Gamble-speak, steam moves, some stats & trends, a few questions to ask and objective answers:
If you look at the trends, pretty much everything point to the Jets. Thats because the Dolphins have been bad for a long, long time. Excluding last year's 1-1 tilt, you'd have to go back beyond 5 seasons for the last time the Dolphins covered a spread against the Jets let alone win straight-up.
Dolphins are 14-36-1 ATS in their last 51 home games.
That equates to an era of suckiness; generally fueled by a host of awful quarterbacks.
Besides that, there are a bunch of conflicting trends.
But the one that stands out the most is that the Jets have generally sucked in October and the Dolphins have done well in games in October. But going back the past 4 seasons, i've found that Miami is actually 6-10 ATS in October. So... i always seem to find lots of invalidaties in trends. After difusing that garbage, i don't even care to research the October trends for the Jets.
Regarding the total, there is practically nothing supporting the Over. Recently, MNF have been great for Overs but if there is one to buck the trend it could be this matchup.
Now lets take a look at some stats.
Dolphins -3 in the turnover margin; Jets at an even zero. Dolphins is still the more disciplined team in terms of penalties. Edge to the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have racked up 11 sacks but have also given up 13 sacks. The Jets only have 4 sacks to date and Mark Sanchez have been sacked 9 times. So it seems that both offensive lines have tendencies but its the Dolphins defense that have produced more in their opponents' side of the field. Edge to Miami's defense.
Overall defense. Edge to the Jets because the Dolphins pass defense is quite bad.
Special teams is almost even but a slight edge to the Jets in terms of kicking.
So, will Calvin Pace be a difference maker in that Jets defense tonight?
My answer: most likely not. Why? I go by my player ratings below; sub-par rating for Calvin tonight.
Will Braylon Edwards be an upgrade to the Jets offense?
My answer: Maybe so in the future but not tonight. New system, meaning he'll learn a few base offense schemes to get him coalesced but he'll miss the audibles. And i go by my player ratings; Braylon gets a sub-par rating tonight.
Can the Dolphins secondary stop the Jets passing attack?
My answer: Somewhat. The Dolphins will game-plan to own the Time-Of-Possession and keep the Jets offense off the field. I'm not afraid of Braylon Edwards.
Which team will have more success running tonight?
My answer: Of course, the Dolphins. Its in the game plan, you know.
Will the Dolphins passing attack be enough to balance offense?
My answer: Sure. As long as Henne throws to Davone Bess and away from the general direction of Darrelle Revis.
Who is the better QB tonight?
My answer: Chad Henne. Its laughable how many people faded the Dolphins because one Chad was starting over the other Chad. Chad Henne has a better arm, people. Mark Sanchez have been broken under defensive pressure and a raucous Landshark Stadium will be just as tough as it was for Sanchez last week. I reserved a whole paragraph about home-field advantage for last week's MNF game when the Vikings hosted the Packers. Theres really no need to divulge the importance of such intangible but most people should have realized that by now. Home teams have been the beneficiaries of Monday night games and a Dolphins win will keep that streak running. And they will because Miami wins SU tonight.
Some steam moves go the right way and might be "sharp". This one isn't. Agree to disagree in 9 hours from now.
Some esoteric chit below, biorhythms and ephemrides incoming.
I doubt that Mark Sanchez will have two awful games in a row but i'll stick to the system. Bad rating for Mark Sanchez... just like last week.