Bart Hubbuch

Bart Hubbuch

NFL

Jaguars face record odds against Broncos

Parity so dominates the NFL that a complete mismatch is about as common as a total lunar eclipse.

That explains the outsized fascination with the unbeaten Broncos hosting the winless Jaguars on Sunday in a matchup that — at least statistically — looks as comically lopsided as an Ohio State payday game in September against Florida A&M.

Oddsmakers have made Peyton Manning & Co. as much as a 26 ¹/₂-point favorite, one of the highest spread since the merger in 1970.

Atlanta not only beat the spread that day, losing just 19-7 in a game Atlanta led at halftime, but history says Jacksonville will, too. Of the 10 highest spreads in pro football history, the underdog covered eight times.

Though Vegas is the main reason interest is running high in what would otherwise be a ho-hum Week 6 interconference game, whether bookies and sportsbooks take a bath isn’t the only reason.

Also stoking the fascination: Manning, his relentless assault on the record books and, yes, the Jaguars themselves.

Manning’s passing numbers through the first five games are so ridiculous that most of them look like misprints — 377 yards per game, a 76-percent completion rate and 20 touchdowns against just one interception.

The four-time NFL MVP already has tied the NFL record for most TD passes in a game with seven last month, and that was against a Ravens team with a respectable defense.

The mind boggles at what Manning can do against a Jags defense that ranks at or near the bottom of every major statistical category, allowing 33 points a game and mustering just 10 sacks and four turnovers all season.

Total ineptitude also can be interesting in a car-crash sort of way, and Jacksonville practically is a frontstretch NASCAR pileup on both sides of the ball this season.

First-year coach Gus Bradley’s team is being outscored by a staggering 22.4 points a game, has not led a game by more than seven points and has scored just 51 points all season — the same output Manning’s Broncos had last week alone in a 51-48 win at the Cowboys.

Not only that, but the Jaguars are going with backup quarterback Chad Henne because of an injury to Blaine Gabbert.

Yikes.

About the only thing the Jaguars have on their side is history. Tom Coughlin took them into Mile High in just their second season as a franchise in 1996 and pulled off one of the greatest upsets in NFL playoff history, a 30-27 victory over a John Elway-led Broncos team that went into that game 13-3.

The Jaguars also surprisingly have owned this series, winning each of the past three meetings and five of the past six.

Of course, all of those were played before Manning signed with Denver last year and began an eye-popping career comeback that shows no signs of slowing down, even at age 37.

Manning could be pulled from this game by halftime at the mercy of coach John Fox, a move that combined with a porous Broncos defense probably would enable the Jaguars beat the record-tying spread.

That’s the only scoreboard that will matter in this one.

PICK: Broncos, 49-24