Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com
The New York Giants and the New York Jets have something in common beyond just playing games in the same facility (MetLife Stadium, which is actually in New Jersey).
They also share the dishonor of having the NFL’s worst record over the past five seasons — 22-59, or three games worse than the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars.
But with under a week to go before the NFL regular season, fans of all 32 teams can talk themselves into dreams of a postseason berth — however unlikely that dream might be. And sports bettors who root for teams at this level can find some of the most modest over/under win totals for this latest 17-game season at New Jersey’s major mobile sportsbooks.
At BetMGM, you can take an over bet of only 6.5 wins on the Giants. But at -135, you’d have to wager $135 to win back $100. Want the under? Wager $100 to win $115.
Willing to risk a push of exactly 7 wins? On DraftKings, lay $110 to win $100 on that over — or the same amount to go under. Caesars has the same line, but you could wager $100 to win $105 on the over, or put up an unappetizing $125 to win $100 on the under.
FanDuel and PointsBet, meanwhile, each offer you bets of $100 to win $125 on the Giants going over 7.5 wins. Prefer under that tally? PointsBet will take your play at $149 to win $100 — but go to FanDuel instead, putting up only $145 to win $100.
PlaySugarhouse and Unibet each have the outlier total of 8.5 wins. That’s unlikely enough that you’d get paid out $220 on your $100 if you go over, while you’d have to shell out $286 to win $100 in betting the likelihood of the rebuilding Giants going under that tally.
The books’ lines on the Jets are much more pessimistic. Every book reviewed by NJ Online Gambling has the same o/u of 5.5 wins.
The pricing varies, however. Over backers have to put up $159 to win $100 on PointsBet, compared to staking $155 on DraftKings, $150 on PlaySugarhouse and Unibet, or $145 on FanDuel.
Under 5.5 Jets wins — a 5-12 record or worse — is an aggressive enough play that the books would pay out a premium on your $100 bet. That amounts to $123 on PlaySugarhouse and Unibet, $125 on FanDuel and PointsBet, or a tidy $135 on DraftKings.
Giants and Jets fans can chase bigger dreams, such as winning the NFC East, winning the NFC title, or even winning the Super Bowl.
As with win totals, it pays to shop around. At DraftKings, you can turn $100 into $800 by betting on the Giants winning their mediocre division, fetch $6,000 on that same outlay to reach the Super Bowl, or a whopping $13,000 for the Giants to claim their fifth Lombardi Trophy.
A misty-eyed Jets fan, of course, can claim even more loot — like $2,800 off a $100 play on the Jets knocking off favorite Buffalo, as well as New England and Miami, to win the AFC East. If they punch a ticket to the Super Bowl, that $100 becomes $7,500, and if the Jets win their first Super Bowl in more than a half-century — well, you settle for the same $13,000 as your Giants-backing colleague would receive.
But maybe you smell magic in the Meadowlands, so you want to bet the Giants AND the Jets to shock the world and face off in the Super Bowl. That $100 bet turns into a cool $1 million on DraftKings if you pick the winner of the two. At that price, you might as well box them for $200 total, then start planning your new life even before that Jets-Giants Super Bowl kickoff.
The option of wagering on individual player yardage totals is more sporadic across sportsbooks in New Jersey, and once again it absolutely pays to shop around.
At DraftKings, you can bet $110 to win $100 on Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to go over or under 3,550 passing yards. Or if you prefer to wager on Jones’ legs, shell out $115 to win $100 on him to rush for more or fewer than 350.5 yards this season.
Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com