Two weeks ago, in the locker room following a rout of the woeful Dolphins, Jets players expressed outrage at having been one-point underdogs to winless Miami.
The words “disrespect” and “insult” were the most commonly-used by the Jets as they dressed following that 40-13 win in Miami.
On Sunday, the Jets will be staring at an even more outrageous betting line. They’ll walk into Gillette Stadium as 24-point underdogs to the Patriots.
That makes the 3-10 Jets a historic underdog to the 13-0 Patriots, who are not only pursuing perfection but hold a grudge against Jets head coach Eric Mangini the size of the Prudential Center.
“From those numbers alone, we don’t stand a chance, but that’s outside this locker room,” Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said of the point spread. “We don’t feel that way. We feel that we can play with anybody on any given day.”
Laveranues Coles sounded nonplussed by the spread.
“It’s just oddsmakers doing their thing,” he said. “We were a one-point underdog in Miami. It didn’t make a difference then, so why would it make a difference now?”
Receiver Jerricho Cotchery said the spread is irrelevant.
“People are going on what (they see) on paper,” he said. “We know what type of team they have over there. They have a great team. We don’t feel disrespected by any point spreads or anything like that. We’re not playing that well this year.”
The world knows the Patriots would love nothing more than to pile on points against the Jets at a faster rate than a good New England snowstorm would dump two feet of snow based on the rift between Bill Belichick and Mangini aggravated by “Spygate” earlier this season.
That, according to Sean Van Patten, an oddsmaker at Sports Consultants in Las Vegas, is “definitely factored into making the line.”
“The perception, at least, is that Belichick is running up the score because he’s angry over ‘Spygate,’ and it’s going to be payback time,” Van Patten said.
Three games ago, the Patriots were installed as 231/2-point favorites against the Eagles. On Dec. 5, 1976, the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 24-point underdogs to the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers, who won 42-0.
The more publicity Belichick’s beef with Mangini receives as the week moves forward, the larger Van Patten expects the line to become by game time.
“I can really only see it going up,” Van Patten said. “The public is going to hammer this number. Every week they’re on New England. And, the more they see ESPN talk about how Belichick is going to want to run it up on (Mangini) they’ll likely bet more on New England.”
*
The one thing anyone can guarantee won’t be heard from the Jets this week is a guarantee of a win over New England – the way Steelers safety Anthony Smith last week guaranteed his club would win.
How would Mangini react to a Jets player issuing a guarantee?
“I think Eric would probably be a little (ticked),” guard Brandon Moore said. “I don’t think you’ll see that from any of the guys here.”
Tight end Joe Kowalew ski went to school with the Steelers’ Smith and cringed when he heard the guarantee.
“When I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh man, Ant,’ ” Kowalewski said. “I’m not going to make the same mistake my friend Anthony did. If I made a guarantee I don’t think I’d be around here very long.”
Rhodes did offer one guarantee: “I guarantee we’ll be there to play.”