New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens Betting Line & Pick: August 24th 2009

New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens (-3, 32½) – 8:00 pm ET (ESPN)
Game preview courtesy of Steve Merril. If you are betting on NFL football this season, be sure to purchase Steve Merril’s expert NFL picks at Touthouse.com

Weather and line movement
Weather will not be a factor tonight as the forecast is calling for 71 degrees and clear skies with just a 20% chance of showers and only a 4 mph wind. The Ravens opened as a 3-point favorite earlier this week and the oddsmakers have been reluctant to move off this key number. The early action has come in on the underdog Jets and the line has now shifted to Baltimore -3 +100 and New York +3 -120. Surprisingly, the moneyline for the straight-up winner has actually risen with Baltimore going from Pick -145 to -155. The Over/Under line of 32½ has held steady all week and remains unchanged as of Monday morning.

Sanchez to start
Rookie Mark Sanchez will make his first start tonight for the Jets after a solid showing in his debut last week. Sanchez completed three of four passes for 88 yards versus the Rams last week, including a 48-yard gain on his first play in relief of Kellen Clemens. New York head coach Rex Ryan commented, “I think he (Sanchez) earned the reps with the [starters]. It might have been done on paper that way in pencil, but he had to earn it. The guy had to earn his reps, and I think he’s done that. Without question, he’s done that.” While the starting quarterback position is still undecided, Sanchez has reportedly looked strong in camp this week and might be named the full-time starter if he performs well tonight, especially against a Baltimore defense that ranked 2nd in the NFL last season in total defense and shutout the Redskins 23-0 last week. New York’s new head coach, Rex Ryan, knows this Baltimore defense well as he is their former defensive coordinator. “If you do anything against that bunch, you could move it against anybody,” Ryan said. “It would count more than moving it against St. Louis. No disrespect to St. Louis, but they ain’t the Ravens and they’re not Pittsburgh.”

Injuries
Sanchez and Clemens will not have their full starting offensive line for protection as left guard Alan Faneca suffered a broken middle finger on his left hand and had surgery on it last week and will be out tonight. Offensive tackle Damien Woody is doubtful with a concussion and center Nick Mangold is questionable with a knee injury. None of them played against the Rams last week. Because of the offensive line injuries, the Jets might limit the playing time on Sanchez and Clemens tonight which means extra minutes for Erik Ainge; however head coach Ryan has indicated that he would like to determine the fulltime starting quarterback before next Saturday’s dress rehearsal game versus the Giants.

Ravens’ gameplan
Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said the starters will play into the second quarter and perhaps the complete first half tonight versus the Jets. Harbaugh indicated that some starters such as Ray Lewis, Trevor Pryce, and Ed Reed would be on snap count. “We’ll do it individual like we always do,” Harbaugh said. Backup quarterback John Beck is out for the season with a shoulder injury which means Troy Smith and Cleo Lemon will follow starter Joe Flacco tonight.

King Ugly
New York head coach Rex Ryan is trying keep training camp interesting and last Wednesday he held the “King Ugly” competition which was a vote to determine the ugliest player, coach or front-office official in the organization. “This is a bumper crop this year,” Ryan said. “The bad thing is coaches are included, and I’m going to put our general manager [Mike Tannenbaum] in there as well. … What happens is it’s a dollar a vote, so you’ve got to put money up for this. The third-place winner gets 75 percent of the money. The second-place winner gets 25 percent. And the winner gets nothing. He’s so ugly he doesn’t deserve anything.”