Two Winless Teams, Denver Broncos and New York Jets, Kick Off NFL Week 4

Posted on: October 1, 2020, 06:53h. 

Last updated on: October 1, 2020, 01:17h.

Bill Huber Read More

Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

The NFL’s Week 3 schedule was dominated by two monster games, with the Green Bay Packers beating the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night and the Kansas City Chiefs overwhelming the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.

If Week 3 ended with two bangs, Week 4 is starting with a soaked piece of newspaper. The Denver Broncos play at the New York Jets on Thursday night. Both teams are 0-3.

The Broncos were 3-point favorites on Monday, but have fallen to 1.5-point underdogs as of Thursday morning at William Hill.

Quarterback Troubles

The Jets have been terrible, but at least they have their quarterback. Denver will be without Drew Lock for a second consecutive week because of an injured throwing shoulder.

The early money is on the Broncos,” said Nick Bogdanovich, the director of trading at William Hill, to Casino.org before offering a tongue-in-cheek correction. “Let me rephrase that. I wouldn’t say it’s on the Broncos. I would say it’s against the Jets. I think that’ll be the bettors’ mindset.”

Without Lock last week, Jeff Driskel was 17-of-30 for 176 yards in a 28-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now, it will be Brett Rypien’s turn. An undrafted free agent in 2019, Rypien moved the ball well at the end of the Tampa Bay game to earn his first career start. Denver has been hammered by injuries. Key players on injured reserve include cornerback A.J. Bouye, defensive tackle Jurrell Casey, outside linebacker Von Miller, and receiver Courtland Sutton.

Jets quarterback Sam Darnold directs a team that has been outscored by an appalling 94-37. The No. 3 pick of the 2018 draft, Darnold has really struggled. Of 33 qualifying quarterbacks, he’s 31st in passer rating (70.8), 31st in yards per attempt (5.85) and 33rd in air yards per completion (3.68). As a rookie, he threw three touchdown passes against the Broncos.

With Denver ranking 30th and New York 32nd in scoring, the over/under of 41 is the lowest this week at William Hill.

Steelers-Titans Postponed

The biggest game on the docket was postponed on Thursday morning. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans are two of six undefeated teams. The Titans have been hit by 11 positive COVID-19 tests. The NFL considered playing the game on Monday night, but two more members of the team tested positive. The game already had been taken off the board by sportsbooks.

In another battle of winless teams, the Houston Texans are 4.5-point favorites over the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota might have dodged a COVID scare, so that game is back on the board at sportsbooks.

The New England Patriots (2-1) play at the Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) on Sunday. The Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champions and favorites again, are 7-point favorites.

Here are this week’s games, with the lines from William Hill. All times are Eastern.