Are the Patriots on fraud watch following their loss to the Bills?
With the end of the NFL regular season approach fast, the cream of teams is starting to rise to the top. The New England Patriots, owners of an 11-3 record and the second playoff seed in the AFC, were thought to be among the best teams in football so far this season.
However, their 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills has cast some doubts over that status, at least in the eyes of the oddsmakers. The Patriots, after all, are heading into their Week 16 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens as underdogs for a second straight week, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Odds for Patriots at Ravens in NFL Week 16
- Spread: Ravens -2.5
- Moneyline: Patriots +130 | Ravens -154
- Over/under: 47.5
Even though the Patriots are traveling to Baltimore with a superior record in hand — the Ravens are 7-7 and fighting for their playoff lives — the bookmakers apparently do not trust them to fly back with their 12th win of the season in hand. The matter of Sunday’s loss to Buffalo likely played a role in that: head coach Mike Vrabel’s team jumped to a 21-0 lead and was still up 24-7 at the half, before collapsing in the third and fourth quarters.
Losing to the five-time reigning division champions in that fashion is disappointing, but the end result in a vacuum not entirely unexpected either; the Bills are a good football team despite currently looking up to the Patriots in the AFC East. However, the loss in combination with the Patriots’ road to 11-3 in the first place — their schedule has been one of the easiest in football so far — seems to have created some doubt over their potential.
And so, they seemingly are on “fraud watch” now. They will have a chance to prove their doubters wrong on prime time come Sunday: the game against Baltimore was flexed to the 8:20 p.m. ET slot on Dec. 21.
Category: General Sports
