NFL 2024: New York Jets vs San Francisco 49ers Predictions
The New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers will be the first Monday night football game of the 2024 regular season. This game will be Aaron Rodgers first game back since the Achilles tear and his return to his home state. For the Niners, it will be about the teams' chemistry and overall morale. The Niners had one of the worst offseasons this summer because of the amount of drama surrounding the team. Trent Williams didn’t participate in training camp, and Brandon Aiyuk was almost traded. He also missed the majority of training camp. Christian McCaffrey has been limited since late July with a weird calf/Achilles injury. There are plenty of storylines to follow for this prime-time game, but they all lead to the same question, who will win?
According to the oddsmakers, the Niners will win this game by at least four points. In my opinion, this is incorrect. Everyone is focusing on the fact that Rodgers hasn’t played in an NFL game in over a year and although that is huge it isn’t everything. Besides Rodgers, the Jets had all of their high-impact players present in training camp and healthy. The Niners have had most of their high-impact offensive players hurt or holding out during training camp. The Niners have recently come out and said Aiyuk will likely be on a snap count. Aiyuk is their best route runner and with him being limited against this elite Jets defense, the Niners will have to rely on Deebo Samuel and Jauan Jennings to win against man coverage. I understand how good Deebo is, but he isn’t known for his route running. He is more of a “gadget” offensive player. Trent Williams missing all of camp and having his first tune-up game against the Jets' elite defensive line also concerns me.
The Jets' number one concern last year was offensive line play and quarterback play. I want to make one thing clear about the quarterback play this year, even with Rodgers having not taken a snap in over a year I can guarantee he will be more productive than anyone who started for the Jets last season. I can also guarantee that the Jets' offensive line will be better than it was last year. Adding two top-ten tackles in Tyron Smith and Morgan Moses instantly makes their offensive line group top 15 in the NFL. The return of Alijah Vera-Tucker is also huge for this offensive line group.
Overall, I am under the belief that there are more negatives surrounding the Niners than there are surrounding the Jets. I love taking the Jets +4.5, and I like the Jets moneyline. The Jets will be running the ball a lot on Monday, keeping the ball out of Brock Purdy's hands. They will also run the ball so the defense can rest and cause havoc when it’s their turn.
