The New England Patriots entered the season pegged as the favorite to win the Super Bowl across the top sportsbooks. So far, the Patriots have failed to disappoint. Even while Tom Brady was serving his 4-game suspension, New England had no difficulty winning their games. Once Brady came back, the Patriots took off and sailed to unimaginable heights. Since Brady came back, New England has won three straight, and they’ve also outscored their opponents 95-46. Scoring twice as many points as your opponent is certainly one way to grab the league’s attention, and this impressive streak further solidifies the Patriots status as Super Bowl favorites.
But when they were without Brady, New England failed to beat one team, the Buffalo Bills. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Rex Ryan has been squaring off against Bill Belichick twice a year for the last decade, or maybe it had something to do with the Patriots quarterback woes (Brady was suspended and Garoppolo was injured). Either way, this Sunday, New England will have an impeccable opportunity to avenge their only loss of the season. This time around, they’ll have their future hall of famer with them.
With Brady under center, what do the top sportsbooks think about the contest between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots?
Week 8 – Sunday, October 30th
New England Patriots -6 ½ (-115) 47 ½ (-105)
Buffalo Bills +6 ½ (-105) 47 ½ (-115)
With a 6 ½ point spread to cover, the bookmakers are more than convinced that the Patriots can get the job done this Sunday. Looking at how well New England has done after Brady’s return, there’s a very high probability that the Patriots will more than cover that spread.
Until recently, the Patriots weren’t the only team in the AFC East ‘flying high’. In Week 3, the Buffalo Bills were able to upset the Arizona Cardinals 33-18. After that win, Buffalo was able to build on its momentum, and won the next 4 consecutive games. This past weekend, the Bills impressive streak came to a ghastly halt. After winning 5 straight against some pretty good football teams, Buffalo seemed like an obvious choice over the Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately for Bills fans, Miami proved to be too much and upset Buffalo 28-25. During their win-streak, several top sportsbooks fans were eager to jump on the Bills bandwagon. But after seeing them lose to a team as lowly as the Dolphins, all the bandwagon jumpers were sent fleeing. Coming off a tough loss is hard enough, but having to face what many consider to be the best team in the NFL afterwards is even tougher.
On paper, the difference between the Patriots and Bills is most notable. The strength of the Bills is their running game, which ranks as the 2nd best in the NFL. But Buffalo’s rushing offense heavily relies on LeSean McCoy’s health. Without McCoy, the Bills were only able to gain 67 yards on the ground against the Dolphins. The Patriots rushing defense ranks as the 11th best in the league, so they shouldn’t have any problems stopping the Bills on the ground. With that in mind, it’ll be up to Tyrod Taylor to beat the Pats, but it’s impossible to imagine a situation in which Taylor actually out-quarterbacks Tom Brady. In the end, the Pats will prove worthy of your bet on NFL money lines once more.