Jets open as 3 point underdogs vs Vikings

Mike White and the New York Jets look to keep winning against the Vikings next week

The New York Jets are coming off an efficient and effective blowout victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Mike White took over at quarterback from the benched Zach Wilson, and White made it look easy, throwing for 300+ yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. The Jets defense got off to a slow start, yielding 10 points in the first 16 minutes of the game before getting it right and shutting out the Bears the rest of the way. The victory over the Bears brought the Jets’ record for the 2022 NFL season to 7-4 and kept the Jets in position to earn a wild card playoff berth, and just one game out of first place in the AFC East. Now the Jets go on the road to take on the NFC North division leading Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.

The 9-2 Minnesota Vikings come into this game with the 2nd best record in the NFL, but you’d never know it by their statistics. The Vikings have just a +5 point differential on the season. They have played 8 games decided by a touchdown or less, and they have won all 8. That’s the kind of good fortune that tends to reverse itself over time. Nobody wins every close game. The Vikings have the NFL’s 18th ranked offense and 31st ranked defense. Does that sound like a 9-2 juggernaut to you? Me neither. I think the Vikings are a bit of a paper tiger, and they will eventually be exposed. This coming week against the Jets would be an excellent time to start that process.

The Jets need to take care of the football and not beat themselves. The Vikings have lost the turnover battle just three times this season. Not coincidentally, the Vikings two losses were both among those three games.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook the Jets open as 3 point underdogs against the Vikings on Sunday. With home field generally worth about three points, this point spread in effect rates the 7-4 Jets and the 9-2 Vikings as equals. Vikings fans no doubt disagree, but I think that’s fair.

Can the Jets win this game? Sure. The Jets not only can win, I think they should win this game. The Jets have much the better defense, the Vikings have the better weapons on offense. This game may come down to whether Mike White is the real deal, or at least good enough to score a decent amount of points against a bad Vikings defense. If White can deliver, I’m betting the Jets’ superb defensive line and cornerbacks will make life difficult for Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, Dalvin Cook and company. I’ll take the Jets in this game.

The moneyline odds are New York Jets +145/Chicago Bears -170.

The Over/Under for the game is 42.5.

What do you think Jets fans? Will the Jets beat the odds in this game?