Make New York Post a Preferred Source New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel IN THE words of the immortal Vince Lombardi, as captured long ago by NFL Films, “What the hell’s going on out here?”
A year ago, with the Jets sitting at 1-7 in Aaron Glenn’s first season, Darren Mougey attacked the trade deadline, turning Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams into three first-round picks, a second-rounder, and Adonai Mitchell. Those bold moves have aged well — particularly the one with the Colts — and have set the Jets up to finally find their quarterback of the future and maybe even lure a franchise-altering coach.
But this week, with the team floundering at 2-7 in Glenn’s second chance, Mougey sat tight at the deadline, sending away only veteran safety Andre Cisco to the Lions for a sixth-round pick in 2028. Struggling pass rusher Will McDonald IV had asked for a trade; there had been rumblings about Breece Hall and, in the final hours, even Geno Smith, getting dealt for additional draft capital, but none of that happened.
Reaction of Jets fans on the Internet was swift and scared. Word filtered out that the reason the front office stood pat was not just to keep talented players, which is fine, but to give Glenn the best chance to try to save his job. Former Jets lineman Willie Colon, now on SNY’s postgame show, went as far as to say Glenn deserves a third season.
What the hell, indeed. While the die-hards have moved on to 24/7 monitoring of Tankathon, appointment Saturday viewing of Drew Mestemaker and CJ Carr, and dreams of Mike Tomlin or a young offensive genius taking the helm, is it now possible we’re in for even more of a 5-21 head coach whose team has one interception in 26 games and has been outscored 107-9 in the final two minutes of the first half?
Three things can happen Sunday to potentially clarify what the hell’s going on here.
● Josh Allen and the 7-1 Bills could blow the Jets’ doors off in front of 30,000 or so visiting fans. It seems as if every loss brings some kind of new embarrassment or a stat that hasn’t happened in 50 years.
● Everything comes together, Frank Reich gets the offense into the end zone early and often and Glenn gets his signature win. That would go a long way toward swaying Woody Johnson.
● The Jets play well for a while, make critical mistakes, kick field goals, get out-adjusted by Joe Brady and Jim Leonhard, and fuel the notion that the talent’s there, waiting to be coached.
Even with the Bills on a short week in a road back-to-back, sign us up for Option 1.
In Week 9, favorites went 14-1 straight up and 11-3-1 against the spread, and the average margin of victory in the five NFL Europe games this season has been 9.0 points. With TreVeyon Henderson out and Rhamondre Stevenson doubtful for this showdown in Munich, the Patriots could be forced to put too much in Drake Maye’s hands. A banged-up offensive line portends sack opportunities for Aidan Hutchinson and a continuation of Maye’s turnover epidemic.
The cause for pause is that Jared Goff (chest) was limited in midweek practice, but if he’s healthy, there’s no reason he can’t reprise what Jordan Love just did to the Patriots defense.
Patrick Mahomes is listed as questionable and seemed a little impaired in the second half after getting clobbered by David Bailey on Sunday. The Falcons are also just a few weeks past knocking off the 49ers. However, they get no bye after a 34-17 shellacking by the Bengals in Madrid, and the deadline moves of the Falcons dealing safety Jessie Bates III and Chiefs acquiring receiver Josh Downs take this a little north of the spread.
A Colts loss to Miami would be a best-case scenario for the draft pick Indianapolis owes the Jets. Dolphins with the points seems like a reasonable risk, even with Kyle McCord replacing Malik Willis, whose deteriorating groin reduced him to 128 passing yards last week. Miami has a good rookie class playing hard for Jeff Hafley, and they can smell a win here, and while the Colts didn’t trade everyone, they’ve sent away a lot of talent and have lost five in a row.
Teams coming off a bye week are 10-4 ATS this season, though any advantage for the Titans is muted by the Jaguars also having some extra rest after a Thursday beatdown of the Ravens. Five of the past six Tennessee losses have come by seven points or less, and Cam Ward had a 304-yard passing breakthrough his last time out.
Deshaun Watson will return from a concussion. The Browns are 5-3 in his starts, and although we’ll have to live with the sacks as Will Anderson Jr. takes aim at an injury-riddled offensive line, I’m thinking the Cleveland weather (46 degrees, wet) and strong Browns pass defense will calm down C.J. Stroud.
If the Vikings had Kirk Cousins six days earlier, they likely would have beaten Buffalo. The Minnesota defense was that good early on before the Bills wore it down. Jordan Love likely won’t match the success he had in Foxborough with Brian Flores’ maniacal blitzes coming at him and not much of a running game to help out.
The Panthers scored 21 in a near-miss against a tough Denver defense and have a decent set-up here to end a three-game skid. Let’s take a few points with Bryce Young and Tetairoa McMillan against a Saints team that’s covered just one of its past six games.
The Rams are missing Davante Adams and Puka Nacua and may not have the weapons to cover this, but I’ll take my chances with Aaron Donald and Myles Garrett against rookie Cardinals QB Carson Beck, who’s in for the traded Jacoby Brissett and injured Gardner Minshew.
The Seahawks gave us a Lock of the Week win on Sunday, and Mike Macdonald’s defense will now greet No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza in his maiden voyage as a starter. An even bigger problem for the Raiders is their defense ranks 32nd in total yards, rushing yards, and points allowed.
The spread for this stand-alone 4:25 matchup has held firm even as sharp handicappers expect it to rise. We have mismatches between coaches Kyle Shanahan and Brian Schottenheimer, and on defense, where the 49ers rank third in yards and sixth in points allowed compared to the Cowboys’ 30th and 26th.
Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers began a 4-1 straight up and ATS surge with a 30-27 win over the Bengals in Pittsburgh with this same line (+3.5). Willing to take the hook in this AFC North rivalry game, with Cincinnati having played last week in Spain.
Jacoby Brissett has already beaten the Chargers this season with Arizona, and his arrival should at least help get Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers back in business. Jesse Minter might not recognize his old Chargers team, which is 0-8 SU and ATS and has lost by an average of 12.25 points per game.
BEST BETS: Ravens, Bills, Steelers.
LOCK OF THE WEEK: Ravens (Locks 4-5 in 2026).
LAST WEEK: 11-4 overall, 3-0 Best Bets.
Dave Blezow’s one of the longest tenured NFL handicappers at the Post with picks dating back to 1994. He won the Post’s NFL betting standings in 2021 and the Playoffs most recently in 2023.
