Morning Coffee: Will a coaching change spark Jets playoff push?

The New York Jets entered the 2024 NFL season as the betting favourite to win the AFC East at FanDuel.

Following a disappointing start to the year, ownership decided it was the right time to send a message to the entire organization that the expectation hasn’t wavered.

On Tuesday morning, the Jets fired Robert Saleh.

The team named defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich their interim head coach.

The decision to fire Saleh marked the first time in more than five decades that the Jets have made an in-season coaching change.

The message from ownership is simple.

The Jets are built to win now and if they don’t win now, then no job within their building is safe.

With a 2-3 record, New York is currently one game back of the Buffalo Bills for first place in the AFC East with a massive showdown against their division rival coming up on Monday Night Football in Week 6.

The Jets are currently the eighth seed in the AFC.

They have the league’s fifth-easiest remaining schedule.

Still, FanDuel has them at +112 to make the playoffs this morning – a 47.2% implied probability.

The Jets have not made the playoffs in 13 seasons – tied with the Buffalo Sabres for the longest drought across the four major professional North American sports leagues.

The goal in New York is to end that drought this year.

The Jets have the talent to win now, and they have more than enough time left to salvage their season.

If they don’t, there will be a lot more changes in store for New York in the offseason.

This is the Morning Coffee for Wednesday October 9th, 2024.

Will a coaching change spark Jets playoff push?

The Jets are coming off a couple of disappointing losses to the Denver Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings.

Still, New York is just one game back of Buffalo for first place in the AFC East standings heading into a showdown with the Bills on Monday Night Football.

There’s no doubt that the Jets season is at a crossroads.

Either they rally as a team and meet expectations versus the league’s fifth-easiest remaining schedule to make the playoffs this season or things completely fall apart, and they hit the reset button next offseason.

The bottom line is that they are all-in to win now.

I still believe that the Jets will be a playoff team if they can stay healthy.

I’m just not willing to bet on New York to make it at such a short price knowing that they will always be just one quarterback injury away from being done.

Aaron Rodgers is already dealing with an injury.

All eyes will be on the Jets QB later this afternoon when he makes his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

The Jets are currently a 2.5-point home underdog for Monday’s game against the Bills.

They’re also currently +120 to win that game outright.

It will be very interesting to see how bettors react to the coaching change and whether they believe that it will spark a win for New York at home versus Buffalo.

A FanDuel Best Bet For Wednesday’s NHL Slate

It didn’t take long for hockey bettors to get their first bad beat of the season.

The over went 2-1 on Tuesday night, with one key miss.

With the St. Louis Blues leading the Seattle Kraken 3-2 in the dying seconds of regulation, Pavel Buchnevich had a chance to bury an empty-net goal.

More importantly for anybody who bet the total, he had a chance to push the total over 5.5.

I didn’t bet the game, but I could feel the pain for anybody who bet the over.

On Tuesday, I got a few DMs asking for my NHL best bet.

It’s been a good run going 18-7 with all my bets posted in this column and on X in the month of October.

However, unlike the NFL where I have at least one bet for every prime-time game, there’s no way I can keep up with the NHL schedule with a best bet in this column for every day in the regular season.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that I’ve already locked something in for tonight’s NHL slate.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens get their seasons underway at the Bell Centre with an Original Six showdown that should feature some fireworks.

Per the FanDuel traders, 78 per cent of the stakes are on Toronto to win as a -176 moneyline favourite.

Considering where both teams stand heading in to the season, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody.

The Maple Leafs are a top 10 choice to win the Stanley Cup at FanDuel.

The Habs are a top five choice to finish with the worst record in the NHL.

Of course, anything can happen in one game.

Still, I’m going chalk with my first FanDuel Best Bet for the NHL season.

I’ll lock in a Same Game Parlay with William Nylander to record 3+ shots on goal and Toronto to win at even-money.

Toronto has won four straight head-to-head meetings.

It’s a new era for the Maple Leafs with Craig Berube behind the bench as head coach.

The Habs are already down a key piece after losing Patrik Laine to injury, while the Buds will be at full strength with the additions of Max Pacioretty, Chris Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson filling out a talented lineup.

Nylander has averaged nearly five shots per game against Montreal over the last two seasons.

The Habs have ranked near the bottom of the NHL in shots allowed per game and I don’t expect that to change tonight with Nylander getting plenty of time on Toronto’s second line and top powerplay unit.

I’ll lock in Nylander 3+ shots on goal and the Maple Leafs to win outright at even-money as a FanDuel Best Bet for Wednesday night’s NHL slate.

Hopefully, we can begin the hockey season with another Morning Coffee winner! 

In case you missed it, our NHL experts have locked in some of their bold predictions for the 2024-25 season.

Make sure you check them out and give them as we lock in for another fun and exciting NHL season.

Enjoy the games, everyone!