When you’re in the basement, you have to climb some steps just to get back to the ground floor.

With the 0-4 Jets tied at the bottom of the AFC East with the Dolphins, it seems like a valid analogy for Sam Darnold, who returns after missing three games with mononucleosis.

Darnold’s presence should enable the Jets to resemble an NFL offense again. Le’Veon Bell will be more of a factor, and wide receivers Jamison Crowder, Demaryius Thomas and Robby Anderson should be able to emerge from the witness protection program. We should start to see some of Adam Gase’s creativity as a play-caller.

But don’t underestimate how much damage Darnold has to undo. Through four games, the Jets are averaging 179.5 yards per game. To put that in perspective, the Cardinals had by far the fewest yards in the NFL last season and they averaged 241. It also doesn’t help that tight end Chris Herndon, who is eligible to return after his four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, likely will miss the game with a hamstring injury.

Darnold also comes back to a tough opponent. The Cowboys will be in a foul mood after losing to the Saints and Packers. The Jets’ best shot is for Gregg Williams’ hard-working defense to force Dak Prescott into turnovers, but that won’t be easy with LB C.J. Mosley apparently still not ready to return.

The pick: Cowboys, -7.

Carolina Panthers (-2¹/₂) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Bucs won 20-14 in Charlotte in Week 2, and now the rapid rematch comes in the form of Breakfast Near Wimbledon. Was impressed by the Bucs’ 55-40 win at the Rams two weeks back, but even though this is a nominal home game, it’s really three in a row away, with some massive travel.

Cincinnati Bengals (+11¹/₂) over BALTIMORE RAVENS: Cincinnati is the third team in the past four weeks that will be facing Lamar Jackson for the second time as a starting quarterback. The Chiefs and Browns both beat Baltimore in that situation. Not saying the 0-5 Bengals will do that, but they have covered spreads this season at Seattle and Buffalo.

Seattle Seahawks (-1¹/₂) over CLEVELAND BROWNS: Scary spot because the Browns are wildly inconsistent, as evidenced by their 40-25 win at Baltimore, followed by a 31-3 loss at San Francisco. Seattle has a big edge in rest and preparation, having played last Thursday, compared to Cleveland’s Monday. And Pete Carroll may have gotten a few good ideas watching the Browns give up 275 yards rushing.

Houston Texans (+4¹/₂) over KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: KC gave up 180 yards rushing at 4.0 yards per carry in falling 19-13 to the Colts. The Texans, who average 129 rushing yards per game at a healthy 5.1 yards per carry, can try to replicate that and keep Patrick Mahomes off the field. Magical Mahomes says he’s fine, but he was limping a lot Sunday night.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (-1) over New Orleans Saints: This small line flipped from Saints -1 early in the week. Teddy Bridgewater is 3-0 with three covers as a starter. The Jaguars’ Gardner Minshew covered in his first three starts before a narrow failure in Carolina. Giving a slight nod to the Jags’ power running game and active defensive line on a hot day outdoors on grass.

Philadelphia Eagles (+3) over MINNESOTA VIKINGS: Hard to pass up points with the Eagles, who have been amazing underdogs since their Super Bowl run, including a manly, 34-27 win at Lambeau two weeks ago.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (+3¹/₂) over Washington Redskins: Dolphins are coming off a bye, while the Redskins have a new coach and didn’t know at midweek who their quarterback would be. Interesting angle that paid off last week in Cardinals-Bengals: When winless teams meet, the underdog covers at a 63.4 percent rate.

LOS ANGELES RAMS (-3) over San Francisco 49ers: Like Seahawks-Browns, this game features a Rams team that has extra rest, having played Thursday vs. the 49ers’ Monday. The injury loss of fullback Kyle Juszczyk could be hard for the 49ers to overcome on a short week.

ARIZONA CARDINALS (+2¹/₂) over Atlanta Falcons: Can’t justify taking the Falcons as road favorites against anyone right now. At least the Cardinals play with some life and are 3-2 against the spread. The Falcons have covered once in five games.

DENVER BRONCOS (-2) over Tennessee Titans: Broncos have lost both of their home games by two points on last-second field goals. Figuring they gained some confidence in their win at the Chargers. Titans have averaged 13.75 ppg in their past four games with just one cover.

Pittsburgh Steelers (+7) over LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: When you get down to the third-string quarterback, you could get Luke Falk, or you could get Devlin Hodges, who went 7-for-9 for 68 yards against the Ravens last week in relief of Mason Rudolph. The Chargers are an unreliable heavy favorite, so I’m happy to grab a handful of points.

Monday Night Football

Detroit Lions (+4) over GREEN BAY PACKERS: Lions come in off a bye, which followed outright wins vs. the Chargers and Eagles, and a cover in a 34-30 loss to the Chiefs. According to VSiN, there’s reverse line movement in this game, which means though the two-thirds of the public is betting the Pack, the line has shrunk from 6 points to 4¹/₂ on sharp Lions money.

Best Bets: Rams, Cowboys, Cardinals.

Lock of the week: Rams (Locks 2-3 in 2019).

Last week: 9-5-1 overall, 1-1-1 Best Bets.

Thursday:Patriots (W).