Patriots vs. Jets NFL Week 8 odds, trends: Bettors hammering New England, which is favored in rivalry for 21st straight game

In not much of a surprise, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has announced that Mac Jones will be the team's starting quarterback on Sunday at the red-hot New York Jets, and it doesn't sound like Belichick will be pulling Jones like he did after three series in Monday's loss to the Bears, saying Jones is "fully available." At one point, this game was a pick'em at Caesars Sportsbook, but some heavy action on the Pats has them as 2.5-point favorites.

"[Jones] was ready to play last week, but just didn't feel it was the full game," Belichick said of replacing Jones after three series with Bailey Zappe. "This week is a different situation."

Presuming New England does close as chalk, it would mark the 21st straight time the Patriots are favored against the Jets. The only longer streak since 1990 was the Steelers being favored 27 straight times over the Bengals from 1991-2004.

While the Jets are taking 55.8% of the tickets on the spread, the Patriots are getting 89.2% of the handle. That's the most lopsided action by handle for the entire Week 8 slate. One Colorado bettor put $22,000 on New England when it was a pick'em (-110). New York has received the second-fewest dollars to cover the spread of any team. The Jets (+115) do have the most moneyline tickets among Sunday's games.

"It's surprising to me that the Jets haven't been getting that much spread action," said Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook. "With the Jets on a roll and the Patriots are coming off that loss to the Bears, you'd think there'd be more Jet money. They did have the Breece Hall injury which is a big blow to them. You can also say that the Jets were fortunate in a lot of their wins. But I still made the Jets a small favorite, I don't think the Hall injury should be worth that much. Mac Jones isn't 100% and his performance hasn't been as good as last year, but there wasn't a big odds shift when it was reported that he was going most of the first-team reps over Bailey Zappe. The market doesn't think there's a big difference right now between the two Patriots quarterbacks."

What else do the Jets have to do to be favored in this rivalry? They are on a four-game winning streak and at home while it's a short week for New England. Gang Green does begin life without stud rookie running back Hall, who was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite before tearing his ACL last Sunday in Denver. The Jets traded for Jacksonville's James Robinson on Monday, and he'll debut in this game. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said the Jets would use "the hot hand" when asked about New York's running back rotation of Robinson and Michael Carter.

New England has won 12 consecutive games over New York, with the last Jets win in a Ryan Fitzpatrick-led overtime victory as the quarterback for Todd Bowles' Jets in 2015. Post-Tom Brady, the Patriots are 4-0 vs. the Jets with an average margin of victory of better than 19 points.

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