-
Edgar Chaput
Lions vs. Jets Point Spread: NFL Week 15 Odds, Prediction
Can the Detroit Lions continue their unlikely playoff push in the NFC? Can the New York Jets get back to their winning ways and keep up with the other AFC post-season hopefuls? Find out Sunday when the Lions visit the Jets in Week 15.
Few people would have predicted that by the middle of December these franchises would be playing a match with playoff implications. That’s just part of the fun of each NFL season.
To be expected under the circumstances, this is a “pick’em” game, with neither club holding the edge on the NFL odds. The over-under is 44.5 points.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Dates involving these franchises don’t come around very often. As such there have only been five tilts since 2006, the Jets having tamed the Lions in four of them. The most recent one was a kickoff weekend Monday night affair in which New York plastered Detroit 48-17.
Dan Campbell’s ensemble was once a team sporting a poor win-loss record yet somehow a respectable showing against the spread. Those numbers are slightly more even these days. At 6-7, the Lions still have work to do, but they continue to do bettors favours with a 9-4 record ATS. Sprucing those figures is the fact that the Lions have covered six weeks in a row while going 5-1 in the standings.
Robert Saleh’s Gang Green is still looking decent ATS with its 8-5 record, but results have been trickier to come by recently. After covering four weeks in a row throughout October, the team has flip-flopped between covers and failures ever since. They have a knack for covering wide spreads (+7.5 vs Green Bay, +10,5 and +10 vs Buffalo), less so narrow ones.
Detroit Lions
Would you believe it? The Detroit Lions are in the hunt for a playoff spot. To be clear, they’re on the outside looking in as of this writing. No NFL team has ever begun its campaign with a 1-6 record and earned a place in the post-season. The job is far from done, but at 6-7, it’s certainly begun in earnest.
Last week’s home win against divisional foe Minnesota was an example of how the Lions are taking care of business. For one, they looked like the superior squad in a 34-23 victory. Second, many had pinned them as favourites, and they delivered with aplomb. Finally, strong third down efficiency (7-15), superior time of possession, tons of yards on the ground (134), and ruthlessness with the big plays saw them earn the spoils. Nine different players caught passes from Jared Goff. They’re playing like a team and it shows.
New York Jets
The Jets didn’t just lose to the Bills last week 20-12. They left Orchard Park with serious wounds to lick. While the final score denotes a respectable showing – it very much was on the defensive side of the ball – the man whose name is currently on everyone’s lips was brutalized. Some of the hits quarterback Mike White took against the Buffalo pass rush came straight out of 1970s, no-nonsense football.
No one should be surprised that he’s listed as questionable with rib injuries. Moreover, few Jets fans are probably keen to see the return of Zach Wilson, who has grotesquely underperformed at times this year. What they have going for them is a monstrous defence, as they sit third in yards allowed per game, sixth in points allowed per game, and fourth in pass yards allowed per game (passing being Detroit’s strength).
DET
NYJ