Report: Patriots To Open As Underdogs In Green Bay
BOSTON (CBS) -- The New England Patriots are currently in the midst of one of the most successful stretches of football in the entire Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era.
But that doesn't mean much to the wise guys in Vegas.
According to sites that monitor such things, the Green Bay Packers are set to open as favorites over the Patriots, with the line ranging from three to four points. (Expect official lines to come out late Monday night/early Tuesday morning.)
It makes sense, considering the Packers are 8-3 overall and 5-0 at home. They've won three in a row and seven of their last eight, winning four of those games in blowout fashion.
Yet the Patriots have been just as good, if not better, winning seven straight games, four in a row by 22 points or more. They're fresh off a 34-point showing against the league's No. 1 defense, which came just one week after a thorough road win in Indianapolis. The Patriots were three-point underdogs in that game, which they won 43-21.
The Patriots own a plus-130 point differential, which is better than Green Bay's plus-108. Yet the oddsmakers still seem to hold the Patriots' two early-season road losses -- in Miami and in Kansas City -- against them, as evidenced by this line.
If the line holds throughout the week, the Patriots will be underdogs for the fourth time this season. They dominated their previous three games as underdogs, beating the Bengals by 26 points, the Broncos by 22 points and the Colts by 22 points.
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