NFL WEEK 16
GREG COTE’S THURSDAY PICK
JAGUARS (6-8) at JETS (7-7)
Line: Even.
Cote’s pick: NYJ, 19-17.
TV: 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Prime Video.
Miami Dolphins fans should be Jags fans for one night. Fins hold the seventh and last AFC playoff spot entering Week 16, and Jets and New England are the two closest chasers at 7-7. So an NYJ win here increases the possibility Miami’s regular-season-finale home game vs. the Jets could be winner-take-all for the playoffs. Planes were a negligible 1-point home fave before it was bet down to a rare dead-even pick-’em. Game matches the 2021 draft’s top two picks in quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence vs. Zach Wilson — the latter playing only because of Mike White’s fractured ribs. Lawrence has excelled lately playing through a sprained toe but faces a stout (though less lately) Jets defense that, along with the weather, portends a low score. J-ville is coming off a huge rally and overtime upset of Dallas and is on a 4-2 run, but stumbling Jets have lost three in a row. NYJ also is on an 0-7 skid in prime time, though Jaguars counter with an 0-4 run in East Rutherford. Lawrence and Jax enter in better recent form, but I’m riding with the venue, the weather and a rise-up effort by the Jets’ defense.
(Note: Betting line courtesy Caesars Sportsbook as of Wednesday afternoon.)
