Are the Jets worth betting on after Robert Saleh's firing? How interim coaches perform ATS

Those who had bet that Robert Saleh would be the first coach to be fired cashed in last week: The New York Jets decided to part ways with their head coach after three seasons.

The Jets' decision to move on from Saleh came after they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 5 and fell to 2-3 on the season. They face the Buffalo Bills on Monday night in the first game of the post-Robert Saleh era, with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich named interim coach.

New York's decision to release Saleh didn't have a major impact on the line for Monday's game against Buffalo. The Bills entered the race as 2.5-point favorites and now have a 1.5-point lead at DraftKings Sportsbook as of Monday afternoon.

Monday's game offers bettors another opportunity to profit from the Jets' coaching change.

Is the first game with an interim head coach real? Here's what the numbers say with data from FOX Sports Research.

How did interim coaches perform in their first game?

Interim coaches have gone 18-12 consecutively since 2010, but are 17-13 compared to average in their debuts.

Last season, three teams made seasonal head coach changes. Antonio Pierce was the only interim coach to lead his team to victory in his first game, helping the Las Vegas Raiders defeat the New York Giants 30-6.

However, all three interim coaches covered the spread in their first game as head coaches.

Giff Smith helped the Los Angeles Chargers take a 12.5-point lead against the Bills, while Chris Tabor took a 3.5-point lead against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first game as interim coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Vegas SuperBook's John Murray said on a recent episode of “Bear Bets” that the book has made a lot of money from the Jets since Saleh's firing.

In the same episode, FOX Sports betting analyst Will Hill said he might lean toward the Jets for Monday's game, but wasn't particularly interested in betting on New York.

“There’s not much to like about this Jets team,” Hill said. “When you bet on the Jets here, all you're saying is, 'The new coach is going to give them a boost and this team is going to look different on Monday night.'”

However, the interim coaches didn't have much success beyond their opening game.

They have gone 41-70 straight over the last six seasons. They have done well against the spread, posting a 58-52-1 record in the same stretch. Pierce significantly increased that number last season, going 8-1 with the team after becoming interim coach of the Raiders.

Teams that fire their head coach in the middle of the season generally do not make the postseason.

Rich Bisaccia is the only interim head coach to lead a team to the postseason in the Super Bowl era, helping the Raiders get there in 2021 after Jon Gruden was fired amid an email scandal.

FOX Sports betting analyst Geoff Schwartz doesn't see the Jets making the postseason.

“I don’t see any big changes for the season right now,” Schwartz said on the latest episode of “Bear Bets.” “Maybe on Monday night they beat a Buffalo team that's a little banged up right now, and the Jets have better players than the Bills right now because of some injuries. But the Jets are an underdog for the postseason right now.”

“It will end horribly. As long as Nate Hackett is there, they’re not going to win a lot of football games.”

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