Tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Bills and Jets has it all.
The intrigue starts with the latter. Early last week, N.Y. made the stunning decision to fire head coach Robert Saleh after five games.
N.Y.’s defense should look the same, as interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich will contine to run the Jets D. The offense, on the other hand, will have a different look after the franchise not only fired Saleh, but also demoted OC and play caller Nathaniel Hackett after the Week 5 loss to the Vikings in London.
The Bills are dealing with some adversity of their own after a dominant 3-0 start. Buffalo was blown out by Baltimore in primetime in Week 4, and it suffered an ugly loss to Houston last Sunday in one of the worst performances of QB Josh Allen’s career.
Tonight’s MNF showdown kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC.
Bills vs. Jets Betting Odds
Below are the odds for the highly anticipated Week 6 Monday Night Football game in three key markets: the spread, moneyline and total.
| DraftKings | FanDuel | bet365 | |
| BUF spread | -1.5 (-110) | -1.5 (-110) | -1 (-110) |
| NYJ spread | +1.5 (-110) | +1.5 (-110) | +1 (-110) |
| BUF ML | -122 | -116 | -120 |
| NYJ ML | +102 | -102 | EVEN |
| Total | 41.5 (o-108; u-112) | 41.5 (o-105; u-115) | 41.5 (o-110; u-110) |
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Bills vs. Jets Betting Preview
Buffalo Bills Betting News, Analysis
While the pressure on the Jets is palpable, Buffalo also badly needs a win.
On the surface, losing on the road to both Baltimore and Houston doesn’t exactly scream, “crisis.” But the way the Bills have struggled defensively the last two weeks — plus Allen’s 9-for-30 dud vs. the Texans last week — makes this a pivotal game for the visitors.
Playing in their third straight road game, and against a quality Jets defense, Allen and the Bills will need to be much better than they were the last two games.
Allen managed to spread the ball around successfully in Weeks 1-3. The Bills’ lack of proven pass-catchers appears to have caught up with them the last couple weeks, though, and they suffered with Khalil Shakir unavailable last Sunday. Another cause for concern is the fact that Allen’s supporting cast is not 100 percent healthy going into this game.
Top RB James Cook (toe) and No. 1 WR Shakir (ankle) are both questionable for this contest. Allen and WRs Mack Hollins and Curtis Samuel are also dealing with injuries, but are expected to play. At subtantially less than full strength — especially if Cook and/or Shakir don’t suit up — can the Bills move the ball on a Jets defense that has been very solid outside of a poor showing against the 49ers back in Week 1?
Defensively, the Bills have struggled the last two weeks. They gave up over 270 yards rushing to Derrick Henry and the Ravens in Week 4 and allowed C.J. Stroud to throw for 331 yards in Week 5.
Even against a Jets offense that has yet to put it all together this year, the shorthanded Bills D faces a challenge, as it’s without LB Matt Milano, DE Von Miller and DT Ed Oliver, and nickel corner Taron Johnson is questionable.
New York Jets Betting News, Analysis
Starting with tonight’s game against Buffalo, former Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing will call the plays for Aaron Rodgers and Co. Hackett is still on staff, but the play-calling duties now belong to Downing.
The latter ran the Titans offense in 2021 and 2022 before joining the Jets as passing game coordinator last season. Don’t be surprised if we see a ton of RBs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen against a defense that is allowing 144 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry this season.
Two other reasons to expect heavy doses of both Hall and Allen:
- Downing led an extremely run-heavy Titans offense featuring Derrick Henry in 2021 and 2022
- Jets right tackle Morgan Moses is expected to return to the field and boost the running game after missing the last two weeks with an MCL sprain
The Jets have questions offensively, to say the least, after back-to-back games with well under 300 yards of total offense (they gained just 248 yards against Denver in Week 4 and 254 vs. Minnesota last week). They should, however, get a boost — for at least one night — from the coaching shake-up.
Rodgers appeared to tweak his ankle against Minnesota last Sunday, and he’s looked hobbled at various points the last two weeks, but his name was not on his team’s injury report for tonight.
Defensively, the Jets are healthy. Veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley is listed as questionable after missing the past three games, but said this weekend that he will be good to go vs. the Bills. With Mosley back in action, the Jets should be able to contain a Buffalo offense that has struggled the last two weeks.
Bills vs. Jets Prediction, Best Bets
There are a lot of reasons to like the Jets in this one. Obviously, it starts with optimism that at home against a division rival, the coaching change will provide a jolt for at least one night.
The Jets are also much healthier than Buffalo, especially if both Moses and Mosley are 100 percent.
Backing a team that struggled offensively the way N.Y. did against Denver and Minnesota the last two weeks is a risk. Still, this strike us as a spot where the Jets can rally in front of their home fans and take down a suddnely vulnerable division rival.
At this point, the Bills’ emphatic wins over the Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars, who are a combined 5-12 on the year, are not nearly as impressive as they were at the time.
We got burned the last time we bought into the Jets on Monday Night Football, but we’re trusting Ulbrich and this defense to lead the way to a slight upset as home dogs in a low-scoring slugfest.
Bills vs. Jets Best Bets
- Jets moneyline (+102 at DraftKings)
- Under 41.5 (-110 at bet365)
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