NFL

Bet on it: A Jets-Giants Super Bowl

Allow me to be the first human being to predict that Saturday’s preseason game between the Giants and the Jets is going to be the first of three match-ups between the teams this season. They also meet during the regular season (Dec. 6, when the Jets have to travel to face the Giants) and they will also meet in Super Bowl 50. 

Think I’m sniffing glue? Right you are. But that is irrespective of my belief that both of these teams have the same chance of reaching the Super Bowl as the other 30 NFL teams. The Giants with Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and Steve Spagnuolo have proven they can reach and win the title game even when they have mediocre regular seasons. And the Jets, well can always trade for Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson before the Nov. 3 trading deadline.

Impossible? Maybe. But still, even without those upgrades at their weakest positions, the Jets can definitely reach the playoffs with their resurgent defense, a reasonable facsimile of Brandon Marshall circa 2012, and a quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick) who had a 95.3 passer rating for the Texans last year — and yet somehow got traded to the Jets for a conditional draft pick, paving the way for the highly anticipated Brian Hoyer era in Houston.

Fitzpatrick finished with the 9th-best QB rating in the league, ahead of players like Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Colin Kaepernick, Matthew Stafford, Andy Dalton, Cam Newton and -- way down at 31st -- Brian Hoyer (76.5).

IK Enemkpali might be playing for the Bills this year, but I’m still picking him as my Jets 2015 Most Valuable Player. Fitzpatrick does not suck -- at least relative to three-quarters of NFL quarterbacks.

Want to bet on a Giants-Jets Super Bowl? Shoot me an email at cdavidmartin@yahoo.com. As always, the wager is this.

In the meantime, here are 10 things I bet will happen in the season's first matchup between the Giants and the Jets.

10. Odell Beckham Jr. will catch his first pass of the preseason. OB3, who last week got angry when Jaguars safety Sergio Brown contemplated the possibility of dislodging him from the ball (which didn’t become a thing because Beckham never caught a ball) is going up against Darrelle Revis, who’s not only the best cornerback in the league, but the savviest contract negotiator. Seriously, has anyone in the free agent era played the game -- both on and off the field -- better than Revis? He’s smart enough to recognize that holding out is one of the few tools a player can leverage to maximize their worth. Giants fans can look forward to the day when Beckham pulls a Revis and holds out for a better deal.

9. Eli Manning will be mentioned as potentially the highest-paid player in the league. Manning is looking to sign a new contract. He figures to make more money than Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger, his 2004 draft mates, and thus be the best-compensated mammal in the NFL.

8. Geno Smith will be caught smiling on the sidelines. Smith, who had his jaw broken by IK Enemkpali, is out for a few months, but I’m willing to bet he’ll be grab-assing with teammates on the sidelines. And you can bet that fans and media members are going to lose their minds that Smith isn’t displaying the proper solemnity about the situation. Please smile, Geno. Better yet, make jokes with Sheldon Richardson, the guy who received a four-game suspension for smoking the devil's plant and still has to answer for that whole smoking weed/driving-143 miles per hour-resisting arrest-loaded handgun-12-year-old kid-in-the-car thing. Smith and Richardson sharing a laugh would make my August.

7. A Giants defensive back will taunt Jeremy Kerley (76 overall rating in Madden 2016) for not being as good of a receiver as J.J. Watt (78 catch rating).

6. Leonard Williams will sack Eli Manning. In their last preseason game, the rookie from USC had 5 tackles, 1 ½ sacks and a safety — in less than a half. The “Big Cat” was drafted sixth overall and might turn out to be the steal of the draft.

5. A picture of the MetLife Bowl trophy. Yes, the annual preseason game between the Jets and the Giants is called the MetLife Bowl because it features the two teams who play home games at MetLife Stadium. Try to keep up. The winner of the game is awarded a bronze trophy of Snoopy, the MetLife mascot, wearing a college helmet and mimicking the stiff-arm stance of the Heisman Trophy. No one seemed to consider that the Giants and Jets are not college teams. Well, the Giants anyway.

4. A long interview with new Jets coach Todd Bowles, who sounds exactly like Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop” -- ya know, when he makes fun of his fellow police officer by saying, “We’re not gonna fall for the banana in the tail pipe.” Sorry, but I can’t listen to Bowles without thinking of that scene, so now I’m sharing my burden with you.

3. A fight in the stands. You can rest assured that if the Jets ever won a Super Bowl, their fans would quickly become the worst fans in sports. The Red Sox were lovable losers. The Jets are just losers; there is nothing lovable about them. Many of their fans -- but not all! -- are antisocial miscreants. Want a worst-case scenario? The Eagles versus the Jets in the Super Bowl. Everybody in the stands would be wearing green and white, increasing the likelihood that someone would accidentally punch out a fan of their own team. Don't start sending me hate mail. I’m not prejudiced! I have friends who are Eagles and Jets fans!

2. More penalties on the Jets than they had last week. In their last preseason game against the Falcons, the Jets had 17 penalties for 125 yards, and yet somehow still won. Let’s see if they can get 20 and still pull out a W.

1. More players getting injured and lost for the season. A four-game preseason is way too long. Impact players on Super Bowl-viable teams (Jordy Nelson, Maurkice Pouncey) have already been lost for the year, joining a slew of injured players from other teams. Each team should play two preseason games at most. We can still have our beloved MetLife Bowl each year. But do we really need four games, mostly spent holding our breath and hoping players don’t blow out an ACL? By the way, it’s 2015. Why do we even need ACLs anymore? Get on it, Doogie Hausers.

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