New York Jets vs Oakland Raiders: Jets can slow down Jacobs

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After a disappointing loss in Miami, there were a lot of rumors about Adam Gase being on the hot seat already in the first season as the Jets head coach. But the ownership and the front office gave him the vote of confidence and he paid it back with two consecutive wins to improve the record to 3-7. Although those two wins look nice on the paper, we still have to acknowledge the strength of schedule in that peroid. They defeated struggling Giants and Redskins while awaiting much stiffer test in Oakland Raiders, whom they are facing today.

"The Silver&Black" stayed alive after one of the toughest schedules in the history of the NFL. Being 4-5 after playing some great teams and not playing in the home stadium for 48 days in a row was above the expectations and an indicator that something good is happening in Oakland under the leadership of Jon Gruden. They confirmed it with by defending the home field 3 weeks in a row, improving to 6-4 and breathing down Kansas City's neck for the first place in the division.

Injuries and the key matchup

They are traveling to Big Apple in very good shape, when it comes to the injury report. Hudson, Brown, and Jacobs were limited throughout the week, but are all expected to play. They might even get Lamarcus Joyner back, who injured his hamstring in TNF bout against Chargers and was expected to miss several weeks. On the other side, the Jets' report is much longer, but fortunately for them without their key players on there.

Key matchup should be down in the trenches. We have the best run defense on one side and a rookie of the year candidate on the other, whom defenses tried to slow down, but were not very successful at it. Jets were limiting opposing offenses to only 3 yards per carry. If they managed to do that today, it would put them in a very good position, with Raiders in some 3rd&long situations in rainy weather. It's not gonna be easy against that Raiders' OL, but they had a similar matchup vs Dallas a couple of weeks ago and managed to limit Ezekiel Elliot to 3.8 yards per carry, winning that game in the end.

Jets vs Raiders best bet

Looking at the traditional markets, I'm leaning towards the under a little bit. The main issue int his spot is that both defenses play an aggressive man defense that can be beaten with some speed on the outside. But the Raiders aren't really that type of offense. They are slow and methodical, love to run the ball and if the Jets manage to limit their production on the ground, the entire system could collapse, with them being in 3rd&long situations more often than usual.

While the Raiders' young defense is coming together lately. Especially the pass rush, where 4th round rookie Maxx Crosby shined last week with 4 sacks! Darnold's protection collapses way too easily, which will take away time from him and unable him to take the shots downfield with Anderson and Thomas. Adding to this under bet, I have to go with Jamaal Adams sack prop as well. He got at least one in the last 3 games, averaging 2 per game in that period. He plays at the line of scrimmage and Greg Williams love to dial up blitzes for him. Raiders pass pro unit communicates well and usually doesn't leave rushers unblocked, but Carr doesn't scramble that well and can sometimes take a coverage sack, instead of throwing the ball away. That is an opportunity for Adams.