In 2025, when the NFL returned to the field in London with their green and white shield, it was evident that history was repeating itself. A new era of offensive mayhem sprang to life, awkward kickoff times for East Coast supporters, and new point spreads that created a dark cloud over the New York Jets organization.
The final score—13-11 in favor of the Denver Broncos in an 82-yard total offensive output for the Jets—was indicative of how far behind the Jets have fallen in the United Kingdom. However, looking past the frustration of the score and looking at the data from international games, international time zones, and betting market performance against the spread provides a much more nuanced storyline.
Do the Jets really collapse as soon as they travel across the Atlantic, or has the betting market priced in too high a travel tax? This is where London, body clocks, and how sportsbooks price road games come together, creating a unique opportunity for those following the Jets closely.
Whether it is a sleepy 1 p.m. kickoff on the West Coast or a Sunday morning game in London at 9:30 a.m. ET, oddsmakers are forced to put a number on how the Jets will handle time zones, logistics, and fatigue.
There is generally a higher shaded spread towards the Jets in New York when teams travel from long-distance locations, especially when they have lost their most recent games and have a few players injured or in some way out of action. However, not all Operators react with the same speed or in the same way to the effects of “travel fatigue” on lines, and this creates some differences in the book distribution.
For anyone trying to figure out where the best price is, comparing how each brand treats those factors is almost mandatory. If a domestic book has already baked in a full “London tax” while international markets are still adjusting their numbers, small differences of half a point or even a full point can pop up.
When that happens, it is worth looking at how major offshore names line up on the NFL in general, and a comparison available here from Richard Presley gives a quick snapshot of limits, markets, and pricing tendencies before you lock in any bet.
This kind of comparison does not replace tactical analysis or injury research, but it does help you see whether travel and time-zone factors are being priced similarly across the board or whether there are exploitable discrepancies in Jets games.
Putting emotion aside, the Jets’ sample of games outside the United States is still small, but it already tells a few important stories. In 2015 at Wembley, the team traveled with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center and dominated the Miami Dolphins 27-14, piling up 425 total yards against just 226 for their rival.
At the time, the game was viewed as a season reset, and the general impression was that the trip helped the locker room regroup. Six years later, in 2021, the scene was very different. At Tottenham, a rebuilding Jets team with Zach Wilson lost 27-20 to the Atlanta Falcons in a game where they were chasing the score from start to finish.
The script repeated itself in 2025. Even as the designated home team in London, the Jets fell 13-11 to the Broncos, in a matchup that featured nine sacks allowed and virtually no offensive rhythm from the first snap to the last. That leaves the Jets 1-2 in regular-season games in Europe.
It is important, though, to place those results in the broader league context. A study published by RotoWire looked at 39 NFL games in Europe between 2007 and 2023 and found an average of 21.7 points per team in those matchups, compared to 22.4 points per team across the NFL as a whole over the same period. In other words, a small negative effect on offenses, but nothing dramatic.
The same study showed that in those European games, The same study showed that in those European games, 19 of the 31 games were won by the team with the superior record. (19 of 11 total, 16 of 5 excluding the Jaguars factor). The higher quality of the roster and the current state of the team will weigh more heavily than the time zone difference.
When you put the Jets into that frame, it becomes clear that their recent struggles in London are not exactly an international curse, but a reflection of recurring issues on offense and roster depth that show up just as much at MetLife as they do across the Atlantic.
While the scoreboard brief-note has not bode well for the Jets in London lately, StatMuse shows they are currently 7-6 against the spread this season heading into the week following their London game which paints a different picture of how we should view that situation from a betting perspective.
For a team that, at first glance, is on the verge of being at the bottom of its respective league, this certainly looks to be an extremely competitive roster. The numbers reflect that while they may not have won games, they have been somewhat competitive against the spread. This pattern of losing by point spreads but covering point spreads is consistent with both the RotoWire findings and with their lower-scoring games outside the U.S.
Many Jets fans have a very negative view of this season, but even when the Jets offense plays poorly, they are able to remain competitive due to the combination of their defense and the way games are played. Especially in neutral and long-travel environments, where the favorite’s edge is sometimes priced a little too aggressively.