacco's former Ravens club. Some books already have jum ped this number to 7.5.
Jets second-year coach Robert Saleh said today there was no setback for Wilson and he looks great but that doctors suggested Wilson not play until Week 4 in Pittsburgh. Wilson will not be put on short-term injured reserve and the Jets simply want him to get several practices under his belt. The Jets visit Cleveland in Week 2 and host Cincinnati in Week 3.
The 37-year-old Flacco is 98-78 in his regular-season career as a starter (94-89-8 against the spread, including playoffs) but hasn't won a start with the Jets, going 0-5, and has lost his past seven starts overall dating to his Denver days. Flacco will become only the second quarterback in league history to play a season opener against a team he won a Super Bowl with. Flacco has never faced Baltimore.
New York enters having lost 12 consecutive September games and has covered the spread in just one: Week 3 in 2019 as a 20.5-point underdog at New England (NYJ lost by 16). The Jets 7; last straight-up win in September was in Week 1 of the 2018 season in Detroit. The longest September losing streak this century is 13 in a row by the Rams from 2007-10.